Category Archives: Stephen Pate

A German Piano With a Colorful Past

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Parrots and pianos live long enough to experience human history – my piano has 120 years of birth, death, business twists, war, hard times, and relationship endings

Gebr.Schulz baby grand klavier

By Stephen Pate – My piano has a colorful history. Built by a 120-year-old German company founded with Steinway who survived two World Wars, it was sold to a German Canadian who skipped town without paying.

Updated 3/8/2012 by Christoph Schulz – see end note

He shipped it to Canada and didn’t pay the customs duty in Halifax either. The piano was sold to a musician who traded years later to a music dealer. The dealer jacked the price up and traded it to me while stiffing me for an additional $7 grand.
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The Butcher Boy video

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Happy St. Paddy’s Day

The Butcher Boy, Stephen Pate

I first heard this haunting Irish folk song from Liam Clancy in the 1960′s on his Vanguard LP.

It stuck with me through all the years as one of the saddest songs.

The song is variously attributed to London town or Dublin town. It’s an amalgam of several broadside ballads.  Continue reading →

Tenth anniversary of being disabled and loving it

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You might think me slightly crazy but I am enjoying my disability and retirement more than anyone knows

Ten years ago I retired and became disabled more or less at the same moment.

I want to thank the Good Lord who gave me these ten years which have been some of the best of my life. I am still alive, enjoying the experience and learning everyday.

My name is Stephen Pate and I am a workaholic. I became a workaholic after watching my father who was one too. There is little pleasure without work, or at least my brain is wired that way.  Continue reading →

Singer songwriters perform at Always on Stage

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Although the City Stages Youth Festival has become a tradition, it is not staid.

Singer songwriters Jessica Palmer and Stephen Pate (photo: Sally Cole, Guardian)

From Guardian, by Sally Cole

Although the City Stages Youth Festival has become a tradition, it is not staid. It’s ever evolving, says Buddan.

“We want to expand the scope of the program to represent multiple musical genres.

“So this summer we invited Stephen Pate to co-ordinate the singer-songwriter series,” says Buddan.

Working with five slots and six musicians, Pate, who is active in the Charlottetown music scene, selected some Island singer-songwriters to be part of the program and then endeavored to give the artists opportunity to perform. Continue reading →