Bottleneck Blues Band

Don has been playing drums since the age of 5, having been taught by his dad Don Sr, and was marching in The Imperial Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps by the time he was 7.  At 16 he beat the standing DCI champion at the 1974 Western States PAS Rudimental contest. By then he knew that he was going to be a lifelong musician and started playing professionally with the local Big Bands.  At 17 he was on the Lake Tahoe/Reno/Vegas circuit, coming home he played with Montuno, Solstice, and many other local bands, travelling extensively. Having the skills, Don has played with the Oregon Symphony, Gary Burton, Bobby King and Terry Evans, Ry Cooder, Chuck Rainey, Steve Conn, Lloyd Jones, Robert Cray, Steve Miller, Curtis Salgado, The Coasters, Hutch Hutchinson, Dan Akroyd, Jim Belushi, Tom Arnold, Kiefer Sutherland, Jimmie Vaughan, Sonny Landreth, John Koonce, Walter Wolfman Washington, Bravo Northwest Concerts, Anthony Gomes, Derek Trucks, and others. “I play all styles from rock, jazz, Latin jazz, symphony, and blues, and have experienced playing a Gypsy Funeral and a Halloween Costume Party at a Nudist Colony!” Currently he teaches full time out of his drum studio, plays with Bottleneck Blues Band, and freelances. Don