09/07/2024
I had the pleasure of working with Pat Dailey around 1999. I believe I was 20 years old. It was the first project I got to be an “executive producer” on. We started an imprint label under Cleveland Intl called, Shot Glass Records and this was the first release. Pop and I met Pat for lunch in Lakewood one afternoon, it may have been Swingos on the lake where we would frequently go and discussed releasing a “Best Of” type record. I remember sitting in that office at our Cleveland Intl hq’s at the old Agora for days going through several cassettes and CDs Pat had given me to listen to. The guy could write just about anything. Great memories at the Beer Barrel Saloon and his home in Put In Bay. Appropriately dubbed, the Jimmy Buffett of the Great Lakes. Songs like Nymphomaniac and Walleye were two of my favorite sing alongs but there was a reason he gained the attention of poet laureates such as Bobby Bare and Shel Silverstein. He was a brilliant all around songwriter. He never did get that big break but he made the best of his career and did very well and was a TRUE independent artist before it was hip to do! After I moved to Nashville we kind of lost contact. He and his wife sent me a beautiful card after Sr. had passed. Lovely man. May his music live on forever. The album we did was called, Pat Dailey Exposed. If you can find it, I recommend it:). RIP Pat.
Steve Popovich Jr
https://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/2024/07/renowned-singer-songwriter-buffett-of-the-north-pat-dailey-dead-at-83.html?outputType=amp&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR1tIcOsPsEAMRiHWzWgslBGKWk8Cc2jrmBusETzLzT0dYyPIijnquhFcbc_aem_c10PY2jeHwyFWvK49KrD4w
The irreverent bard's passing was announced on social media by his son. Dailey was a fixture in northern Ohio across multiple decades.
