Patty Castillo Davis is a singer-guitarist who is involved in a number of Modesto arts organizations. Before participating in a panel on balancing access and excellence in the arts, she talked about breaking a sweat at band rehearsal, growing a thicker skin, and growing up wanting to be Nancy Sinatra.
Who is the one person living or dead you’d love to have a beer with?
I’ll say Cher.
How are you different from who you were 10 years ago?
I have a thicker skin, and things that used to bother me before don’t bother me anymore, and I don’t care a whole bunch about what people think about what I’m doing, because I think I know what I’m doing.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
It had to do with music. One of my peers told me, “It doesn’t matter what your skill level is or how old you are or how young you are. It’s time to quit performing when it’s not fun anymore.”
What’s the ugliest piece of furniture you own?
It’s my love seat. It’s like a pea green, and we let our spoiled cats climb all over it and sharpen their claws on it, so it looks like a pillow with legs now.
Do you have any superstitions?
I do. And I inherited it from my mother. If you see a beautiful baby, you need to go and touch the baby, or you need to kiss the baby, or else something negative will befall the child. It’s a Mexican thing. [Laughs.]
When you are your most creative?
I think I’m at my most creative after I’ve had a success with something. Maybe I’ve finished a song, maybe I’ve done a really nice show, maybe I’ve had a successful clinic with kids. I think I feed off the positive energy of the last job.
If you had one more extra hour in the day, what would you do with it?
Sleep.
What’s on your nightstand right now?
There is a turquoise cross, there’s some lemon sugar body spray, there’s a pink guitar pick, a couple of safety pins, and one of those masks you wear when you go to the hospital.
As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to be a go-go dancer. I kind of wanted to be Nancy Sinatra, actually, because she had super cool white boots, and when I saw her singing “These boots Are Made for Walkin’,” I thought, that’s for me, that’s what I want to do.
When did you last break a sweat?
It was yesterday, at band rehearsal.