Pat Alger
Pat Alger is an American songwriter, guitarist, and singer whose folk-rooted craft fed a long run of country and Americana hits in the 1980s and ’90s. A Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee, he is best known for co-writing many of Garth Brooks’s signature songs while working in the acoustic, narrative tradition that connects bluegrass, folk, and mainstream country.
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- Born September 23, 1947, in LaGrange, Georgia; taught himself guitar as a teenager and began writing songs at 15.
- Moved to Woodstock, New York, in 1973 and recorded with the Woodstock Mountains Revue, cutting three folk albums for Rounder Records.
- Toured as the opening act on The Everly Brothers' reunion world tour beginning in 1984.
- Co-wrote several of Garth Brooks’s biggest songs, including “The Thunder Rolls,” “Unanswered Prayers,” and “That Summer.”
- Wrote or co-wrote hits for Kathy Mattea (“Goin’ Gone,” “She Came From Fort Worth”), Nanci Griffith (“Once in a Very Blue Moon,” “Lone Star State of Mind”), Hal Ketchum (“Small Town Saturday Night”), and Trisha Yearwood (“Like We Never Had a Broken Heart”).
- Named Songwriter of the Year by the Nashville Songwriters Association International in 1991 and ASCAP’s Country Songwriter of the Year in 1992.
- Inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2010 and the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in 2013.
