Las Vegas Weekly

Getting to know bluesman Glenn Patrik

Glenn Patrik is bringing plenty of blues cred with him to Las Vegas and, apparently, a bunch of guitars, too.

When Glenn Patrik hits the stage at the Las Vegas Blues Festival on Saturday, he’ll bring with him 40 years of Kansas City, Kansas-bred, road-tested, soul-encrusted blues. He’ll also bring a band—bassist Mario Moreno, keyboardist Rusty Hall, drummer Thomas “Freight Train” Walker and multi-instrumentalist Mike Malone—whose combined experience includes stints on the road and in the studio with such artists as Robert Cray, Sister Sledge and Lonnie Brooks.

Patrik—who played his first show at age 8—has spent most of his life as a voyager musician, playing cities across the United States and around the globe, but now he calls Las Vegas home. His recently released second Shakehouse Records CD, Nuthin’ But a Thang!, features 11 tracks of the singer, guitarist and songwriter’s laid-back, storytelling blues, highlighted by moments of jazz and gospel flares, along with Patrik’s distinctive take on the classic song “Kansas City.”

“In my life, Kansas City has two distinctions,” Patrik says. “It’s my hometown, where I picked up most of what I know about music, and it’s the name of a song that is known and recognized worldwide. This fully reworked version is my contribution to the evolution of the tune.”