Beth Patterson  Beth Waggoner Patterson is an Irish folk and Celtic musician and singer, based in New Orleans, Louisiana. She combines traditional Irish, Celtic and folk ballads with Cajun, world-beat, and progressive rock influences and her own creative songwriting. A native of Lafayette, Louisiana, Patterson began her professional career in her teens as a classical oboist and a Cajun bass player. She spent a year studying traditional Irish music and ethnomusicology at University College Cork in Ireland, where she began to experiment with musical fusion. She later finished her bachelor's degree in Music Therapy from Loyola University New Orleans. Patterson cites the "progressive rock" band Rush as a major musical influence. Patterson was a founding member of the ensemble the Poor Clares, who debuted in 2003 at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival to rave reviews. The Poor Clares' albums include "Change of Habit" and "Songs for Midwinter", distributed nationally by Centaur Records. Patterson released her first four solo albums on the Little Blue Men Records label, including two studio productions, the somewhat more traditionally-oriented but still musically eclectic "Hybrid Vigor", the world-beat and progressive-rock-influenced "Take Some Fire", and the 2005 live album, "Caught in the Act". Her 2009 release, "On Better Paths," is the most daring, crossing boundaries of form and genre even further. The recording received a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Folk Album. After leaving Little Blue Men Records, Patterson continued to record solo albums. She has also played on and produced other albums, including "Orin" (2005) by the French Breton progressive-folk group TornaoD. She has appeared on over one hundred and seventy recordings. Patterson was a regular performer at O'Flaherty's Irish Pub in New Orleans's famed French Quarter, until the Pub closed when Hurricane Katrina hit at the end of August 2005. Patterson has since been playing regularly at other New Orleans venues, particularly the Kerry Irish Pub. She has also toured in Australia & New Zealand, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, and Ireland, as well as much of the United States. She is especially a favorite of Celtic music fans in the Washington, D.C. area.  Starting in 2013 into 2018, "Bad Beth & Beyond", Beth Patterson's bawdy and profane alter ego, performed in the French Quarter. "Bad Beth" used the Irish bouzouki, just as Patterson does, while singing risque originals and covers.