Country singer/songwriter Patricia Conroy signed her first big recording deal with the major label Warner Music Canada. She did three albums for the record company before moving on. During the late '80s and into the '90s, Conroy came into her own, becoming a one-woman force to take notice of. Though she had spent years in the world of country music earning a number of awards, her career really took off in 1989 with her deal with Warner and her winning the Canadian Country Music Award's Vista Rising Star Award. She also came away with awards in 1993, 1994, and 1999, with Album of the Year, Female Vocalist of the Year, and Best Independent Female Artist, respectively. Patricia Conroy was born in Montreal, Canada. Her family had a little Irish folk band whom she performed with during her music-filled childhood. There were also piano and voice lessons to hone her natural talents, and time spent singing at her church. Outside of the daily mixture of folk and gospel music she had been exposed to, young Conroy enjoyed records and the radio like most people. It was music by famous female country singers like the legendary Emmylou Harris that pulled Conroy's interest toward country. Soon, she was a background vocalist for a band who played bluegrass country. She went on to enter a number of music contests and often won. Tragically, a car wreck almost ended her hopes for a musical career, and her life. It took her two long years to fully recover to a point where she could move forward. Moving forward meant putting together a band of her own, the Patricia Conroy Band. She wrote a number of the songs the group performed. The next steps were making demos and finding gigs with audiences large enough to give her a chance to build the start of a fan base. In 1988, Conroy finally managed some good luck when she met Bob Roger from Warner Music. She got the chance, and the courage, to hand him one of her demos. A year later she saw him again, and this time he was the one who asked for some of her recent demos. In a very short time she was signing her first recording contract. Two long years later, her debut album, Blue Angel, was on store shelves. The full-length offering showed off Conroy's talents with the help of an impressive lineup for a backing band, including country superstar Vince Gill, who helped out with background vocals. In 1992, Conroy, whose music is often labeled contemporary country flavored with roots rock, completed her sophomore album, Bad Day for Trains. By then she had already claimed some hits with a few songs, and her first big award from the CCMA. Her fame was also beginning to spread from Canada into the United States. In 1993, she left her native land and moved to the home of country music in America: Nashville. In 1994, she recorded a third album, You Can't Resist. It was her last at the time for Warner. It took four long years before Conroy released a new full-length offering, Wild As the Wind. Some of the tunes fans can sample from Patricia Conroy are "Diamonds," "I Don't Wanna Be the One," "Crazy Fool," "Home in Your Arms," and "What Else Can I Do." ~ Charlotte Dillon