Patrick Donohue (born April 28, 1953) is an American

fingerstyle Fingerstyle guitar is the technique of guitar picking, playing the guitar or bass guitar by plucking the strings directly with the fingertips, fingernails, or picks attached to fingers, as opposed to flatpicking (plucking individual notes with ...

guitarist born in

St. Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

, Minnesota. He is a

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

nominated, National Fingerpicking Guitar Champion songwriter. Donohue has several albums to his credit and his songs have been recorded by

Chet Atkins Chester Burton Atkins (June 20, 1924 – June 30, 2001), known as "Mr. Guitar" and "The Country Gentleman", was an American musician who, along with Owen Bradley and Bob Ferguson, helped create the Nashville sound, the country music s ...

Suzy Bogguss Susan Kay Bogguss (born December 30, 1956) is an American country music singer and songwriter. She began her career in the 1980s as a solo singer. In the 1990s, six of her songs were Top 10 hits, three albums were certified gold, and one album re ...

, and

Kenny Rogers Kenneth Ray Rogers (August 21, 1938 – March 20, 2020) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Rogers was particularly popular with country audiences but also charted mo ...

. He has performed on ''

A Prairie Home Companion ''A Prairie Home Companion'' is a weekly radio variety show created and hosted by Garrison Keillor that aired live from 1974 to 2016. In 2016, musician Chris Thile took over as host, and the successor show was eventually renamed ''Live from He ...

'' for many years.

Biography

Donohue grew up in St. Paul but moved to Denver, Colorado in 1971 to study at Regis College (now

Regis University Regis University is a private Jesuit university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1877 by the Society of Jesus, the university offers more than 120 degrees through 5 colleges in a variety of subjects, including education, liberal arts, business, nu ...

). After two years at Regis, he transferred to

Marquette University Marquette University () is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Established by the Society of Jesus as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, it was founded by John Henni, John Martin ...

in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. After his graduation in 1975, he returned to Denver. Donohue was influenced early in his career by blues guitarists

Robert Johnson Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, 1911August 16, 1938) was an American blues musician and songwriter. His landmark recordings in 1936 and 1937 display a combination of singing, guitar skills, and songwriting talent that has influenced later generati ...

Mississippi John Hurt John Smith Hurt (March 8, 1893 – November 2, 1966), better known as Mississippi John Hurt, was an American country blues singer and guitarist. Raised in Avalon, Mississippi, Hurt taught himself to play the guitar around the age of nine. He wo ...

, and

Blind Blake Arthur Blake (1896 – December 1, 1934), known as Blind Blake, was an American blues and ragtime singer and guitarist. He is known for recordings he made for Paramount Records between 1926 and 1932. Early life Little is known of Blake's life. ...

. He listened to folk singers

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

Steve Goodman Steven Benjamin Goodman (July 25, 1948 – September 20, 1984) was an American folk and country singer-songwriter from Chicago. He wrote the song "City of New Orleans", which was recorded by Arlo Guthrie and many others including John Denver, ...

, and

John Prine John Edward Prine (; October 10, 1946 – April 7, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter of country-folk music. He was active as a composer, recording artist, live performer, and occasional actor from the early 1970s until his death. He ...

. In 1985 Donohue's first album, ''Manhattan to Memphis'', was released by Red House. After another album for Red House, he started his label Bluesky Records. In the early nineties, Donohue became a member of the house band on the radio program ''

''. He and his colleagues in the Guy's All-Star Shoe Band are on-screen throughout much of the film ''

'' based on the radio show. Donohue wrote or co-wrote several of the songs on the soundtrack. Some of the recordings feature his singer/songwriter side; he has also released instrumental albums.

Awards and honors

In 1982 he was runner-up in the National Fingerpicking Championship at the

Walnut Valley Festival The Walnut Valley Festival is an acoustic music festival held annually in Winfield, Kansas, United States. The main genre of music is bluegrass, but a wide variety of other acoustic styles are represented. The festival is held on the Wednesday ...

in Winfield, Kansas. During the following year he won the championship.Walnut Valley Festival web site list of winners.
In 2008 the Martin Guitar Company released a signature model, the OM-30DB Pat Donohue Custom Edition. Donohue's songs have been covered by

, and Chet Atkins. Guitarist Chet Atkins said, "Pat Donohue is one of the greatest fingerpickers 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'' album and a live version on ''Radio Blues'', a collection of his favorite performances from ''A Prairie Home Companion''. Atkins joined 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 died a short time before the album was released).

Discography

* ''Manhattan to Memphis'' ( Red House, 1985) * ''Pat Donohue'' (Red House, 1987) * '' Life Stories'' (BlueSky, 1991) * '' Two Hand Band'' (Bluesky, 1993) * ''

Big Blind Bluesy ''Big Blind Bluesy'' is an album by American guitarist Pat Donohue that was released in 1994. Track listing #"Trouble in Mind" (Richard M. Jones) – 3:39 #"I Never Cried" (Teddy Darby) – 3:03 #"Long Tall Mama" (Big Bill Broonzy) – 3:09 #"Mi ...

'' (Bluesky, 1994) * '' Back Roads'' (Bluesky, 1996) * ''Ye Olde Wooden Guitar Christmas'' with

Phil Heywood Phil 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-1980s. Heywood has performed as an opening act for Leo Kottke, Norman B ...

and Dan Neale (1997) * ''

American Guitar ''American Guitar'' is an album by American guitarist Pat Donohue that was 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 hi ...

'' (Bluesky, 2000) * '' Two of a Kind: Groovemasters, Vol. 8'' with

Mike Dowling Mike Dowling is an American roots music guitarist and songwriter who is best known for his solo arrangements on the Grammy Award-winning composition CD '' Henry Mancini: Pink Guitar''. In 2005, Dowling was ranked as one of the twelve best fingerst ...

(Solid Air, 2001) * ''

Profile Profile or profiles may refer to: Art, entertainment and media Music * ''Profile'' (Jan Akkerman album), 1973 * ''Profile'' (Githead album), 2005 * ''Profile'' (Pat Donohue album), 2005 * ''Profile'' (Duke Pearson album), 1959 * '' ''Profi ...

'' (Bluesky, 2005) * ''

Freewayman ''Freewayman'' is an album by American guitarist Pat Donohue, released in 2008. Allmusic entry for ''Freewayman''Accessed June 2, 2009 After three albums with ensemble players and guest musicians, Donohue released the entirely solo ''Freewayman''. ...

'' (Bluesky, 2008) * ''Nobody's Fault'' (Bluesky, 2011) * ''Vicksburg Blues'' with Butch Thompson (Red House, 2012) * ''Blue Yonder'' (Bluesky, 2016)

As guest

* Greg Brown, ''

Bathtub Blues ''Bathtub Blues'' is an album by folk singer/guitarist Greg Brown (folk musician), Greg Brown, released in 1993. It is directed towards children and uses a children's chorus on many of the songs. Reception Writing for Allmusic, music critic Tim ...

'' (Red House, 1993) *

Mary Flower Mary Flower is an American musician and music educator on the independent Yellow Dog Records label. A blues and ragtime fingerstyle guitarist and vocalist, she combines intricate syncopated Piedmont style fingerpicking with lap-slide guitar. ...

, ''Cookin' with Flower'' (Bare, 1982) * Mary Flower, ''Rosewood & Steel'' (Bluesette, 1996) * Tim O'Brien, ''Hard Year Blues'' (

Flying Fish The Exocoetidae are a family of marine fish in the order Beloniformes class Actinopterygii, known colloquially as flying fish or flying cod. About 64 species are grouped in seven to nine genera. While they cannot fly in the same way a bird do ...

, 1984) *

Peter Ostroushko Peter Ostroushko (August 12, 1953 – February 24, 2021) was an American violinist and mandolinist. He performed regularly on the radio program ''A Prairie Home Companion'' and with a variety of bands and orchestras in Minneapolis–Saint Paul an ...

, ''

Postcards A postcard or post card is a piece of thick paper or thin cardboard, typically rectangular, intended for writing and mailing without an envelope. Non-rectangular shapes may also be used but are rare. There are novelty exceptions, such as wood ...

'' (Red House, 2006)

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Donohue, Pat 1953 births Living people Guitarists from Minnesota Jazz musicians from Minnesota 20th-century American guitarists American blues guitarists American folk guitarists American jazz guitarists Fingerstyle guitarists Red House Records artists