Pat Donohue
Patrick Donohue (born April 28, 1953) is an American fingerstyle guitarist born in St. He is a Grammy winning, National Fingerpicking Guitar Champion songwriter. Donohue has several albums to his credit and his songs have been recorded by Chet Atkins, Suzy Bogguss, and Kenny Rogers.
Also recorded as Patrick Donohue
Pat Donohue
- Name
- Pat Donohue
- Born
- 28 April 1953
- Birthplace
- St.
- Occupation
- Musician, songwriter
- Nationality
- United States
- Fields
- traditional folk music
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Pat Donohue. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q7143393 · wikipedia · Pat Donohue
In this article
Biography
Biography
He has performed on A Prairie Home Companion for many years.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Pat Donohue • Born — 28 April 1953 • Birthplace — St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S. • Genre — Folk, country • Occupation — Musician, songwriter • Instrument — Guitar • Years Active — 1973–present • Label — Red House, Blue Sky • Website — patdonohue.com
Biography
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. After his graduation in 1975, he returned to Denver. Donohue was influenced early in his career by blues guitarists Robert Johnson, Mississippi John Hurt, and Blind Blake. He listened to folk singers Bob Dylan, Steve Goodman, and John Prine. 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 1990s, Donohue became a member of the house band on the radio program A Prairie Home Companion. He and his colleagues in the Guy's All-Star Shoe Band are on-screen throughout much of the film A Prairie Home Companion 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.
As guest
As guest
• Greg Brown, Bathtub Blues (Red House, 1993) • Mary Flower, Cookin' with Flower (Bare, 1982) • Mary Flower, Rosewood & Steel (Bluesette, 1996) • Tim O'Brien, Hard Year Blues (Flying Fish, 1984) • Peter Ostroushko, Postcards (Red House, 2006)
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
1953
Pat Donohue born at Saint Paul.
Discography
• Manhattan to Memphis (Red House, 1985) • Pat Donohue (Red House, 1987) • Life Stories (BlueSky, 1991) • Two Hand Band (Bluesky, 1993) • Big Blind Bluesy (Bluesky, 1994) • Back Roads (Bluesky, 1996) • Ye Olde Wooden Guitar Christmas with Phil Heywood and Dan Neale (1997) • American Guitar (Bluesky, 2000) • Two of a Kind: Groovemasters, Vol. 8 with Mike Dowling (Solid Air, 2001) • Radio Blues (A Prairie Home Companion, 2002) • Profile (Bluesky, 2005) • Freewayman (Bluesky, 2008) • Nobody's Fault (Bluesky, 2011) • Vicksburg Blues with Butch Thompson (Red House, 2012) • Blue Yonder (Bluesky, 2016)
Awards and honors
In 1982 he was runner-up in the National Fingerpicking Championship at the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas. During the following year he won the championship. In 2008 the Martin Guitar Company released a signature model, the OM-30DB Pat Donohue Custom Edition. Donohue's songs have been covered by Kenny Rogers, Suzy Bogguss, 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).
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Pat Donohue, revision 1340146235 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.C. F. Martin & Company. Pat Donohue biography at C. F. Martin & Company.
- 2.Vanderhoff, Mark. Pat Donohue. AllMusic.
- 3.Keillor, Garrison, Pat Donohue A Prairie Home Companion. Retrieved March 2011
- 4.Yanow, Scott. The Great Jazz Guitarists. Backbeat. 218. 2013. 978-1-61713-023-6.
- 5.Boehm, Mike. Pat Donohue: A Force to Be Reckoned With. Los Angeles Times. 7 April 1994.
- 6.Walnut Valley Festival web site list of winners.
- 7.Martin Guitar Introduces the OM-30DB Pat Donohue Custom Edition. GuitarPlayer.com. 20 August 2008.
- 8.A Prairie Home Companion. Pat Donohue interview at Prairie Home Companion website.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 03 September 2026.
Elsewhere in Music memorabilia
44,023 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Pat BenatarPerson
- Pat BoonePerson
- Pat CuppPerson
- Pat DonaldsonPerson
- Pat FlowersPerson
- Pat GreenPerson
- Pat HalcoxPerson
- Pat HarePerson
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Pat Donohue?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.