Patrice and Kärbholz

Born Patrice Bart-Williams to a Sierra Leonean father and a German mother, Patrice’s first musical loves were Jimi Hendrix and Bob Marley. Both of whom are artists that inform his work to this day, taking the musical virtuosity and creativity of Hendrix and combining it with the rebel spirit and sheer passion of Marley. It’s this blend that’s made him one of the biggest cult acts in Europe, able to sell hundreds of thousands of records and sell out arenas all over the continent to a devoted audience. He’s something of a firebrand, his type rarely seen before and will rarely be seen again and it all began when he was 12 years old.

His music taste was originally informed by his father’s taste for the blues, reggae and African music, and his mother’s taste for jazz and folk. However, it wasn’t until Patrice hit the age of 12 when he started not only diversifying into his own taste in music, but also creating music of his own. Throughout his teenage years he played in a variety of bands and groups, most notably an afrobeat group called Bantu. Through that very band he struck up a friendship with Matthias Arfmann, who went on to produce Patrice’s debut solo E.P “Lions”. The E.P was critically adored and made a name for Patrice across the continent, landing him a slot supporting the legendary Lauryn Hill on one of her European tours.

With the increased exposure that the Lauryn Hill tour gave him, several major labels suddenly became interested in his spirited mix of reggae, soul and folk. Patrice decided to sign with Sony and in 2000, his major label debut album “Ancient Spirit” was released. It wasn’t a major hit right off the bat but it was still critically adored, its 2002 follow up “How Do You Call It” was received in largely the same way, and it wouldn’t be until 2005 that Patrice would strike gold with an album of his. After a 2003 collaboration album with the German reggae group Silly Walks, 2005 saw the release of “Nile”, the album that turned Patrice from cult troubadour to bona-fide pop star.

The album hurtled into the top five of Austria and Germany and had a strong showing in Switzerland as well. The following year saw his victory lap take in a sold out show at the 6’000 capacity Zenith arena along with his first shows in the U.K. Ever since then, Patrice has remained one of the most exciting and all around fascinating stars in Europe. One who doesn’t just score hit album after hit album but is also a legitimate revolutionary, with a fire inside that can’t be quenched and a spirit that won’t rest until it has to. His recent career has seen him perform for an audience of 200’000 people in Berlin opening for Barack Obama, and his star continues to rise now that he’s reached the top of his game. Highly recommended.