Rew Starr: For those who don’t know, can you give us a bit of your story?
Patti Rothberg: 1994 was one of the wildest times of my life! I lived on 23rd Street next to the Chelsea Hotel. A LOT of changes. It was my last year at Parsons School of design, and my major was Illustration. I had NO plan, just figured one thing would lead to another.
My friends were all street people: A slide player with white hair who claimed to be from Paul Butterfield’s band…”Andy” I think, Shah who would bum cigarettes, perched outside my apt. (I found out he was an ex con who killed someone and was out on parole) but to me he was my friend…I would flit around and hang out with homeless people and street characters all the time… my old guitarist then, Lukasz, lived a few blocks downtown…when he said, “I just hung out with Kid Rock. I need a name what do you think of “Dr. Luke”!!!!?
I was meeting so many people that year and I invented an excuse to paint portraits which I liked to paint best: A book called “Math 4 Artists the Wonder of Genetics.” I went to Sidewalk Cafe (RIP) and waltzed right up to Lach (now famous for starting and running “Antifolk” for years) and showed him my portraits (manic much?) Asked him for a show. He gave it to me. 1994. My commute back and forth from Parsons was between the 1 and 9, F and L tunnel on 14th Street and 7th Ave (which was later shortened to “Between the One and the Nine. I incorporated many concepts…the artwork on the album is like a rubik’s cube with one oil painting in the middle and 8 surrounding making a 1 and 9.
Rew Starr: You got married in 2020. So was your husband a fan of your music?
Patti Rothberg: Another amazing story… 25 years ago, right after my record came out, Micah was working as the assistant manager of a record store, Sam Goody. He wasn’t even supposed to come in at all that day. A rep for EMI came in with my promo and asked if he would play my record ‘Between 1&9’….We’re pushing this girl.’ He asked ‘what does she sound like?’ and the rep dutifully replied ‘Alanis.’ Miraculously, he put on my CD in the store anyway.
Track after track, he says he was waiting for it to sound like Alanis and it never did. He ended up liking the CD, and even selling 40 or so copies! The rep returned 4 days later to follow up. ‘I listened to Patti Rothberg’ Micah said. ‘She’s pretty good!’ And he said, ‘Well she’s playing tonight, we have free tickets! Long story short, he asked his friend, Monique to accompany him to my show, and by his recount, judging from my underlit cover painting, he was expecting a “less than attractive troubadour”!
Micah was bored, facing the other way from where I entered, and someone exclaimed, “There’s Patti.” He turned around, and confused said, ‘Where? Behind the hot chick (meaning ME!) Micah ditched his date for who was to become his queen and bride.
From: https://rockmommy.com/2021/09/patti-rothberg-comes-clean-about-love-art-life-beyond-the-1-and-the-9-and-those-alanis-comparisons/
