Pat Sansone

71
Pat Sansone bigraphy, stories - American musician

Pat Sansone : biography

21 June 1969 –

Pat Sansone (born June 21, 1969) is a multi-instrumentalist in the rock bands Wilco and The Autumn Defense.

Early bands

Sansone was born in Meridian, Mississippi. Upon entering college at The University of Southern Mississippi, Sansone found two musical kindred souls in Will Martin and Eddie Bo McRaney and started Beagle Voyage, a power trio influenced by Minutemen, Hüsker Dü, The Who, and Rush. Sansone played guitar for Beagle Voyage and then Stretch Armstrong, a rock band influence by Black Sabbath and the Butthole Surfers. Soon after, Sansone formed the band Birdy, which included fellow Mississippians Trey Batson, Ike Marr and Glen Graham, who went on to play drums for Blind Melon. In 2000 he joined Rogers Stevens (formerly of Blind Melon) to play the bass in the band Extra Virgin.

Wilco

In 2004 Sansone joined Wilco before a tour in support of their album A Ghost Is Born, following the departure of multi-instrumentalist Leroy Bach. On tour Sansone plays guitar, keyboard, maracas, and several other instruments, as well as singing backup vocals. He was also involved in the writing and recording of Wilco’s 2007 release Sky Blue Sky, 2009’s Wilco (The Album), and The Whole Love in 2011.

Pat Sansone received a co-production credit for his work on The Whole Love. He also received credit for arranging strings for the track "Black Moon".

Other projects

In 2009 Sansone made a guest appearance on Dawes’s album North Hills. In 2010 he appeared on the albums Familial by Radiohead drummer Phil Selway, Compass by Jamie Lidell, and You Are Not Alone by Mavis Staples.

In 2010 Patrick Sansone released a book of photography called 100 Polaroids. The book is a collection of polaroid photographs taken with an SX70 camera. Sansone began photographing with the SX70 in 2006, and shot extensively over the next several years while traveling with Wilco and The Autumn Defense. The book is self-published by his own Sansonica Books.

In April 2012, Sansone co-produced an EP, Weird Weather, for the Chicago-based band Deserters with Josh Shapera.

The Autumn Defense

Sansone’s own project The Autumn Defense was formed in New Orleans in 1999 with friend John Stirratt of Wilco. The band recorded four full-length albums: The Green Hour in 2000, Circles in 2003, the self-titled The Autumn Defense in 2006, and Once Around in 2010. Sansone lived in both Nashville and New York, working as a producer and studio musician. He contributed to albums by Joseph Arthur, Andrew Bird, Josh Rouse, Mavis Staples, Swan Dive, Jenifer Jackson, Ryan Adams, The Clientele, and others.