Patty in 1957

When Patty was 12, she went with her mother, sister Dottie, and three of her brothers to visit their big brother, Wayne, who was in the army. There was a country band playing while they chatted, and Naomie told the guitar player that she had a daughter that sang, and they needed a girl singer. The musician told her to bring her on up. Patty's big sister Dottie stepped on stage and Patty remembers to this day how beautiful Dottie looked that day, wearing a brown suit, that matched her hair. Patty looked around the room at all the guys staring at her sister, mesmerized by her voice. Patty decided then that she wanted to do what Dottie was doing.

Dottie and and their brother Roger sang together as a duo around their town. When Dottie went and got married, Roger decided to push Patty out onstage and be the new part of his duo. He got Patty onstage when she was 12 years old at a jamboree in Louisville. Patty was terrified and broke into hives- but she walked off the stage knowing she loved it, and loved the 5.00 they handed her when she walked off stage- the first money she ever earned. She and Roger became known as 'The Singin, Swingin Rameys', a name given to them by deejay friend Danny King.

When Patty was 14, she and Roger traveled down to Nashville. Roger got Patty and himself in Porter's office and Porter listned to Patty pour her heart out in the songs she had written. Porter loved hearing this young girl sing. He encouraged her to finish her schooling, but wanted to help her out. He became a friend to the kids, and introduced them to Dolly Parton. Dolly instantly became like a sister to Patty- and each trip to Nashville, Dolly gave Patty tips- from songwriting to showing her how to apply makeup.

When Patty was 16, she began to sing with the Wilburn Brothers. Their previous girl singer had been Loretta Lynn, and she left to pursue her solor career. Doyle Wilburn held Patty's Publishing contract- he knew Patty could write a good song. He looked upon Patty as a daughter, protecting her and looking out for her on the road. When Patty graudated High School, she moved to Nashville and continued going out on the road with the Wilburns.

While on the road with the Wilburns, Patty noticed a new drummer, Terry Lovelace. Terry was from the Mountains of North Carolina, and reminded Patty a lot of the guys from Pikeville. The two began dating before too long, and tried to be discreet about it. Patty felt she was being suffocated on the road with the Wilburns- everywhere she went, someone was telling her what to do. So Patty did what she wanted to do- and moved to North Carolina with Terry on her 19th birthday. And not long after, she married him.

Patty first worked as a waitress in his mother's restaurant, and then became the girl singer for Terry's rock band. The couple played in rowdy joints and Patty sang covers of rock songs, a lot of Linda Ronstadt and some Bonnie Raitt. Playing in the illegal juke joints, Patty and Terry both began to drink.

In 1979, Patty got a phone call from her mother in law, telling her that her father had died. "I just ran out of the trailer and kept going. Terry had to come after me" Patty says softly.

The loss hit Patty hard. Her drinking had gotten so out of hand and her bandmates had to carry her back to her room one night. "I felt I'd let my family down so I started to cut my wrists. I was crying and kicking myself in the butt at the same time and and all of a sudden, my mother came to me. At that point I popped up and started going, 'Alright if your mother can live through moving away, living in a strange city, lising her daughter, who ran off, and losing the father of her children, losing her soulmate, losing her friend, losing her companion for life, what gives you the right to drink your life away? What gives you the right to take your life away? She gave you life. Why should you take that from her?' And that stopped me. And finally, after that...things started to change."

Patty stopped drinking and divorced Terry. Her brother Roger got her to make a demo tape and got into MCA Executive Tony Brown's office. He told him "if you dont hear this girl sing, your going to miss out on the best girl singer in your whole town.". Brown told him he had two minutes, and Roger played "I Did" for him. Patty moved back to Nashville and got her first deal with MCA records. She was also introduced to producer Emory Gordy Jr, who would produce her records, and more importantly, become her husband in 1989. She made five records with MCA records, and had quite a few hits. But the label had been signing so many new artists, Patty seemed to just get lost in the shuffle. Patty was allowed to leave MCA Records and she got herself onto Epic Records, a division of Sony Music.

In the fall of 1992, Patty found she had a leaking blood vessel on her vocal chords, and underwent immediate laser surgery. She was to remain silent during a few months after- and on her birthday in 1993, she and Emory went back into the studio and began recording her first cd with Epic Records, "Only What I Feel". The first single shot to the number one spot and Patty was back:) The cd became her first platinum selling record. (Webmistress' Totally Biased Opinion Note: How irritating that this was her first Platinum Album- her other albums were just as amazing!)

Since signing with Epic, Patty has made 9 records, including her Bluegrass Masterpiece, "Mountain Soul", and the new Smash, "On Your Way Home". You can read more about Patty's albums, by clicking on the "Patty's Albums" link.