Pat Enright, member of several popular and influential bluegrass bands, has died at 81 years of age. We unfortunately have no information about his passing.
Born in Huntington, IN on April 22, 1945, Pat was swept up in the folk music craze of the 1960s. He went to college at the Architectural Engineering Institute in Cleveland, OH to study architecture, planning a career in the field. However, a high school graduation gift from his parents, his first pro-quality guitar, changed that direction for good. A natural singer from childhood he took quickly to music.
Like many young men in the mid-’60s, Pat joined the Navy in 1965 rather than risk being drafted, and there he first discovered bluegrass music. Stationed in Washington, DC he was able to see a number of top bluegrass bands live, and started trying to play it as well with a friend he met in the Navy.
Later stationed in the Phillipines, he moved to San Francisco at the urging of a friend when he got out of the service, who offered to give him a place to stay. There he approached music in earnest, and performed with the Tonto Basin Boys and Rick Shubb’s Hired Hands. A few years later he helped form The Phantoms of the Opry with Paul Shelasky, Robbie McDonald, and Gene Tortora, which was later joined by Laurie Lewis on bass. After that he was part of a short-lived group called High & Lonesome with Sandy Rothman and Fred Weisz.
A move to Nashville and a job at Gruhn Guitars resulted in a freak accident in 1975 and he was blinded in his left eye. Pat was changing strings on a guitar when a string end popped out and struck his eye. Most of us who have changed strings on an instrument have had a few close calls like that, but it actually happened in his case. Only 30 years old, it struck him deeply and left him a bit out of sorts, especially having to wear dark protective glasses for several months. He moved back to California, but returned shortly to Nashville, missing the lively music scene.
In 1979 he was invited to join Tasty Licks by Béla Fleck, taking him up to Boston where the band was based. The group also included Jack Tottle on mandolin, Jimmy Mattingly on fiddle, and Mark Schatz on bass. Pat also played on Béla’s debut recording, Crossing The Tracks in ’79.
After two years in Boston, he was back to Nashville where he was part of another group with Fleck, The Dreadful Snakes, in 1982. Other young luminaries in the band included Jerry Douglas, Blaine Sprouse, and Mark Hembree, along with veteran Roland White. They were primarily a part-time endeavor, though their recurring shows at The Station Inn and their sole album, Snakes Alive, were deeply influential.
Then in 1984, he and banjo player Alan O’Bryant formed The Nashville Bluegrass Band, which would be his most memorable legacy. Also involved were Hembree on bass, Mike Compton on mandolin, and Stuart Duncan on fiddle. They had an immediate impact, leaving behind a total of ten albums and many years of active touring before the band dissolved in 2004. Both Enright and O’Bryant were distinctive vocalists, and Pat is often credited with creating the intricate vocal arrangements used on many of their recordings.
Another big break came in 2000 when a session he was booked for in the studio turned out to be for the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack. Pat added vocals and yodeling and played guitar as part of the Soggy Bottom Boys. The Nashville Bluegrass Band also was part of the Down From The Mountain tour inspired by the film and the soundtrack’s success.
Pat won multiple awards with Nashville Bluegrass Band, including four years as Vocal Group of the Year (1990–1993), plus he was part of True Life Blues: The Songs of Bill Monroe, which won Album of the Year in 1997. A Grammy followed for the O Brother, Where Art Thou soundtrack.
Though he wasn’t extremely active after Nashville Bluegrass Band retired, you would still Pat from time to time at The Station Inn.
In the bluegrass world, he will be remembered as a strong rhythm guitarist, a soulful and inventive vocalist, and a terrific collector of songs.
R.I.P., Pat Enright.
