"Gris-gris (pronounced "Gree Gree"), also spelled grigri, is a voodoo amulet originating in Africa which is believed to protect the wearer from evil or brings luck, and in some West African countries is used as a method of birth control. It consists of a small cloth bag, usually containing a ritual number of small objects, worn on the person. Regardless of the etymology of the word, it is common knowledge amongst New Orleans Voodoo practitioners that gris gris encompasses the entire continuum of magick. Gris gris is both a noun and a verb, referring to a ritually prepared object such as a doll or a small cloth bag filled with magickal ingredients, as well as the act of working the gris gris (i.e. spell or charm) and the verbal invocations that are made to effect the magical properties of Voodoo. In New Orleans, Gris Gris Bags are used to assist in drawing Love, Health, Good Luck and a variety of other positive influences into our lives." (From Wikipedia and planetvoodoo.com). Patrick Cooper is an Acoustic Americana/Blues Singer/Songwriter from New Orleans. The son of a North Louisiana Hillbilly and a South Louisiana Cajun, Patrick has been playing the guitar and singing in public since age 12. Starting in his hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana (home of the Louisiana Hayride and Leadbelly) and then later in Baton Rouge (Blues and R & B), he has played music from the 60's rock explosion to Folk, Country, Blues and New Orleans style R & B. Patrick has written or co-written songs that are a blend of Blues, Rock, R&B, Folk and Country. In 1988, Patrick moved from Baton Rouge to Santa Cruz, California (where Old Hippies go to die), and after recovering from the culture shock started performing on the West Coast. He has performed at the Opening Night for the 2005 and 2006 Santa Cruz Film Festival at the Del Mar Theatre. Out West Patrick could be found performing solo or onstage with a number of talented musicians including John Craigie (A Seasoned San Francisco based Touring Troubadour), Mark Gloster (in a duo known as Rubber Shark Gumbo), and Kevin Jenkins (Slide Guitarist Extraordinaire). Another sometime collaborator was the late Karen Stern (a talented satirical singer/songwriter). He has been on a number of tours of the Pacific Northwest, California, Texas and Louisiana. After over 23 great years in California, Patrick found himself missing his home state and moved to New Orleans in 2011. He now plays regularly all over the State of Louisiana and is excited to be releasing his down home organic sounding "Gris Gris In Your Face". Patrick is the sole songwriter on nine out of the thirteen songs on the album. The other four are co-written with his long time writing partner, Bob Marak from Shreveport. Helping him on this album are two outstanding New Orleans musicians, Dwight Breland (lead acoustic guitar, dobro and pedal steel) and Andy J Forest (harmonica). When one plays the album the hope is that the listener will feel that the musicians are right there in the room. Hope you like it!