Patrick Bartholomew “Trick Wallace" died on January 11, 2023 from cardiac arrest. He was 69 years old. Born in South Bend, IN, to the late George Sylvester Wallace Jr., a college professor, and Mary Donahue Wallace, a mother and saint, he was the youngest of their eight children.
Pat was a local music legend in the Boston area, where he resided for the last 37 years. He composed, produced, and performed as a vocalist, lead and bass guitarist in a variety of music genres including alternative rock, R&B, and country bands. He was a mentor and friend to many area musicians and everyone else who knew him.
He received his first guitar at age 13 on Christmas in Allentown, PA, where his family had moved. Recalling it as a “nautilus exerciser” of an instrument, he quipped, “And that’s where the nightmare began.”
He spent nearly six decades playing in Allentown and Boston and mentoring artists, writing, producing, and recording songs for popular local bands, many of which he assembled. These included Crystal Invention, Uptown Review, Tikit, The Pat Wallace Band, Soul City, Blue Soul, Shauntrelles, Jennerators, Electrolytes, Swallows, Trick Wallace Trio, Asa Brebner and the Naked I’s, Embryonic, Natalie Flannigan Band, Trusty Sidekick, Robin Lane, Xanna Don’t and the Willin. He also frequently collaborated with Steve Brosky, Stan Martin, the Andrea Gillis Band, the Family Jewels, and other popular groups.
For Pat, a crowd’s dancing and singing to his music was his personal standard of success and constituted his artistry. Respected by the many musicians who played with him, he led exemplary performances by encouraging exacting discipline through endless good humor. The general consensus is that he was “funny as hell.”
He also played for fourteen years in the annual volunteer pit band for the Open Fields (Dover, MA) children’s theater productions. On top of his musical gifts, he also excelled as a fine colorist-style artist using acrylics and oils.
Pat was predeceased by his parents, his sister Mary, and his brother Mark. , He is survived by brothers George Wallace (Toni) and Daniel Wallace (Ivey); sisters Anne Wallace-DiGarbo (Joseph) Lucie Wallace Brown (Robert) and Ellen Wallace; and nieces and nephews Mark Wallace, Kelley Moffat, Liam Wallace, Caitlin Wallace, Mary Brown, Andrew Brown, Tennille Brown, Daniel Brown, Bobbi Moore, Colin DiGarbo, Mara DiGarbo, Kane Howard, Molly Wallace, Charlie Bryan, Conor Wallace, Molly Domino, Leslie Mueller, Derek Mueller, William Mueller, and Alex Jackson.
The immediate family will gather privately for reflection and celebration of Pat’s life with a plan to connect with others at a later date. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the charity of your choice in Patrick Wallace’s name.