EPK
The Virtualistics II • March. 2026 • “New additions to the Virtualistics suite on social commentary."
Finding beauty in imperfection, or the Japanese concept of Wabi Sabi, is a serious endeavor for singer-songwriter Patrick Ames. The 72-year old Californian, writes, performs, and produces his Rock/Soul/R&B music from a single laptop, with microphones a plenty and his signature guitar sound. His set up allows for experimentation in the lyrics where there is seriousness and meaning. It's new and it's inventive. It's his latest little gem, The Virtualistics II. Now streaming on all channels.
The Virtualistics II, EP, 4 Tracks
Released March 23, 2026, Produced by Patrick Ames
Download lyrics here: /files/1399003/Lyrics: The Virtualistics II
The first "The Virtualistics" LP appeared in 2021 right when the Covid pandemic was everywhere. The new LP never got a real send-off, even though many of the songs were about living with the virus. It was produced by Jon Ireson who also played the bass, and many other instruments, as he has done patiently over the years. And of course, the V-Stics featured Chana and Mikaela Matthews on backup vocals in one of their finest outings. The LP title came from the fact that our small band never met, we never got together as a group. It was all piece-meal, a track here, a snippet here, oftimes more file management than anything else, spending most of our valuable time trying to get the laptops to connect. We often recorded online and then just sent it all to Jon. It was how we got through those times.
Six years later I return to find the same climate of anxiety in the world: it's imploding. I feel compelled to write about what's happening and do my duty and participate. So I produced and released The Virtualistics II as an encore to the previous LP. And just like that wonderful album, you're gonna hear some chop. You're gonna hear my true indie self as a poet pretending to be a musician.
I have lots of songs laying around but chose these four. I like them. I re-tuned my practise guitar to Open D and started writing with that for several months. The holidays came and went and the songs and I sat in the studio, ignoring the riots on the streets and the fools in charge. Get ready. Everything is important. - patrick
Liner Notes for The Virtualistics II
by Frank Lehner
Ames’ new EP doesn't arrive with a thesis; it comes in sideways, mid-stride, while you’re already doing something else--buying what you don’t need, noticing what you shouldn’t, listening to someone who sounds sure. Patrick Ames writes from that exact spot, where life keeps going and meaning has to elbow its way in. The Virtualistics II is a record about certainty—-how it stiffens, comforts, and lies—-and the songs don’t argue with it so much as stay close, long enough for the trouble to show. When Ames sings “I know everything,” the line is delivered straight, without a wink, and that’s where the danger lives, the claim sounding true in the mouth even as the song quietly reveals its cost. Ames’s phrasing sounds plain until it tilts, meaning arriving a beat late, closer to rhythmic feel than lyrical flourish, and you might hear kinship with important and captivating writers like David Berman, Bill Fay, or even Adrianne Lenker in that trust of restraint and attention. The Virtualistics II keeps the music balanced and unshowy, refusing to sweeten the message or rush the moment, and what’s left by the end is a rubbed nerve, a sharper ear, and the quiet sense that listening well—-staying with one another a little longer-—still matters. Yes, another Ames gem.
— Frank Lehner, Author of Mrs. Nussbaum’s Monkey, Pittsburgh, Pa. , February 20, 2025
Mrs. Nussbaum's Monkey, published by Bottom Dog Press, 2025.
> Eight Sung Poems Liner Notes
Eight Sung Poems • Sept. 2025 • “Something unique, something extraordinary"
Eight poems by poet, Frank Lehner, of Pittsburgh, are put to song and sung by Patrick Ames in a unique blurring of the doorways between songwriting and poetry. In the LP's setup, Ames sings an improv version of the poem as lyrics, using simple chord progressions. Vocalist Chana Matthews adds improv on one track, while Jon Ireson plays bass on another. Ames adds a vocal masterpiece throughout, as the poem becomes the song, and the music performs the intent of the poem. This is something unique, something extraordinary.
Eight Sung Poems, LP, eight tracks, recorded July 2025. Eight Poems from Mrs. Nussbaum's Monkey, by Frank Lehner, published by Bottom Dog Press, 2025.
> Eight Sung Poems Liner Notes
Ames' Previous Reviews from Various Publications:
https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=patrick+ames+review+music&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
Q4/24 • Review by David Franklin, at The Big TakeOver.com: “…gently funky and reflective, autobiographical and brilliantly pop-aware…”
https://bigtakeover.com/recordings/patrick-ames-slow-dip-ahead-self-released
2024 • Slow Dip Ahead. September 2024
“Slow Dip Ahead is a brush. Ames takes our hand and dips it into his bucket of color. And with him, we paint our lives on the cobbled canvas of similar lives. Ames’ genius is catching us catching ourselves in our certainties, our doubts, and our sparks and desires.” From the Liner Notes, by Frank Lehner. Poet.
2023 Releases: "I Was Thinking" & “Young and Amorous”
Acclaimed Musician, Poet and Songwriter Patrick Ames exists very much in his own orbit, always following his gut and ending up in a raw, vulnerable space both lyrically and musically. The human element is paramount to Patrick, trumping the option paralysis of over-production or studio trickery. In fact, his releases often give the feeling that he's right there, performing from the room you're in, playfully musing on the absurdities of existence. And that's a comforting thought. His two new singles, released October 4th, are both deep reflections on life and aging, brimming with Patrick's signature wit and heart-on-the-sleeve demeanor.
"I've been intrigued by the intersection of songs and poems for years: when do you read and when do you sing, and when do you combine the two? My only insight is that it depends on the intent. Take these two new songs. They approach large topic areas, climate change and aging, by pinching the skin in a way only music can do. I'm not after solutions, I'm after engagement. So I threw a 16 bar blues at one, and some pulsing synths with a kit at the other."
Independent songwriter Patrick Ames released two new powerful singles this week: “Young and Amorous" and “I Was Thinking”. They are as opposite as the two edges of a radio dial. "Young and Amorous" has a dance-floor pulsing beat, soaring vocals, and a universal set of lyrics about growing older. On the other hand, I Was Thinking is an acoustic talk-along on climate change in the likes of Leonard Cohen and Mose Allison. The two singles couldn't be more different except as classic examples of the ever-determined songwriter, 69 year old Patrick Ames, who revels in exposing hidden places and the compromised pieces of life.
Take your pick. Ames has written and released two more jewels of juxtaposition.
Patrick Ames: vocals, guitars, synths
Mikaela Matthews, vocals (Young and Amorous)
Jon Ireson: bass, guitars, programming
Chana Matthews: remote recording
Written and recorded by Patrick Ames, May-August 2023.
Produced by Jon Ireson
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2022 Release: Harmonium EPK
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Interview with ObscureSound.com
Your album The Virtualistics includes collaborations with producer Jon Ireson and backup singers Chana Matthews and Mikaela Matthews, much of them done virtually due to the pandemic. Comparative to normal in-person collaboration, what challenges has remote collaboration presented when making music?
All the typical things that happen with Zoom calls in the non-music world: distraction, network drops, and getting things to work without lag. In my work with the singers, they would have three, four devices running, one a visual feed to me, one with the track’s bounce to sing to, one that is recording the voices, and sometimes their own phones on with lyrics and notes. Every time we’d agree on a time and evening, the first half hour was spent getting things to work. Then distractions from home, the dog, the truck outside, the refrigerator compressor running in the background. Not to mention the pandemic as we fought depression, isolation, and home sheltering. At a studio, you come, you sing, and an engineer takes care of everything.
The album sounds fantastic, with an audible chemistry on display despite the remote collaboration. For other musicians embarking on their first musical remote collaborations, do you have any tips for them?
Thanks. My advice is don’t try to do it all together with everyone attending and watching. Do one musician at a time and build on the song with each contributor. So, first the songwriters track with the proper arrangement, and then the lyrics, and then the percussion, and then the individual instruments and musicians. Remote collaboration is like a Lego project, and you build the track up by adding a piece here and a piece there. Of course we had the great Jon Ireson, as director and contributor. So you definitely want a producer.
Much of your professional life has been in technical book publishing. Now, in your 60s, you have returned to songwriting. What prompted this return to music?
It took me longer to reach the 10,000 hour rule, that’s all. I sincerely think that if I would have continued on the circuit during the 1970s I would have been dead by now, if not decades earlier. I’m a type 1 personality and art for me feeds off of corrosive environments: drugs, alcohol, bad relationships, mental health. These things are stressors, they cause stress, and that stress gets processed into the artistry of music and amazing performances. I think something inside me said, hey, take your time enjoy life a little, but keep playing and writing on the side.
What was the first album you heard that had a strong impact, either artistically or personally?
Otis Redding, Live at the Whiskey a Go Go. (my older brother’s)
Do you have a specific process or ritual when creating new music?
I work in Apple Logic and build songs there. First a distinctive guitar riff, then an equally distinctive word phrase/lyric. Then I put the two together and then let them mingle, adding and deleting tracks until it has a distinctiveness of its own.
Any favorite artists or albums you’re listening to at the moment?
I’ve been stuck on Max Richter for awhile (classical crossover): I know, What? When I’m song writing I listen to music completely different than my own style because if I listen to Taylor Swift, or The Doors, or Los Lobos, I start writing songs that sound like Taylor, the Doors, and Los Lobos. Plus my favorite, favorite thing to listen to are my own developing songs that I’m writing. I love my afternoon walks.when I listen to headphones the whole time, singing out loud, movin’ and groovin’ down the neighborhood roads. The reason I’m such a prolific songwriter is that after a while I tire of my own new songs and need to write more, more new ones to listen to during the walkies.
What do you find is the most satisfying part of being an artist?
The act of creation and the recording of its expression. I’m what they used to call a Recording Artist. I’m also enjoying cross-pollination of my writing, editing, and song writing. I think it’s a unique combination with a unique sound and unique read. Check out the liner notes I wrote for The Virtualistics: https://patrickcb5.substack.com. Also I write about the vineyard I live in. Check it out https://patrickames.substack.com .
What is the biggest challenge you find in today’s music industry?
You get this thing in your head that you’ll be famous and that you’ll play a thousand gigs with cheering fans just like the promo pictures show, and if that doesn’t happen, then you’re a failure. That’s what society sets you up for and frankly the industry endorses the notion of winners and losers, of Top 100, and the famous and not so famous. And it totally messes with your head. You get this “I’m not famous therefore I’m not worthy” kind of thing going on. Get that gone, get that out of your head. Let the music industry go. Release it. Do you, man, do you.
What’s upcoming for the project?
I’m in the studio during the next months and hopefully expect something in spring of 2022. I can’t wait to dive in. I was supposed to start live gigs in 2020 but Covid has gotten in the way, so hopefully 2022 will put me back on stage. We’ll see. You can follow me on Twitter at @patrickames where things are amplified and announced.
We chat with Patrick Ames, recently featured with his album Harmonium.
The haunting opener on your new album, Harmonium, is entitled “No People Are Supreme.” In an age where the world’s leaders are all too often touting narcissistic qualities, the theme resonates. Is there a specific inspiration for the track?
At one point, early on, it was about blatant white supremacy and then the Ukrainian invasion by Russia happened midway through one of our Doors simulations, which influenced the later bounces into a Ukrainian Doors trip thang. The track sets the stage for the whole LP and afterwards I let songs go where they seem to want to go down this avenue. It was Jon Ireson, the producer of Harmonium, that brought the hypnotism, that spell-binding thumpness. His accompaniment is divine. He uses Chana’s voice as an instrument just as I have always tried to do. She’s accent, she’s accompaniment, and I think the lady would appreciate that praise. I love this song because applies to so many bad things in our society. Just this weekend, No People Are Supreme, including it seems our Supreme Court justices.
The album was recorded in your home vineyard. Do you prefer recording somewhere like home, where it’s more familiar and comforting, or somewhere like a studio, with potentially less distractions?
Studios are fun but I don’t know of single one, anymore. If I work from home, I can pay studio fees and a nice buffet dinner at the recordings without breaking the indie bank. Physical studios are a dying breed and another victim of virtualization. Listen to Harmonium. Go to Apple and get the Lossless version, or the high-res from Bandcamp. Jon Ireson will stretch your ears. It’s awesome what we did all that with base equipment. I do miss the on premise sound engineer: What a Luxury that would be.
Are there any artists or art that inspired the album’s general themes?
Well there was/is Wallace Stevens, the American poet, whose title Harmonium I stole. I also spent a lot of pre-studio time practicing my baritone… so I practiced alot of songs by the Righteous Brothers, Barry White, Micahel Bolton.
“Will I Ever Noticed” plays with a consuming yearning. Is there a more ambiguous theme at play, or is this more in the vein of an unrequited love song?
Love in the Age of Masks. You have to write about love songs when they are successful and you have to write songs about when they don’t. Truth be told, I like the yearning songs better than I like fulfilled love songs because there’s always someplace to go.
Your music has a very poetic quality, in the vein of Nick Cave and Leonard Cohen. Are there any poets, or specific poems, that resonate specially with you, either recently or in the past?
It’s the whole point of the LP. Is songwriting more like poetry, is it song, or is it a poem, or is it both? And how does that make your marbles curve. It doesn’t matter really to 99% of the listeners, but it’s a personal singer-songwriter thang for me — am I a poet, which I studied in college, or a songster, which I played every weekend in college. A few decades later, and voila, I’m still the same doing both and mashing them together. I’ve been thinking of doing some spoken word music lately, perhaps I investigate that a little more.
Producer Jon Ireson plays a prominent role on the album, adding gorgeous bass lines and instrumentation throughout the releases. How did you meet and start your collaboration?
Jon is Harmonium. And he is The Virtualistics, too. Jon Ireson is amazing. We dropped into this work relationship quite nicely after James Moore of IMP hooked us up. It’s been one of the more effortless musical relationships I have had. We either think alike musically, or I’m so transparent, but we trade versions back and forth. And yes, his bass is gorgeous and you can listen to the whole LP just concentrating on the bass lines. He did a lot of guitar work and keyboards and he fixed most of my persussion. Jon is amazing and you could have no better Producer than Jon. I tip my hat.
Thanks for letting me rant, thanks for believing in the time-honored interview where words and music co-exist for awhile. That’s the word I live in and that Harmoniumexpresses. No People Are Supreme.
Interview with The Word is Bond.com August 2020
The Word is Bond, Interview, COVID
"Reawakened 2020" Single, 06/19/2020
When Covid-19 arrived, I was finishing off a new EP in my home studio with my two vocalists, Chana and Mikaela Matthews (mother/daughter). We finished the studio work and it was great and we had a photo shoot outside and a little studio party, and the world kind of stopped right there and did a somersault. A virus was coming but I didn't know how severe so I submitted "Liveness" my new EP, for an April 4 release. Pandemia.
When that day came my wife and son were in self-quarantine together in a separate house, the world was upside down, I was sheltering in isolation, and the songs I wrote about in the EP were seemingly coming true. The EP came and went quickly in that environment, and like so many artists, I quickly turned my attention to the world's somersault – and did the only thing I know how to do. Create.
I've believe that artists create mirrors that allow people to see themselves, differently. That's what we do, create mirrors. And what I learned from the Virus was there's a new type of mirror needed now, different venues, new diverse media. Where it's going I don't know.
I must keep my old day job. Plans have changed. My wife and I have new priorities. But there seems to be more hours in the day lately, and as a result, I'm more of an artist than ever before, obsessive about trying to express and reflect this new normal.
And that's just me. What about all the supremely talented artists around the globe? Of all genres trying to survive and creating new art along the way? You can't put seven billion people into several months of sheltering without getting massive amounts of artistic output from the process, and frankly, I think we are on the verge of a tidalwave of new music, literature, visual, and yes, performing arts. It's all coming. Going to be quite amazing.
The Virtualistics II
