Tip the Artist

Artist Bio

19 year old PATRICK DRONEY has become one of America’s phenomenal young guitar players and promising young songwriters. Winning the Robert Johnson New Generation Award in 2006 as the country’s "Best Young Blues Guitarist", he has been turning heads since picking up the guitar at the age of 7. Patrick is set to release his self-titled second album due out in March.

Patrick has graced the stages of The Montreal Jazz Festival, The Whiskey A-Go-Go, BB King’s Blues Clubs, The Bamboozle Music Festival, and countless House of Blues across the country, just to name a few. He has toured with such legends as BB King and the late James Brown, as well as being a part of the Jimi Hendrix Experience Tour, sharing the stage with Mitch Mitchell (drums) and Billy Cox (bass), the same Jimi Hendrix Experience rhythm section that played behind Hendrix at Woodstock, along with Robert Randolph, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Hubert Sumlin, Robby Krieger (The Doors), and Buddy Guy. More recently Patrick has toured with mainstreams bands such as Breaking Benjamin and Seether.

Steve Johnson, grandson of the legendary guitarist Robert Johnson and COO of the Robert Johnson Foundation says of his playing, “Patrick blew us away. We were amazed that a musician that young could play with that much skill and dexterity and with that much soul.” Critics have compared his talent to one that fuses elements of Stevie Raye Vaughn, Robert Johnson and John Mayer while adding his own original style. Patrick posses a textural smoothness and warm fluidity that connotes a visceral connection between his fingers and the fret board, belying his age. Blues Matters Magazine dubbed him “The New Generation”, The 2007 SXSW Festival Must-See list called him “one of the best young guitarists alive today,” Patrick has also appeared in such major publications as Guitar World and People Magazine. New Jersey Monthly Magazine put him in their “What’s Hot List” (7/10), while local critics called his playing “off the charts impressive” (Courier Post) and “Young in years but long on talent and experience.”(Hyannis News).

He is among the youngest endorsees of Paul Reed Smith (PRS) guitars, Budda Amplifiers and Dean Markley Strings, and the youngest to be endorsed by DiMarzio guitar pickups and hardware.
In addition to his guitar playing and original song writing, Patrick is also a caring and committed young man who strives to help make a difference in the world. His combination of talent and philanthropy are far beyond his teen years with his noted charitable endeavors on both the local and national level. In 2005 he was awarded the Nestlé Very Best in Youth Award and initiated a fundraiser that raised over $500,000 in disaster relief for Hurricane Katrina victims and an additional $250,000 for the New Orleans Musicians Assistance Program. As a youth volunteer for the National Hemophilia Foundation (Patrick was born with vonWillebrands syndrome, a bleeding disorder) he, along with his sister, have helped raised thousands of dollars for various children’s charities including the Alcove for Grieving Children and the Shelby Richter Fund. People Magazine featured the Droney siblings last year as “heroes among us”. In addition to serving on the board of the Nestlé Very Best in Youth Foundation, Patrick also shares a board seat with BB King on the Robert Johnson Foundation Heritage House, a foundation designed to give back to local communities through the Arts.