Now then… (v1)

Discontinuous (adj.):
Lacking continuity in space or time, having interstices or breaks, intermittent.

Rog Patterson has not followed a conventional career. He has instead been followed by fragments of several different unconventional ones, grasping some and hiding from others, making disparate / desperate contributions across genres and decades.

Having spent the 80’s touring in acoustic-progressive duo Twice Bitten and, subsequently, as a solo singer/songwriter, RP was an integral part of the British progressive rock scene centred on London’s Marquee club. Coining the phrase “Heavy Wood” to describe his TB and solo work, he primarily used acoustic guitars, but his focus was folk-less. His material is linguistically intricate and passionate; his influences are largely literary rather than musical.

He released the highly-regarded “Flightless” album in 1989, and by the early 90’s was touring Britain and Europe regularly, both as a musician and as a live sound engineer. He made countless support appearances with fellow progressive and acoustic artists including Pendragon, Roy Harper, John Martyn, Fairport Convention and many others.

Then, in 1992, came Rage Against the Machine; RP spent most of the next decade touring as their live sound engineer. And there was tour management. Lots of it. And more sound engineering (Seigmen, Dark Angel, Faith No More, Nada Surf and many others.) And, amidst the mayhem, quite a lot of cricket.

During this time RP limited his own music to increasingly rare live performances, plus recording as a member of reclusive studio group Coltsfoot, and occasional collaborations with Anthony Phillips and Nigel Mazlyn Jones.

A very limited-edition release (Private Language) in 2001 was intended as a precursor to a new album, but the wheels came off in a sarcastically literal manner…

2002: car crash in Japan: damaged hearing: no more sound engineering, no appetite for recording or performance. Since then RP has been hiding. He emerges occasionally to make increasingly implausible claims to the effect that his “new” album will be along in a minute. In fact, what amounts to a full album has been sitting around for nearly two decades, with two further albums’ worth of material awaiting recording, but apparently he’s “been a bit busy.”

It has been pointed out that if he has time to play cricket and go to the pub (and indeed Antarctica), then he has time to concentrate on his music, so at last the creaky wheels of acousto-proggy industry appear to be grinding back into action. There will be gigs. There will be releases. And, let’s face it, before long there will be hiding again.

May 2023: a sudden flurry of activity! The lesser-spotted slaphead has somehow got himself involved as support act and guest acoustic guitarist for Pendragon at their VIP Weekends in Zoetermeer (Netherlands), Morecambe (UK) and Hurum (Norway). Could this be the dawn of the New Wave of British Heavy Wood? Is the “new” RP album imminent? (Er… No.) It is, however, a start…