About Me
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD AND LISTEN TO MORE OF MY SONGS.Some of the tapes that I resurrected were in rather bad shape due to age and storage. However we
will be re-recording some worthy ones and meantime will have the better Quality ones up for your listening pleasure and comments. I have written almost 300 songs, of these, I have about 100 recorded. Most of the recordings were done just to save the song in it's original form and not recorded professionaly. In fact most were done in the old sound on sound method in my old home studio just outside of Washington D.C.
I am currently playing alone. I have a small home studio and do all the instrumentation and vocals myself. Actually put out a fair listening product considering the circumstances. The songs that will be put up for samples
will bridge quite a few years and will include some of my most recent songs.
My musical carreer started as a child in 1942-43. My brother and I where
dressed up in military outfits and sang in War Bond Shows during WWII.
I later did USO shows around Baltimore Md. Then I began to sing in restaurants and did school and church shows and sang in the church choir.
When I joined the Air force in 1957 I did some musical shows for special
services and performed in the Tops in Blues competition. I also sang at various service clubs. It was about this time I started to write seriously and began to keep up with my songs. I left the military in 1965 and went back to Washington DC. I lived in suitland Maryland and began showing up for songwriters contests and any contest I could get into. I traveled to New York in 1969 and Got 8 songs published by Interval Music, Alan Lorber Productions,
then began trying to form a group. I met Jonathan Firstenberg, now a very
successful Emmy-winning composer/music supervisor and we formed the group "Jonathan". I had written a song called "What will You Do Now She's Gone" Alan Got RCA interested in the song and in myself as an artist. I am not sure I remember how the connection took place, but The Grand Old Opry
went on the road and was going to do a show in Northern Virginia, Leesburg as I remember. I was invited to sing on the show and met Hank Snow and
Martha Carson, who were the headliners of course. Anyway,Nothing ever came of the song or whatever level of interest they had in me. I went through the same experience 2years later when an A&R guy with one of the big companies,I beleive it was RCA again,or Mega Records became interested in a group of songs I had written. Yet again nothing ever materialized from it. Whats that old saying, "Always a Bridesmaid, Never a Bride. Well there you go!. Jonthan and I worked together for a couple of years. Lots of hard work and then parted ways. That began my first attempt at recording all by myself. than I met another singer songwriter, Pat Weber
and he and I put together the group "Calico" After about a year we parted
ways. I went to prince Georges community College and became a leader
in the Folk Music Workshop. I instituted a songwriters performance sharing
program in their new Agora Pub. I met a fellow named Dave Miner,
Now a rather well known Dobro player form Maryland, Dave joined my Son Jeff (drummer) and I as a 12 String Guitarist and we formed a trio called Arabesque. In the next 8 months we added more musicians who had heard my songs and wanted to become part of the group. We ended up as a 6 piece
group called "Cheyenne Autumn". Just about everyone was multi talented and our vocals and sound were special. This Group had all the basics to make it. We released a record in 78, "Baby I Know" on Barracuds Records.
We played hundreds of locations,and thousands of hours of on stage time
in the 3 state area in all kinds of venues, fairs, clubs, military & concerts.
After 5 years we parted ways. Myself and the pianist, Liz Shaw, got together for a while and played as a duo called "Fancy Free", eventually we parted company and I pretty much gave it all up. However, In 1997 I remarried
and my wife got me in the church choir. As soon as I began to sing again I was hooked. So here I am again, recording and writing and playing some small venues again. As my Sister in-Law said to me at my 50th birthday,
" Wail On Don". I don't know how much longer I will be able to wail but
so far the lord has let my voice stay pretty good so I will go as long as my health allows and the audience still enjoys..I will be 68 my next birthday.
One time years ago I said, jokeingly, I was going to be the oldest rocker.
Well what I do is not rockin but I am still here...my advice to you all comes
from the words of a song I wrote years ago, "Hang in There, Hang in There,
Good Times Comin For Sure"
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