Chico-based musician Pat Hull continues his musical legacy with a new album and a return to the collaborative roots that always felt like home.
Building on a career spanning more than 15 years, Hull adds “Meridian” to his catalog, capturing the songwriter reflecting on family, marriage and mortality while experimenting with new approaches to his sound.
“I was dipping into my lower register singing and different kinds of lyrical approaches, completely free,” Hull said.
Sonically, the album stands out from his earlier catalog. Abandoning standard guitar tunings and using a deeper vocal register helped unlock new lyrical paths for Hull.
“I think more than 75% of the record is not in standard tuning and guitar,” Hull said. “All these subtle twists were opening up all these new creative pathways in songwriting, which made it feel easier and new and revelatory for me.”
Hull recently turned 41 and is filled with immense gratitude for having created and written songs without expecting anything in return.
"I still have this magnetic drive to want to pick up guitar and song, write and collaborate and record, all of this is still worthwhile to me, and that in itself is the reward,” Hull said.
‘Meridian’ roots
Recorded in Oregon with longtime friends Mark Robbins and Bob Reynolds, musicians Hull first worked with in his early 20s, the production process was intentionally relaxed. Hull said revisiting these shared musical roots brought back the same uninhibited creativity that had lingered in him during his early twenties.
“I just need to trust myself in understanding my intuition about when my kids are ready to be able to handle understanding some of the more difficult things. The ugly parts of what it means to exist — and not live in our bubble — It’s an art and a challenge.”- Pat Hull, artist
“It felt like that kind of naive, youthful, creative energy that we had when we were younger,” Hull said. “Channeled through all of our experiences now, now that we're older.”
Although “Meridian” signifies a midlife vantage point, Hull said there was an element of youthfulness in the studio air.
“It's a good combination to me of content and songwriting that is more mature and older, but with this kind of freedom that at least feels to me like it's more youthful and naive,” Hull said.
Chaos, creation and creativity
With age comes new challenges, as Hull makes clear in “Canopy,” a song he describes as a “dad song” about the daily trials and tribulations of parenting.
“I just need to trust myself in understanding my intuition about when my kids are ready to be able to handle understanding some of the more difficult things,” Hull said. “The ugly parts of what it means to exist — and not live in our bubble — It’s an art and a challenge.”
Through the record, Hull explores how to navigate the more complex areas of parenting, including his children’s more philosophical questions about his own brushes with death, including a brain bleed he had a few years back.
“This balance of protecting them and keeping them safe, but also not wanting to lie to them,” Hull said. “It's an interesting balance of wanting to just put it all out on the table for them to understand all of the wonderful things in life, but also the tough stuff.”
Nevertheless, Hull also stresses the importance of fueling creativity as an adult and not forgetting to take care of yourself.
“I'm just really feeling the importance of mental health and creativity, and what we pass along to our next generation and children,” Hull said. “Adults creating is so healthy. If we can all find whatever avenue that means.”
