Patrick Butler

Patrick Butler studied and played guitar with icons in four styles of music - Funk, Rock, Jazz, and Celtic music. He studied with guitarists Harry Leahey, Uli Jon Roth, and Roland Prince.

As a child, Butler was taught Celtic and Bluegrass by his father then learned rock and funk while studying the comprehensive method of Harry Leahey.  Leahey was a student of Johnny Smith, the Master of Chordal Theory, and Dennis Sandole, the legendary Philadelphia based guitar and music theory teacher whose most famous students included saxophonist John Coltrane, Pat Martino, Art Farmer, James Moody, Benny Golsen, Michael Brecker and others. Butler studied consistently with Harry Leahey for 12 years, and continued to jam informally until him until his untimely death. Butler still has all his Leahey lesson books that contain this priceless musical knowledge.

Harry urged his students to study with different teachers. Butler started studying with the famous Trinidadian jazz guitarist, Roland Prince, who was living in Brooklyn. Prince is known for his work with Elvin Jones, James Moody and Roy Haines.

Upon graduating high school, Butler played with jazz legends James Spaulding and Richie Cole, but started getting more gigs in the R&B market. He also did studio work at most of the famous recording studios in the Tri State area, including the infamous Joe Robinson’s All Platinum Studios.

After touring stints with the 50s icon, The Drifters, Butler was invited to join The Fatback Band, a Polydor Records funk unit from Queens, New York. The first record he recorded with Fatback, Brite Lites/Big City, went gold. He recorded two more records with the band, including XII, which contains the track King Tim III, the first rap track ever released on a major label.  Butler spent the next several years touring extensively with Fatback

Moving to Los Angeles, Butler concentrated on original rock music with his funk rock power trio Unstoppable. The boys had many adventures and met many LA-based musicians famous and obscure. Butler recorded with Stephen Perkins’ acid jazz jam band, Banyan which included Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers.  He also appears on Mike Watt’s Sony release Ball Hog or Tug Boat on a track featuring Henry Rollins.

Into the new millennium, Butler went back to his roots and led and toured with the Celtic rock band Superkeltic. The band was mentioned as one of the top Celtic rock bands in America by Winnie Czulinski in her history of Celtic music, Drone On! In 2005, he converted his Celtic Band to back up Country Western singers in military base tours which culminated in a week at Guantanamo Bay Marine base for the 2006 Fourth of July celebration. This gig was filmed and made into a Texas Public TV documentary.

In 2007, worn out by constant gigging, he decided to stop being a professional musician and got his BA and teaching credential in Social Studies at Cal State Long Beach and spent the next decade in California public schools. He has written two books about his experience in teaching and is seeking a publisher.

During this time, Butler still sought to study music and record. He released eight jazz influenced projects, seven of which made the Jazz top 100 charts. He also displayed his production skills by writing and producing a project featuring Los Angeles’ great blues guitar player, Marvin McDaniel, with a release called In Cahoots. Butler also studied with the classical rock master Uli Roth attending the Los Angeles Sky Academy sessions. Butler then took the complete music composition course with Pail Navidad at Orange County Community College

Butler currently plays with the Long Beach, CA-based acid jazz band MajicBulletTheory and Billy Meza’s Praise Band every Sunday at Calvary Cross Chapel in Cerritos.