Paddy received his first guitar in the third grade and began performing at parties and at school functions. He was reprimanded by the nuns in the fifth grade for performing protest songs by Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan at a school talent show.
In the seventh grade Paddy began his lifelong love for the harmonica. His early influences were Paul Butterfield, Junior Wells, Corky Siegel,and Sonny Terry, to name just a few.