Pat Alger

Patrick J. Alger was born in 1947 in LaGrange, Georgia.[1] Alger attended Georgia Tech studying architecture but decided to concentrate on writing songs. He started as a solo folk performer at folk clubs.[3]

In 1973, he moved to Woodstock, New York.[1] It was there where he began his career as a musician and songwriter working together with Happy and Artie Traum as a member of the Woodstock Mountains Revue.[1] The group included the Traum brothers, Arlen Roth, John Herald and Maria Muldaur among others. Some of the songs he wrote during this period were "Old Time Music" and "Southern Crescent Line."[2]

In 1980, he had his first success as a songwriter when Livingston Taylor had a hit with "First Time Love".[1] The next year, in 1981, he moved to Nashville.[1] Between 1984 and 1988, he toured with the Everly Brothers in the United States and in Europe.[3] He later teamed up with Nanci Griffith and co-wrote Griffith's hit songs "Once in a Very Blue Moon" and "Lone Star State of Mind."[2][1] Some of his songs have also been recorded by Kathy Mattea such as "Goin' Gone", "She Came From Fort Worth" and "A Few Good Things Remain."[1]

He wrote four number one hits for Garth Brooks like "Unanswered Prayers", "What She's Doing Now", "The Thunder Rolls" and "That Summer."[1] He also wrote hits for Hal Ketchum, "Small Town Saturday Night,"[1] for Trisha Yearwood, "Like We Never Had A Broken Heart,"[1] for Don Williams, "True Love",[1] and for Mark Collie, "Calloused Hands." Through the years, his songs have been recorded and performed by such diverse artists as Peter, Paul and Mary, Dolly Parton, Lyle Lovett, Brenda Lee and Crystal Gayle.[3] He has recorded three critically acclaimed solo albums in the 1990s featuring backup by Griffith, Lovett, Mattea and Yearwood.[4]

He has well over 20 hits to his credit, including eight number 1 hits and has played venues all over the world, including a year long tour as opening act for the Everly Brothers. He starred in the 30th anniversary of the Washington Center for the Performing Arts gala. He has been featured on NPR Radio's "All Things Considered" and "Fresh Air" several times, and has hosted, along with fellow HOF inductee,Tony Arata, WSM's radio show featuring past HOF inductees. The Music City Center, in Nashville, is to open in May 2013 and will house the first permanent home for the NSAI inductees. The first floor gallery and outdoor courtyard features past and future Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame members. It is the project of the Nashville Songwriter's Foundation, of which Alger is a board member. His advocacy for the songwriter and their intellectual property rights is well known as is the efforts of NSAI and NSF/

In 1991, he was voted Songwriter of the Year by the Nashville Songwriter's Association International, and the same year he was voted Jukebox Songwriter of the Year by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, ASCAP. In 1992, he received the Country Songwriter of the Year award from ASCAP.[1] Country Music Association gave him two Triple Play awards given to those who have three number one hits in a year. In 2010, he was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. He currently serves as Chairman of the Nashville Songwriters Foundation and is a two time past President of Nashville Songwriters Association International. Pat Alger was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in September 2013 [5]

Alger first recorded one duet album with Artie Traum and then three solo albums:

• From The Heart (1980)
• True Love & Other Short Stories – Sugar Hill Records (1991)
• Seeds – Sugar Hill Records (1993)
• Notes and Grace Notes (1994)

• Carlin, Richard (2003), Country Music: A Biographical Dictionary, Taylor & Francis
• Miller, Zell (1996), They Heard Georgia Singing, Mercer University Press

• Pat Alger Interview NAMM Oral History Library (2015)