Patrick Finnerty[2] (born 1980)[3] is an American musician and YouTube personality based in Philadelphia. As a singer-guitarist, his projects include Okay Paddy, And the Moneytones, Pat Finnerty and the Full Band, and August is Falling. On social media channels, Finnerty is known for posting original song compositions and giving critical reviews of popular music songs in the What Makes This Song Stink series.[4]
Pat Finnerty | |||||||
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Born | 1979 or 1980 (age 44–45) | ||||||
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Years active | 2004–present | ||||||
Musical career | |||||||
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Instrument(s) | Guitar, vocals, bass | ||||||
Member of |
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Formerly of |
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YouTube information | |||||||
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Location | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | ||||||
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Subscribers | 183,000[1] | ||||||
Total views | 8.65 million[1] | ||||||
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Last updated: January 29, 2024 |
Early life and education
editFinnerty spent his early life in Scranton, Pennsylvania, United States.[5] He began playing live music in bands at the age of 16, Finnerty has said in the past that he was inspired to start playing by acts like Weezer, Ween, and Nirvana. Finnerty later attended Temple University.[6][7] By 2010, Finnerty lived in West Philadelphia, where he still resided as of August 2020[update].[3]
Career
editMusical projects
editFinnerty has been based in Philadelphia since about 2010 (he currently resides in West Philadelphia).[5][8] His musical projects have included Okay Paddy, And The Moneynotes, Heavy Blonde,[9] The Tom Petty Appreciation Band, and Pat Finnerty and the Full Band.[10][5][11][12] In 2015, The Lid, a rock opera by Pat Finnerty, had a three-night run at the Underground Arts theater.[13][14] Finnerty has also taken on gigs as a sideman guitarist,[4] such as performing onstage with members of Dr. Dog[8] and touring as a guitarist with Strand of Oaks.[15][16]
YouTube and Instagram
editFinnerty joined YouTube in 2009. By the early 2020s, Finnerty's viral online content and musical performances had made him a renowned singer-guitarist in the Philadelphia music scene.[17][18] Toward the end of 2023, he had over 166,000 subscribers and over 7.74 million total views.[19]
Finnerty is known to use social-media platforms to release original song recordings. In 2014, he released the humorous songs "Raggae Dog" and "Raggae Dog II: Reflection" via YouTube.[20]
His social-media channels gained national acclaim in May 2020 when he posted videos online of his band performing live, rooftop concerts in Philadelphia that complied with COVID-19 social-distancing measures and that supported Black Lives Matter.[18][21][22]
On the Instagram platform, Finnerty's presence is branded as "The Pat Finnerty Show".[5] In August 2020, Finnerty staged a 24-hour Instagram livestream event referred to as "Grohlathon"[23][24] in an attempt to get the attention of Foo Fighters' front man Dave Grohl.[25] At the nine-hour mark of his stream, to the surprise of Finnerty, Grohl joined via chat while hosting a dinner party with his friends. Grohl and Finnerty chatted for several minutes, and Grohl played part of the Dire Straits' song, "Money for Nothing", at the request of Finnerty.[5][3][26][27]
Finnerty became well-known for his video series What Makes This Song Stink, a spoof of YouTuber Rick Beato's series "What Makes This Song Great?", where he analyzes the musical concepts in popular songs and offers social commentary about the song's lyrics and commercial appeal.[28] The series has reviewed "Kryptonite" by 3 Doors Down, "All Summer Long" by Kid Rock, "Beverly Hills" by Weezer, "Hey, Soul Sister" by Train, multiple songs by Lenny Kravitz, "Dani California" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, "Emo Girl" by Machine Gun Kelly, and "Try That In A Small Town" by Jason Aldean.[28][29][30] Finnerty also releases "Little Stinkers", which are shorter videos than the approximately 45-minute videos of the main series including songs by artists such as Nickelback, Walker Hayes & Monster Truck.[29] In 2022, Finnerty adapted the What Makes This Song Stink series as a podcast.[31][32]
Finnerty's videos are characterized by his niche humor, social interaction with people on the street and running gags, such as shouting out "Beato!" after mentioning music theory concepts.[4][33]
In April 2021, Finnerty's critical review video of the Weezer song "Beverly Hills" helped popularize the term, "The Weezer Conversation", about the complicated relationship fans of the band Weezer have with how the band's songwriting and album development have progressed over the band's tenure.[34]
Finnerty is good friends with members of rock band Dr. Dog and to support his critical review video of Train's "Hey, Soul Sister", he convinced the band to release a cover of "Here Comes the Hotstepper" by reggae singer Ini Kamoze.[35]
August is Falling
editFinnerty founded August is Falling, a pop-punk, emo-style music project.[36][37] Finnerty wrote[38] the songs and played guitars and sang vocals, and Eric Slick played drums,[39] on the band's The Simple Plan EP that was released independently in 2022.[40] Lyrics of the songs on the EP take aim at the popular music industry, internet culture, and the state of the emo movement.[40] The EP's fifth song track, "August is Falling", was mixed by acclaimed music producer Butch Walker.[36][37][41][42]
A running gag on Finnerty's social media channels was that he hoped to earn enough money from The Simple Plan EP to purchase a hot tub.[43] As of December 2023, he has achieved his goal of acquiring a hot tub, in the form of an inflatable non-permanent Hot Tub in the confines of his garage.[30]
Discography
editOkay Paddy
editAnd the Moneytones
editPat Finnerty and the Full Band
edit- "The Weezer Conversation" (2014)[48]
- The Lid (2018 digital release)[13]
- "Lake House" (2020)[48]
- "Tough Gig" (2020)[48]
- "Rest of It" (2022)[48]
Other projects
edit- Pat Finnerty, "Reggae Dog" and "Reggae Dog II: Reflection" (2014)[20]
- Heavy Blonde, compilation of 11 song tracks (2015)[9]
- Tortured Agony, "Dead Man Trail" (2021)[49]
- August is Falling, The Simple Plan EP (2022)[40]
Other credits
edit- Toby Leaman, Military Applications (2022)—lead guitar[50]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b "About Pat Finnerty". YouTube.
- ^ What Makes This Song Stink Ep. 8 - Jason Aldean "Try That in a Small Town". Event occurs at 49:12. Retrieved March 28, 2024 – via www.youtube.com.
- ^ a b c Hudak, Joseph (August 17, 2020). "How a 'F-cking Nobody' From Philly Got Dave Grohl to Jam With Him on Instagram Live". Rolling Stone. Retrieved September 6, 2022.
- ^ a b c Kovac, Adam (May 2, 2023). "Pat Finnerty: "I knew millions of people were gonna get What Makes This Song Stink 'cause millions watch Rick Beato, and maybe 10% know how ridiculous this man is"". Guitar World. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
- ^ a b c d e "Scranton musician Pat Finnerty got Dave Grohl to sing and chat with him on Instagram". NEPA Scene. August 17, 2020. Retrieved September 6, 2022.
- ^ "Excellent article from the (Scranton PA) sunday-Times about being a local musician". The Gear Page. March 24, 2013. Retrieved September 6, 2022.
- ^ Wilding, Patrice (March 23, 2013). "Musicians on a mission". The Scranton Times-Tribune. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
- ^ a b DeLuca, Dan (August 10, 2022). "3 new live music venues by Avram Hornik will energize Philly nightlife". Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved August 10, 2022.
- ^ a b Lello, Michael (February 18, 2014). "Heavy Blonde: 'Your Not Going to Get the Same Thing'". Highway 81 Revisited. Retrieved September 13, 2022.
- ^ "WXPN to air weeklong celebration of MTV's 40th birthday". PhillyVoice. July 27, 2021. Retrieved September 6, 2022.
- ^ Zenyatta, Eugene (August 21, 2021). "Bringing the Sass". Philadelphia Weekly. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
- ^ Beck, Tom (October 24, 2018). "Tom Petty's legacy lives on at Johnny Brenda's". Star News Philly. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
- ^ a b Colavita, Michael (December 3, 2015). "Breakup the Monotony of the Norm w/Pat Finnerty and the Full Band at Ortlieb's Dec. 3". The Deli. Retrieved September 7, 2022.
- ^ Peterson, Tyler (August 25, 2015). "BRAT Productions to Stage THE LID During Fringe Arts Festival". BroadwayWorld. Retrieved September 9, 2022.
- ^ Fennell, Sean (September 18, 2021). "Strand of Oaks makes an emotional return to the XPNFest River Stage". WXPN. Retrieved September 9, 2022.
- ^ "We All Get Together: As Strand Of Oaks Hits The Road, We Look Back At One Of Our Favorite Shows From Last Year". Magnet Magazine. May 5, 2022. Retrieved September 9, 2022.
- ^ Vettese, John (August 6, 2021). "Pat Finnerty and the Full Band bring the rock of the 80s to XPN Studio for Free at Noon". WXPN. Retrieved September 7, 2022.
- ^ a b "Pat Finnerty". First Avenue. Retrieved September 6, 2022.
- ^ "Pat Finnerty - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved December 18, 2023.
- ^ a b Lello, Michael (July 2, 2014). "Exclusive: "Raggae Dogg II: Reflection"". Highway 81 Revisited. Retrieved September 13, 2022.
- ^ Faulk, Steven M. (June 10, 2020). "Rooftop concert supports Black Lives Matter". Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
- ^ Titlow, John Paul (August 13, 2020). "How Live Music Is Coping, And What The Near Future Will Bring". National Public Radio. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
- ^ Reilly, Nick (August 18, 2020). "Watch Dave Grohl surprise fan as he joins 'Grohlathon' and plays drums". NME. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
- ^ Tan, Emily (August 18, 2020). "Dave Grohl Plays Drums On Superfan's 'Grohlathon'". SPIN.com. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
- ^ Schaffner, Lauryn (August 17, 2020). "Watch Dave Grohl Join Fan's 'Grohlathon' Live Stream, Play Drums". Loudwire. Retrieved September 18, 2022.
- ^ Mamo, Heran (August 18, 2020). "Dave Grohl Made a Superfan's Dream Come True by Crashing His 'Grohlathon' Livestream Jam Session". Billboard. Retrieved September 6, 2022.
- ^ Lello, Michael (August 17, 2020). "Pat Finnerty Got Grohl: 'I knew he'd be into it'". Highway 81 Revisited. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
- ^ a b Thrower, Sean (June 3, 2021). "What Makes Pat Finnerty's "What Makes This Song Stink" Series Great". Guitar Ramble. Retrieved September 7, 2022.
- ^ a b Janci, Janelle (August 28, 2022). "Meet Pat Finnerty, the YouTuber who explains why some songs just stink". Lancaster Online. Retrieved September 6, 2022.
- ^ a b What Makes This Song Stink Ep. 8 - Jason Aldean "Try That in a Small Town", retrieved December 19, 2023
- ^ "Podcast News Bites: NPR, Starburns Audio, New York Public Radio". Inside Radio. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
- ^ Douglas, Stephen (December 28, 2022). "Things We Loved in 2022: Pat Finnerty". The Big Lead. Retrieved January 1, 2023.
- ^ Ufberg, Max (November 22, 2022). "Meet the YouTuber who struck it big by breaking down the songs he hates". Fast Company. Retrieved January 1, 2023.
- ^ Brow, Jason (October 6, 2021). "Weezer's New Albums: What To Know About The Four New Records From The Rock Band". Hollywood Life. Retrieved January 1, 2023.
- ^ Watkis, Jr (April 10, 2022). "Here Comes The Hotstepper Featured In Sonic The Hedgehog 2". World Music Views. Retrieved September 29, 2022.
- ^ a b Belghast (August 5, 2022). "Pat Finnerty Rocks". Tales of the Aggronaut. Retrieved September 11, 2022.
- ^ a b "What Makes This Song Stink "Emo Girl" BIG UPDATE". YouTube. August 30, 2022. Retrieved August 30, 2022.
- ^ "August is Falling". Genius.com. Retrieved September 7, 2022.
- ^ Slick, Eric (August 31, 2022). "the secrets out. i played drums on the new AUGUST IS FALLING". Twitter. Retrieved September 12, 2022.
- ^ a b c "August is Falling - The Simple Plan EP". EXITMUSIK (in French). September 4, 2022. Retrieved September 12, 2022.
- ^ "Mysterious Pop-Punk Band August Is Falling Releases Self-titled Single, Announces Debut EP". Ultimate Guitar. Retrieved September 6, 2022.
- ^ Grassick, Mark (September 5, 2022). "August Is Falling: Meet the internet's hottest new emo band". Ticketmaster UK. Retrieved September 6, 2022.
- ^ Raible, Allan (December 28, 2022). "Review: 50 best albums of 2022". Good Morning America. Retrieved January 1, 2023.
- ^ "Hunk, by Okay Paddy". BandCamp. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
- ^ Lello, Michael (November 25, 2013). "'Snow Tracks' Preview: Okay Paddy". Highway 81 Revisited. Retrieved September 13, 2022.
- ^ "Pat Finnerty Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More". AllMusic. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
- ^ a b "With new EP on the way, And The Moneynotes are raising their profile". Times Leader. April 28, 2009. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
- ^ a b c d "Pat Finnerty and the Full Band". BandCamp. Retrieved September 18, 2022.
- ^ Tortured Agony - Dead Man Trail (Chords), Ultimate Guitar, retrieved September 19, 2022
- ^ Vettese, John (October 24, 2022). "Toby Leaman's solo debut finds the Dr. Dog bassist in top form". WXPN. Retrieved October 26, 2022.