![\"Country](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/RHR-L-GARRETT-1003-02.jpg\")
Country singer-songwriter-guitarist Pat Garrett has died at 84. (FILE)<\/p>\nLocal singer and songwriter Pat Garrett \u2014 who helped steer a young Taylor Swift to Nashville, performed for vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, and made sheepskin coats for Kevin Costner \u2014 has died at 84.<\/p>\n
Garrett died Monday evening, an employee of his Sickafus Sheepskins shop near Strausstown confirmed.<\/p>\n
Garrett was born Pat Sickafus and grew up in Bethel Township before adopting his stage name.<\/p>\n
He became one of Berks County\u2019s most famous entertainers, while also founding the Pat Garrett Amphitheater, as well as his sheepskin shop and gas station, all located just north of the intersection of Interstate 78 and Route 183 in Upper Tulpehocken Township, a few miles from the Schuylkill County line.<\/p>\n
The amphitheater has hosted country legends, including Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Loretta Lynn and Charlie Daniels, and it remains an active concert venue.<\/p>\n
As a singer, songwriter and guitarist, Garrett grew from playing shows with his band at local fire halls and at Kutztown University, where he was a student, to getting several recording deals and recording seven albums, according to a Reading Eagle article.<\/p>\n
He moved to Nashville for his music career before returning to Berks, and through the years a number of his songs gained widespread popularity.<\/p>\n
That included several songs that represented his conservative political views, including \u201cMoose Shootin\u2019 Mama\u201d about Palin, \u201cI\u2019ll Stand,\u201d which addressed NFL players kneeling for the national anthem, and \u201cThe Monica Lewinsky Polka\u201d about President Bill Clinton and a scandal involving a White House intern.<\/p>\n
Garrett went on Fox News to talk about and perform his songs, which he called \u201ccountry-versial\u201d songs, and which he performed during campaign rallies for Palin during Sen. John McCain\u2019s presidential run.<\/p>\n
One of his songs, \u201cBad Woman,\u201d was covered by the British rock group Arctic Monkeys.<\/p>\n
Country singer-songwriter-guitarist Pat Garrett has died at 84. (FILE)<\/p>\n
Garrett spoke often about his influence on Swift\u2019s early career, saying in a CBS News interview that when the Berks County native was 11, she won a karaoke contest for adults at his former roadhouse next to the gas station. That earned her a spot opening for Garrett, and she played for his band at fairs and country music festivals.<\/p>\n
Garrett said Swift\u2019s father, Scott Swift, who managed her, asked him for advice for his daughter, and Garrett recommended that he \u201ctake her to Nashville,\u201d recognizing her stage presence and drive.<\/p>\n
When Swift\u2019s father told him a few weeks later that they actually were moving to Nashville, Garrett said he was surprised.<\/p>\n
\u201cNobody even listened to me before,\u201d he joked.<\/p>\n
Garrett was the longtime husband of Suzy Dalton, who helped him run the amphitheater and played bass guitar while he performed.<\/p>\n
The venue was closed from 2005 to 2015 while Garrett focused on his music career, but he gave Flagship Music Productions the rights to reopen and operate it for the last 12 summers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe thank Pat Garrett for allowing us to share such a beautiful and special venue with Berks County and beyond, and we look forward to continuing to honor his legacy,\u201d the company posted Thursday after his passing. \u201cOur thoughts are with his family, friends, and fellow musicians. Thanks for everything, Pat.\u201d<\/p>\n
The sheepskin shop also continues to operate, selling coats, jackets, vests, slippers, seat covers and motorcycle gear nationwide. Costner wore custom shearling coats from the shop on his show \u201cYellowstone\u201d and in the movie \u201cLet Him Go.\u201d<\/p>\n
Garrett also owned and operated the classic country radio station WWSM-AM (1510) in central Pennsylvania and previously owned the former classic rock station WTPA-FM (92.1) before selling it in 2017.<\/p>\n
Longtime friend and retired Reading Eagle journalist Dave Kline spoke about Garrett a few years ago in a Philadelphia Inquirer article, calling him \u201ca genuine hustler,\u201d but \u201cin the best possible way.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPat is really the last of a generation,\u201d Kline said. \u201cHe\u2019s not just a singer-songwriter. He\u2019s an entertainer.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Local singer and songwriter Pat Garrett \u2014 who helped steer a young Taylor Swift to Nashville, performed for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":299145,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[349,1681,182,1213,3296,139,11100,28,50,128,130,129,231,289,6056,32656],"class_list":["post-299144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-reading","tag-berks-county","tag-entertainment","tag-local-news","tag-music-and-concerts","tag-national-politics","tag-news","tag-news-obituaries","tag-pennsylvania","tag-politics","tag-reading-city","tag-reading-city-headlines","tag-reading-city-news","tag-schuylkill-county","tag-things-to-do","tag-top-stories-rhr","tag-upper-tulpehocken-township"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=299144"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299144\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/299145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=299144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=299144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=299144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}