"Patrik can count on ascending as one of the great modern songwriters if he continues the direction he's begun with "Grunion Run", his latest release as Stephen Patrik and the Shores. We hear hundreds of songs and releases - this one truly is special..." - earBuzz.com

"The Science of Her Nature" was the featured Pop Rock track of the week on garageband.com, ranking among the top Pop Rock and Rock tracks of all time.

Bio

It all came together at a recent gig in New York City as the band Stephen Patrik and the Shores transitioned effortlessly from toe-tapping, sing-along songs like "Make Up Your Mind", to their intimate, somber ballads like "Suffer": these guys have it. That little something extra. Sure, the tracks off their new album, Grunion Run, are impressive enough - it was recorded at some of the best studios in New York - but they sound that way live, too.

Bassist Ezra Matychak commented on it briefly after the show: "We wanted to get a live feel out of the recordings - most everything was live-tracked and mixed to tape, then engineered without much compression –so what you get is a raw, more natural sound. People should hear the same band they just saw when they put on the CD, and I think they do."

What he didn't say is that they are lucky enough to get away with it; not everyone can these days, or even much attempts to. Vulnerability at times drips off this album, allowing us to embrace the music in a much fuller, more tactile way. We can thereby better distinguish all of the subtle variations between elements such as the edgier guitar riffs on "She Must Have", to those sweet and ethereal female vocal harmonies in "Purple and Red". Or play at conceptualizing the almost two entirely different dimensions of "Dancing Circles" and "The Science of Her Nature". There is an incredibly wide range of both light and dark shades to be explored here.

We can trace some of these contrasts to writer Stephen Patrik. His life has been full of them: he grew up in one of the most idyllic seaside towns in America - La Jolla, California - but family troubles plagued him until he landed at boarding school in Massachusetts when he was sixteen. "That was a liberation for me – it actually helped me to start a big turnaround," he says. It was there he also picked up the guitar. "I wanted to learn how to play "Landslide"; it took me about six months," he says, laughing. While attending nearby Amherst College, Stephen started up a band that focused on the blues. That, and his concentration in the study of poetry, might explain his deep insight into the craft and delivery of lyrics. "Nearly every song is one of only a few standard chord progressions, so where you win or lose people is with words, performance and rhythm - blues is a great example of that," he says.

After graduation, Stephen Patrik spent a year backpacking throughout Europe and Asia, gathering up inspiration for new material, and even learning to play the sitar. He then settled down in New York City to record the new album. He was fortunate enough to team up with some of the city's best: gold-accredited producer Matthew Chiaravalle (Joe Bonamassa, Michael Tolcher), drummer Ron Thaler (Sarah McLachlan, Dweezil Zappa) and bassist/engineer Ezra Matychak (Dave Matthews Band, Switchfoot). The result is a brilliant collection of radio-friendly melodies that convey a sense of depth, conviction and intelligence not commonly found in today's achingly formulaic singles.

The band is now gigging regularly at some of the city's best venues, lining up soon-to-be-released press spots, reviews, and increasing national exposure through various media outlets like satellite and internet radio. A video will be released in April. Mina Pajevic and Elijah Steele recently completed the lineup, contributing on keys and the guitar, respectively. The band will stay in New York until summer when they plan to move to Hollywood – and back to Stephen's roots on the West Coast. They are currently booking a summer tour from San Diego to the Bay Area.

Wherever you happen to catch them live, or hear them on the radio, you'll agree: Stephen Patrik and the Shores have that rare spark of talent that invariably distinguishes them from the rest of the pack, and will propel them to great success within the industry.