“Pat often spoke about getting ideas for his songwriting from his most beloved records (not forgetting Buddy Holly's) and dug throwing non-Smithereens tunes into our sets. Heck, he and I even played together in a cover band in 1979! The Smithereens will always play covers for inspiration and the sheer fun of it. And it keeps us in touch with our roots and the feelings that made us want to pick up our instruments when we were kids.” - Dennis Diken, 2018