Bluegrass Great Pat Enright Passes

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Pat Enright

Grammy winning musician Pat Enright died last week at age 81.

He was best known as the co-founder of The Nashville Bluegrass Band. The group is the most awarded ensemble in bluegrass-music history. Enright was also a member of The Soggy Bottom Boys in the O Brother Where Art Thou film and its Grammy-winning Album of the Year soundtrack.

Pat Enright was an Indiana native who took up acoustic guitar in high school. The folk-revival movement of the 1960s led him to bluegrass music. He moved to the Bay Area in 1969 and formed Phantoms of the Opry with future West Coast bluegrass star Laurie Lewis.

In Boston, he joined Tasty Licks alongside Béla Fleck, Mark Schatz, and Jack Tottle. The group recorded two Rounder albums in 1978-79. He formed the Dreadful Snakes in Nashville in 1983. Other luminaries in that band included Jerry Douglas, Blaine Sprouse and Mark Hembree, along with veteran Roland White. The band was primarily a part-time endeavor, although its shows at The Station Inn and its album, Snakes Alive, were delightfully influential.

The following year, Enright co-founded The Nashville Bluegrass Band. The act was initially formed as the backing band for a Minnie Pearl tour. Alan O’Bryant (banjo), Mike Compton (mandolin), Mark Hembree (bass) and Stuart Duncan (fiddle) became the core of the group with Enright.

The band became instantly popular with its tight, a cappella harmonies and eclectic repertoire. Enright was a diligent song finder, drawing material from Black gospel sources, folk tunes, vintage bluegrass numbers and Music Row country songs. His earnest, wry, sweet-yet-soulful vocals and effortless yodeling set him apart from other singers. Enright’s clear, warm, playful diction echoed that of his favorite singer, Jimmie Rodgers. He also cited Jimmy Martin and Hank Williams as influences.

Enright and O’Bryant fronted The Nashville Bluegrass Band through 10 Rounder and Sugar Hill albums and multiple lineup changes. During its international touring career, NBB became the first bluegrass group to perform in the People’s Republic of China. It has also staged shows in Brazil, Israel, Crete, Egypt, Bangladesh, Japan, Iraq, Bahrain, Qatar, Turkey and the Azores, not to mention Denmark, Germany, France, Ireland, Switzerland, Italy, Spain and England.

On disc, NBB collaborated with Johnny Cash, Clint Black, The Fairfield Four, Peter Rowan, Maura O’Connell and Bernadette Peters. NBB won the Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album twice, for Waitin’ for the Hard Times to Go (1993) and Unleashed (1995). In addition, NBB won the IBMA Vocal Group of the Year award four straight years (1990–1993). Enright also took home IBMA Album of the Year and Recorded Event of the Year in 1997 for the tribute album True Life Blues: The Songs of Bill Monroe (Sugar Hill).

In 2000, Pat Enright was hired to sing as one of the Soggy Bottom Boys alongside Dan Tyminski and Harley Allen for the O Brother, Where Art Thou movie soundtrack. It became a million-selling phenomenon that won the Grammy for Album of the Year in 2002. The Nashville Bluegrass Band became part of the “Down From The Mountain” tour, inspired by the film and the soundtrack’s success.

The Nashville Bluegrass Band dissolved in 2005. It is slated for induction into the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame this fall.

In retirement, Pat Enright occasionally performed solo or as a rhythm guitarist at The Station Inn. He died on Tuesday, Aug. 18. Funeral arrangements have not been announced.

Robert K Oermann
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