Pat Donohue

GIG: Fingerpicking guitarist extraordinaire

LIVES: St. Paul

CURRENT BAND: Thirteen-year member of A Prairie Home Companion’s Guys All-Star Shoe Band

PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE: “When I was in grade school, I got together with whoever had an electric guitar—I was a drummer at the time. In high school, I had a band. We used my parents’ dining room. I don’t why they let us do that! I don’t think any crystal was left uncracked when we were done.”

ON HIS FIVE-DISK CHANGER: “I have a Chet Atkins CD of radio transcripts that he did in the forties. I have Tommy Emmanuel’s CD on there and another CD, I don’t know what it’s called, but it’s a Red Hot Rockabilly anthology, something like that. I’m really all over the board. I always love the blues players, guitarists, and piano players from the thirties and forties. That’s really my favorite bag.”

"ROOTS AND BLUES REVIEW": We’ve done this once before, in September 2005. It was really pretty successful on a lot of levels. I’ve come up with pretty much the whole cast and program for this show. My partial list of guests includes harmonica player Howard Levy, steel guitarist and dobro player Cindy Cashdollar, and various local musicians. It’s not going to be a big chatsy thing. I can only keep the ball rolling for so long.”

INCOGNITO: “Other than the radio show, I only perform a few times around here. I have kind of a secret practice gig that I do a few times of month. I won’t say there’s any similarity, but there’s a guy named Joe Fingers who plays at Dunn Bros on Monday nights sometimes. Plays a lot like I do.”

ON MAKING A MOVIE: “Before A Prairie Home Companion, I’d never been in a movie. It was very interesting to see how it all works. There’s a lot, a lot of sitting around and not doing anything. It seems they’re always setting up a shot in a certain way, and it takes them a long time to even get set up for it, so there’s nothing to do for long stretches of time. But then it’s very intense because then they’re ready to film us and we have to play this thing and not screw it up.”

ON THE MOVIE: “I have seen the movie. It was a singular experience. The filming was done very ultraprofessionally, so everybody looked great. I remember going to the premiere here in St. Paul and it was really probably the biggest gala I’ll ever be involved with. We got to see the movie, and everyone was on-hand for the party. It was really fun. I love the movie.”

UP NEXT: “My next album may or may not be out by the time of this concert. I don’t have a working title for it yet but I know everything I’m going to put down on it. It’s going to be a solo finger-style guitar/instrumental album in the folk vein. It’s a mix of original and traditional tunes. I’m ready to go in there and record it, except that I’m a big chicken because I’ll get in there and find out how much work I need to do still, so I keep putting it off.”

CATCH HIS ACT: Feb. 24, hosting the Roots and Blues Review. Fitzgerald Theater, 10 E. Exchange St., St. Paul, 651-290-1221, patdonohue.com