Pat Donohue

Pat Donohue
Birth name Patrick Donohue
Born (1953-04-28)April 28, 1953
St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
Genres Folk, jazz, country
Occupation(s) Musician, Songwriter
Instruments Guitar
Years active 1973–present
Labels Red House
Blue Sky Records
Associated acts Garrison Keillor, Guys All-Star Shoe Band, Peter Ostroushko
Website Official site
This article is about the American guitarist. For the early 20th American baseball player, see Pat Donohue.

Patrick Donohue (born April 28, 1953) 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.

Biography

Donohue grew up in St. Paul but moved to Denver, Colorado in 1971 to study at Regis College (now Regis University). After two years at Regis, he transferred to Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.[1] 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 blues guitarists like Robert Johnson, Mississippi John Hurt, and Blind Blake. He also listened extensively to folk-oriented singer/songwriters like Bob Dylan, Steve Goodman and John Prine.[1]

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.[2] 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.[3]

In the early nineties, Donohue was asked to join the house band on Garrison Keillor's radio program A Prairie Home Companion.[3][4] 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.[1] 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."[3] 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.[5]

Donohue's songs have been covered by Kenny Rogers, Suzy Bogguss, Chet Atkins, and others.[6]

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.[1][7]

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

Videos

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Pat Donohue biography at C. F. Martin & Company". C. F. Martin & Company. Retrieved August 14, 2011.
  2. ↑ Walnut Valley Festival web site list of winners.
  3. 1 2 3 Vanderhoff, Mark. "Biography of Pat Donohue". AllMusic Guide. Retrieved August 14, 2011.
  4. ↑ Keillor, Garrison, Pat Donohue A Prairie Home Companion. Retrieved March 2011
  5. ↑ C. F. Martin & Company entry for Pat Donohue signature model.
  6. ↑ "Pat Donohue interview at Prairie Home Companion website". A Prairie Home Companion. Retrieved August 14, 2011.
  7. ↑ Boehm, Mike, Pat Donohue: A Force to be Reckoned With April 1994, latimes.com. Retrieved March 2011
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