Chris Patterson's grandma was robbed by Bonnie and Clyde. It inspired him to write a song.
Mary Maurece Lydon was robbed by Bonnie and Clyde 90 years ago at the First National Bank in Stuart.
That day, April 16, 1934, inspired her grandson to write a song titled “Gin Kisses,” which will be one of the songs featured at “Songwriters in the Round” Feb. 10 at the historic Camelot Theater in Nevada.
“My grandmother got robbed by Bonnie and Clyde when she was 17 years old,” said Chris Patterson of Nevada, organizer of the songwriters event as well as one of the performers. “There’s a lot of feeling behind that song.”
A front-page Des Moines Register article about the robbery included a photo of his grandma and detailed account of the historic event.
“It sparked something with me of trying to get that song out,” he said.
The robbery is where the story starts, but the song evolved into more of a tale about his grandmother’s life as Patterson continued to write.
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Event inspired by experience at Nashville's Bluebird Cafe
Songwriters in the Round is similar to Patterson's performance at the famous Bluebird Cafe in Nashville, Tennessee, when he was part of the group Leaving, TX.
“We had some notoriety and so I got invited to play there," he said. "The neat thing about that is their stage is in the middle of the room."
The strategic placement allowed the audience to surround the stage with the four performers facing each other.
“You’re basically just sitting there focused on these three other performers and talking about the songs, asking each other questions,” Patterson said. “I'm hoping to create that kind of a banter amongst us at the Camelot. But then also try to include the audience if somebody has a question.”
Danny Grause, Jordan Messerole also featured in songwriter event
Two other Iowa songwriters, Danny Grause and Jordan Messerole, will join Patterson on stage for Feb. 10's Songwriters in the Round performance.
Like Patterson, Grause is an alumnus of Nevada High School. Now a Boone resident, Grause recently won the Midwest Country Music Organization Song of the Year award. His songs have been featured in several TV and radio projects as well.
“He sings like Lee Brice, plays guitar like John Mayer, and lays down a funky groove like Bruno Mars. It sounds so good you almost forget how good his lyrics are. That’s Danny Grause,” Paul “PT” Thomas, radio host and Midwest CMA founder, said.
Messerole lives in Des Moines and is a multi-award-winning songwriter. An Americana musician, Messerole “masterfully blends the sounds of his guitar with engaging lyrics, and often a harmonica, to tell gritty American tales that are bound to evoke emotion from all of his listeners,” the Facebook event states.
Patterson has toured the United States, Ireland, and Scotland, sharing his tales of the road. He was the WAMA songwriter of the year and has released six albums fronting the bands Leaving, TX, and Great Caesar’s Goat, along with a 2023 solo album, “Too Old To Die Young." Three of his albums have reached the top 10 in the Americana Music Charts, and he has performed at the SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas, and the Americana Music Festival.
Grandmother’s notebook helped tell the story
Patterson regrets not asking his grandma about Bonnie and Clyde's robbery when she was alive. Though, he stumbled upon one of her notebooks describing the event in detail.
“When they finally let her out of the safe, she just collapsed,” Patterson said. “She knew the person who caught her as she fell to her knees.”
Lydon lived about 7 miles south of Stuart at Arbor Hill. She was a cashier at a creamery and at the bank, making a $175 deposit the notorious duo entered. Clyde Barrow and another man from the Barrow Gang robbed the bank while Bonnie Parker waited in the getaway car.
They took everyone’s money and locked them in the safe. Fortunately, no one was harmed during the ordeal.
“The song originally was going to be about how Bonnie and Clyde robbed this bank. The more I got into the song — because I never really know where a song is going to end up — it became more about my grandma’s life,” Patterson said.
Lydon’s family often held barn dances, and her father was an Irish fiddle player.
“’Gin Kisses’ gets its name from my grandfather, who liked his gin,” Patterson said. “And he smoked Camel cigarettes. So my grandma had a lifetime of gin kisses.”
“She also had a lot of faith, so the song talks about Jesus and her faith. She had five kids, buried three of them and her husband before she died when she was about 93.”
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How to get tickets to Songwriters in the Round
Advance tickets for Songwriters in the Round are available for $15 online at the Camelot Theater Foundation’s website, camelottheaterfoundation.org. Tickets will be $20 the day of the show, which starts at 7 p.m.
Patterson would like the showcase to become a part of the Camelot's regular rotation and hopes to seek out interested musicians.
Ronna Faaborg covers business and the arts for the Ames Tribune. Reach her at rlawless@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Danny Grause, Jordan Messerole, Chris Patterson take Nevada's Camelot stage
