or transcription and I felt like I was hearing the scripture for the first time in my own language , which to me felt like songwriting . I look back and I feel like I was just always around music , I have these images burned in my mind of people crammed into a room singing things they believe with all their hearts in a really emotional experience . And I also have memories of reading verses that were really old but then seemed to be really new because they were spoken in my language and I ’ ve always been interested in that . Those are some of the memories I can trace back that still really stick with me today .
[ WM ] And your impressionable years in Georgia … tell us about that ? Georgia is unfairly not acknowledged for its true place in American music history , as Nashville , Austin , Los Angeles , New York City , Memphis , and a few other areas are . They are the places typically recognized as the “ flash points ” for both mainstream and church music centers . What was music and culture like for you growing up in Georgia ?
[ Pat ] I do feel like Georgia , especially Atlanta , has always had so much music coming out of it , especially in the Rap and Hip-Hop scene as well . I think what I ’ ve always loved about growing up in Atlanta is that you were always rubbing shoulders with so many genres all the time . I think it feels really significant in that regard , because you have the biggest city in the middle of the south and it ' s a very diverse and multifaceted city to live in . I don ’ t think I
Housefires - Good Good Father ( feat . Pat Barrett ) could have appreciated that growing up , but now looking back I was surrounded by so many genres and influences there .
[ WM ] You co-authored the song , “ Good , Good Father ”, with your Housefires bandmate Tony Brown around six years ago . My goodness , what a story there is to this song and its impact . It seems to have taken on a life of its own ! What can you tell us about the song ’ s beginnings ?
[ Pat ] Wow , that ’ s a great question ! I go through times in my life where I struggle to pinpoint absolute beginnings . I know with Tony , that his story is one of growing up and the only person he ’ s ever called “ father ” is God . God is the only person that ’ s ever had that name in his life ! For me it was becoming a Dad for the first time myself , and hitting a moment or moments of crisis , where you feel the inadequacy of the title you have .