Biography
Pat Alger ranks among the era’s most accomplished country songwriters, yet his folk roots lend a reflective depth and clarity to the lyrics he crafts. His first recorded appearances came as guitarist and vocalist with the informal Woodstock Mountain Revue on the 1977 collection More Music from Mud Acres. He shared writing credit on “Ocracoke Time” for the group’s 1978 release Pretty Lucky, contributed to “Old Time Music” on its 1981 follow-up Back to Mud Acres, and penned the solo piece “Southern Crescent Line” that appeared on the same album.
Recognition arrived in earnest once Nanci Griffith included his work on her 1985 album Once in a Very Blue Moon; the co-written title track entered the country charts the following year. Griffith’s 1986 set The Last of the True Believers featured another Alger co-write, “Goin’ Gone,” while he also supplied guitar and handled the album’s graphics. The 1987 Griffith release Lone Star State of Mind contained the title song he co-authored, which climbed into the country Top 40. Kathy Mattea’s rendition of “Goin’ Gone” reached number one on the country charts in 1988, and in 1990 she carried the Alger-Koller composition “She Came from Fort Worth” to the number-two position.
Consequently, Alger’s 1991 debut, True Love & Other Short Stories, drew support from an impressive roster of Nashville talent. Trisha Yearwood, Nanci Griffith, Mary Black, Ashley Cleveland, Kathy Mattea, and Lyle Lovett all appear, yet the spotlight remains on Alger’s own renditions of his most familiar material. “No one sings or plays Pat Alger like Pat Alger himself,” Griffith writes. ~ William Ruhlmann
Recognition arrived in earnest once Nanci Griffith included his work on her 1985 album Once in a Very Blue Moon; the co-written title track entered the country charts the following year. Griffith’s 1986 set The Last of the True Believers featured another Alger co-write, “Goin’ Gone,” while he also supplied guitar and handled the album’s graphics. The 1987 Griffith release Lone Star State of Mind contained the title song he co-authored, which climbed into the country Top 40. Kathy Mattea’s rendition of “Goin’ Gone” reached number one on the country charts in 1988, and in 1990 she carried the Alger-Koller composition “She Came from Fort Worth” to the number-two position.
Consequently, Alger’s 1991 debut, True Love & Other Short Stories, drew support from an impressive roster of Nashville talent. Trisha Yearwood, Nanci Griffith, Mary Black, Ashley Cleveland, Kathy Mattea, and Lyle Lovett all appear, yet the spotlight remains on Alger’s own renditions of his most familiar material. “No one sings or plays Pat Alger like Pat Alger himself,” Griffith writes. ~ William Ruhlmann
Albums
