Pat Donohue
Encyclopedia
Patrick Donohue is an American fingerstyle
guitarist born in St. Paul, Minnesota. He is a Grammy
nominated, National Fingerpicking Guitar Champion
and a songwriter. Donohue has several albums to his credit and his songs have been recorded by Chet Atkins
, Suzy Bogguss
, and Kenny Rogers
. He has performed on A Prairie Home Companion
for several years, both as a member of the house band and as a featured artist.
in 1971 to study at Regis College (now Regis University
). After two years at Regis, he transferred to Marquette University
in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
. While carrying a full academic load at Marquette, Pat maintained a rigorous musical regimen, often practicing up to six hours daily. His performances during that time (mainly as part of Marquette’s “Traditional Music Society” as well as venturing out into the Milwaukee bar scene) often consisted of three or four forty-five minute sets, featuring an eclectic offering of folk, blues, and jazz material. After his graduation in 1975, he returned to Denver where he started establishing his musical reputation.
Donohue was particularly influenced early in his career by Delta blues guitarists like Robert Johnson and Blind Lemon Jefferson
. He also listened extensively to folk-oriented singer/songwriters like Bob Dylan
, Steve Goodman
and John Prine
.
Donohue established a solid reputation in and around Colorado as a 'guitarist's guitarist' and in 1982 was runner-up in the National Fingerpicking Championship at the Walnut Valley Festival
in Winfield, Kansas
. The following year he won the Championship. This award led to wider recognition of his skills and he started accepting engagements throughout the United States.
In 1985 Donohue's first album, Manhattan to Memphis, was released on Red House Records. He released one more album on Red House before setting up his own label, Bluesky Records.
In the early nineties, Donohue was asked to join the house band on Garrison Keillor
's radio program A Prairie Home Companion
. He has played on the show ever since, which has given him a chance to accompany some of the world's premiere folk and roots artists. He and his colleagues in the Guy's All-Star Shoe Band are on-screen throughout much of Robert Altman
's final film A Prairie Home Companion
based on the radio show. Donohue wrote or co-wrote several of the songs on the soundtrack.
Guitar legend Chet Atkins
once said, "Pat Donohue is one of the greatest finger pickers in the world today." Donohue wrote a song in praise of Atkins' skill and virtuosity called "Stealin' from Chet". He has recorded a studio version on his Backroads CD and a live version on Radio Blues, a collection of his favorite performances from A Prairie Home Companion. Atkins joins him on each version. In the liner notes to the live version, Donohue wrote, "What can I say? The most exciting three minutes of my life. We miss you Chet." (Atkins had died a short time before the album was released).
Donohue's role as a major influence in the contemporary acoustic guitar scene was confirmed in 2008 when the Martin Guitar Company
released a signature model, the OM-30DB Pat Donohue Custom Artist Edition.
Donohue's songs have been covered by Kenny Rogers
, Suzy Bogguss
, Chet Atkins
, and others.
Donohue continues to divide his time between his regular performances on A Prairie Home Companion, live concerts, and teaching workshops. He releases a new album every two years or so. His canon is somewhat eclectic: some of the recordings feature his singer/songwriter side; he has also released three instrumental albums.
Donohue is also a creative song parodist and the parodies are often performed on A Prairie Home Companion. He hesitates to release them because he's afraid that the public might be distracted from what he sees as his primary calling: fingerpicking guitarist.
Fingerstyle guitar
Fingerstyle guitar is the technique of playing the guitar by plucking the strings directly with the fingertips, fingernails, or picks attached to fingers, as opposed to flatpicking ....
guitarist born in St. Paul, Minnesota. He is a Grammy
Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Album
The Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality instrumental albums in the pop music genre...
nominated, National Fingerpicking Guitar Champion
Walnut Valley Festival
The Walnut Valley Festival is a well-known acoustic music festival, held annually in Winfield, Kansas. The main genre of music is bluegrass, but other acoustic styles are represented...
and a songwriter. Donohue has several albums to his credit and his songs have been recorded by Chet Atkins
Chet Atkins
Chester Burton Atkins , known as Chet Atkins, was an American guitarist and record producer who, along with Owen Bradley, created the smoother country music style known as the Nashville sound, which expanded country's appeal to adult pop music fans as well.Atkins's picking style, inspired by Merle...
, Suzy Bogguss
Suzy Bogguss
Susan Kay "Suzy" Bogguss is an American country music singer. In the 1980s and 90s she released one platinum and three gold albums and charted six top ten singles, winning the Academy of Country Music's award for Top New Female Vocalist and the Country Music Association's Horizon Award.After...
, and Kenny Rogers
Kenny Rogers
Kenneth Donald "Kenny" Rogers is an American singer-songwriter, photographer, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur...
. He has performed on A Prairie Home Companion
A Prairie Home Companion
A Prairie Home Companion is a live radio variety show created and hosted by Garrison Keillor. The show runs on Saturdays from 5 to 7 p.m. Central Time, and usually originates from the Fitzgerald Theater in Saint Paul, Minnesota, although it is frequently taken on the road...
for several years, both as a member of the house band and as a featured artist.
Biography
Donohue grew up in St. Paul but moved to Denver, ColoradoDenver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
in 1971 to study at Regis College (now Regis University
Regis University
Regis University is a private, co-educational Roman Catholic, Jesuit university in the United States. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1877, it is one of 28 member institutions of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities...
). After two years at Regis, he transferred to Marquette University
Marquette University
Marquette University is a private, coeducational, Jesuit, Roman Catholic university located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1881, the school is one of 28 member institutions of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities...
in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...
. While carrying a full academic load at Marquette, Pat maintained a rigorous musical regimen, often practicing up to six hours daily. His performances during that time (mainly as part of Marquette’s “Traditional Music Society” as well as venturing out into the Milwaukee bar scene) often consisted of three or four forty-five minute sets, featuring an eclectic offering of folk, blues, and jazz material. After his graduation in 1975, he returned to Denver where he started establishing his musical reputation.
Donohue was particularly influenced early in his career by Delta blues guitarists like Robert Johnson and Blind Lemon Jefferson
Blind Lemon Jefferson
"Blind" Lemon Jefferson was an American blues singer and guitarist from Texas. He was one of the most popular blues singers of the 1920s, and has been titled "Father of the Texas Blues"....
. He also listened extensively to folk-oriented singer/songwriters like Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, Steve Goodman
Steve Goodman
Steve Goodman was an American folk music singer-songwriter from Chicago, Illinois. The writer of "City of New Orleans", made popular by Arlo Guthrie, Goodman won two Grammy Awards.-Personal life:...
and John Prine
John Prine
John Prine is an American country/folk singer-songwriter. He has been active as a recording artist and live performer since the early 1970s.-Biography:...
.
Donohue established a solid reputation in and around Colorado as a 'guitarist's guitarist' and in 1982 was runner-up in the National Fingerpicking Championship at the Walnut Valley Festival
Walnut Valley Festival
The Walnut Valley Festival is a well-known acoustic music festival, held annually in Winfield, Kansas. The main genre of music is bluegrass, but other acoustic styles are represented...
in Winfield, Kansas
Winfield, Kansas
Winfield is a city situated along the Walnut River in the west-central part of Cowley County, located in South Central Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 12,301...
. The following year he won the Championship. This award led to wider recognition of his skills and he started accepting engagements throughout the United States.
In 1985 Donohue's first album, Manhattan to Memphis, was released on Red House Records. He released one more album on Red House before setting up his own label, Bluesky Records.
In the early nineties, Donohue was asked to join the house band on Garrison Keillor
Garrison Keillor
Gary Edward "Garrison" Keillor is an American author, storyteller, humorist, and radio personality. He is known as host of the Minnesota Public Radio show A Prairie Home Companion Gary Edward "Garrison" Keillor (born August 7, 1942) is an American author, storyteller, humorist, and radio...
's radio program A Prairie Home Companion
A Prairie Home Companion
A Prairie Home Companion is a live radio variety show created and hosted by Garrison Keillor. The show runs on Saturdays from 5 to 7 p.m. Central Time, and usually originates from the Fitzgerald Theater in Saint Paul, Minnesota, although it is frequently taken on the road...
. He has played on the show ever since, which has given him a chance to accompany some of the world's premiere folk and roots artists. He and his colleagues in the Guy's All-Star Shoe Band are on-screen throughout much of Robert Altman
Robert Altman
Robert Bernard Altman was an American film director and screenwriter known for making films that are highly naturalistic, but with a stylized perspective. In 2006, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognized his body of work with an Academy Honorary Award.His films MASH , McCabe and...
's final film A Prairie Home Companion
A Prairie Home Companion (film)
A Prairie Home Companion is a 2006 ensemble comedy elegy directed by Robert Altman, and was his final film, released just five months before his death...
based on the radio show. Donohue wrote or co-wrote several of the songs on the soundtrack.
Guitar legend Chet Atkins
Chet Atkins
Chester Burton Atkins , known as Chet Atkins, was an American guitarist and record producer who, along with Owen Bradley, created the smoother country music style known as the Nashville sound, which expanded country's appeal to adult pop music fans as well.Atkins's picking style, inspired by Merle...
once said, "Pat Donohue is one of the greatest finger pickers in the world today." Donohue wrote a song in praise of Atkins' skill and virtuosity called "Stealin' from Chet". He has recorded a studio version on his Backroads CD and a live version on Radio Blues, a collection of his favorite performances from A Prairie Home Companion. Atkins joins him on each version. In the liner notes to the live version, Donohue wrote, "What can I say? The most exciting three minutes of my life. We miss you Chet." (Atkins had died a short time before the album was released).
Donohue's role as a major influence in the contemporary acoustic guitar scene was confirmed in 2008 when the Martin Guitar Company
C. F. Martin & Company
C.F. Martin & Company is a US guitar manufacturer established in 1833 by Christian Frederick Martin. Martin is highly regarded for its steel-string guitars, and is a leading mass manufacturer of flattop acoustics with models that retail for thousands of dollars and vintage instruments that often...
released a signature model, the OM-30DB Pat Donohue Custom Artist Edition.
Donohue's songs have been covered by Kenny Rogers
Kenny Rogers
Kenneth Donald "Kenny" Rogers is an American singer-songwriter, photographer, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur...
, Suzy Bogguss
Suzy Bogguss
Susan Kay "Suzy" Bogguss is an American country music singer. In the 1980s and 90s she released one platinum and three gold albums and charted six top ten singles, winning the Academy of Country Music's award for Top New Female Vocalist and the Country Music Association's Horizon Award.After...
, Chet Atkins
Chet Atkins
Chester Burton Atkins , known as Chet Atkins, was an American guitarist and record producer who, along with Owen Bradley, created the smoother country music style known as the Nashville sound, which expanded country's appeal to adult pop music fans as well.Atkins's picking style, inspired by Merle...
, and others.
Donohue continues to divide his time between his regular performances on A Prairie Home Companion, live concerts, and teaching workshops. He releases a new album every two years or so. His canon is somewhat eclectic: some of the recordings feature his singer/songwriter side; he has also released three instrumental albums.
Donohue is also a creative song parodist and the parodies are often performed on A Prairie Home Companion. He hesitates to release them because he's afraid that the public might be distracted from what he sees as his primary calling: fingerpicking guitarist.
Personal life
Donohue married in 1983 and with his wife Susan, returned to St. Paul where he continues to live.Discography
- 1985: Manhattan to Memphis (Red HouseRed House RecordsRed House Records is an American independent record label specializing in folk music and is based in St. Paul, Minnesota.The label was originally created in 1981 by Greg Brown as a method to distribute his own music, and is named for a farmhouse in Iowa where he was living...
) - 1987: Pat Donohue (Red House)
- 1989: Big Blind BluesyBig Blind BluesyBig Blind Bluesy is an album by American guitarist Pat Donohue, released in 2000. It was reissued in 1994 and again in 2007.-Track listing:#"Trouble in Mind" Big Blind Bluesy is an album by American guitarist Pat Donohue, released in 2000. It was reissued in 1994 and again in 2007.-Track...
(Bluesky) - 1993: Two Hand BandTwo Hand BandTwo Hand Band is an album by American guitarist Pat Donohue, released in 1993.Guitarist Leo Kottke wrote in the liner notes: ""Enjoy this record, but if you're a guitar player, it's going to haunt you."-Reception:...
(Bluesky) - 1997: Ye Olde Wooden Guitar Christmas (compilation with Phil HeywoodPhil HeywoodPhil Heywood is an American fingerstyle acoustic guitar player, singer and composer.- Biography:Raised in Iowa, Heywood has been based in the Minneapolis area since the mid 1980's....
and Dan Neale) - 2000: American GuitarAmerican GuitarAmerican Guitar is an album by American guitarist Pat Donohue, released in 2000.-Reception:Writing for Allmusic, critic Mark Vanderhoff wrote of the album "... a collection of his own compositions and American standards, played in his signature rootsy, jaw-dropping style. While Donohue's own pieces...
(Bluesky) - 2002: Two of a Kind: Groovemasters, Vol. 8Two of a Kind: Groovemasters, Vol. 8Two of a Kind: Groovemasters, Vol. 8 is an album by American guitarists Pat Donohue and Mike Dowling, released in 2002.The Groovemasters series is a line of releases by Solid Air pairing various guitarists...
(with Mike Dowling) (Solid Air) - 2003: Back RoadsBack Roads (Pat Donohue album)Back Roads is an album by American guitarist Pat Donohue, released in 2003.Guests include Chet Atkins, Howard Levy and Butch Thompson.- Track listing :All songs by Pat Donohue unless otherwise noted...
(Bluesky) - 2003: Life Stories (Bluesky)
- 2003: Radio Blues (Prairie Home Recordings) (compilation of live performances from the radio program)
- 2004: Henry Mancini: Pink GuitarHenry Mancini: Pink GuitarHenry Mancini: Pink Guitar is a compilation album of popular works by Henry Mancini, produced by James R. Jensen and released through Solid Air Records in 2004. Jensen asked guitar players on his record label to contribute some of their favorite compositions to the album...
(Solid Air) (2005 Grammy AwardGrammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental AlbumThe Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality instrumental albums in the pop music genre...
-winning compilation of Henry ManciniHenry ManciniHenry Mancini was an American composer, conductor and arranger, best remembered for his film and television scores. He won a record number of Grammy Awards , plus a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award posthumously in 1995...
songs arranged for acoustic guitar) - 2005: ProfileProfile (Pat Donohue album)Profile is an album by American guitarist Pat Donohue, released in 2005.-Track listing:All songs by Pat Donohue unless otherwise noted#"Caroline" – 2:43#"Buddy the Blues" – 3:33#"Drowning" – 3:11#"Jazz Name" – 2:56#"Blues for Two" – 3:22...
(Bluesky) - 2008: FreewaymanFreewaymanFreewayman is an album by American guitarist Pat Donohue, released in 2008. After three albums with ensemble players and guest musicians, Donohue released the entirely solo Freewayman.-Track listing:All songs by Pat Donohue unless otherwise noted...
(Bluesky)
Videos
- Rags to Rock (instructional video)
- Jazz Classics Fingerstyle, volumes 1 and 2
- Pat Donohue at the Freight and Salvage