Under Unminding Skies

The earnest, melancholy folk of singer/songwriter Patrick Park has been quietly turning heads here and abroad, thanks to opening spots on shows with Beth Orton and Gomez, among others, and favorable reviews in the British press. His delicate, soaring tenor harkens back to '70s predecessors John Denver and Gram Parsons. Raised in Colorado but currently based in Los Angeles, Patrick Park could have been just another punk rocker turned folk balladeer waiting for a break. But a chance meeting with acclaimed producer Dave Trumfio (Wilco, My Morning Jacket) yielded recordings that would end up on his first mini-album, Under Unminding Skies, which also features one song engineered by Anna Waronker (That Dog) and Steve McDonald (Redd Kross), and a cover of The Zombies' Colin Blunstone's solo cut "Caroline Goodbye."