Nashville-based singer-songwriter Patrick Droney is back with a striking, soulful single in “The Wire”, and he’s ready to take on the music world.

The release of Droney’s self-titled debut EP back in 2018 catapulted his career into high heaven, spawning over 10 million streams, a performance on Late Night with Seth Meyers and a deal with major label Warner Records. Now with the release of his new single “The Wire,” Droney shows no intention of slowing down. This song is larger than life — a beautiful blend of synth-pop, rock and soul, with a powerful time-is-of-the-essence message.

“This was kind of one of those fall-out-of-the-sky songs,” Droney said. “I was in the studio one night and ended up playing this riff that I just kind of felt was really special. I slept on it, and the next day I went and opened it back up and the song just kind of fell out.”

Droney draws from a lot of different sounds and genres, making for very eclectic music. Droney said his sound “definitely comes from a melting pot of genres, and I think it’s more exciting now than ever as an artist to have the freedom to just make music and not have to be put in a box.” Droney cited the Eagles, Joni Mitchell, Ray Charles and Eric Clapton as some of his musical inspirations.

“Eric Clapton to me is kind of the epitome of what you can do as a pop artist while still maintaining those roots of blues and soul music.” While Droney appreciates the freedom he has as an artist today to just create, he still acknowledges his roots and the music that shaped him growing up.

Droney has played with the likes of B.B. King, James Brown and Elvis Costello, which propelled him to win the “Next Generation Award,” presented by the Robert Johnson Blues Foundation. Droney won the award when he was just 13 back in 2006. But Droney’s musical journey began much earlier. Born in Pennsylvania and raised in New Jersey, Droney said it all started with his blues-musician dad.

“I grew up with him kind of bottle-feeding me soul and blues music and guitar players — great guitar players and also great songwriters,” he said. “So I just kind of knew very, very early that music was kind of something I was interested in.” Droney started playing guitar at an incredibly young 6 years old. “I ended up picking up the guitar and just never really put it down,” he said.

Droney plans to make a stop at Salt Lake City’s The Complex with ZZ Ward on March 2. Droney said being on the road and performing live is “a different experience, to go out and have a true connection with people … I think the magic of a live performance is it’s a time to let things kind of go where it goes and kind of follow these little back alleys that end up in really cool places.”

While celebrating the release of “The Wire” and preparing for his upcoming tour, Droney is currently working on his debut album. “There’s something so special about songs that are meant to be together,” Droney said about the process. “To be able to curate that for people I think is a real gift.”

“The Wire” is out today on all major streaming platforms. To keep up-to-date on Droney’s music, tour dates and more, visit his website.

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@ParkerDunn10