Don grew up on a farm in Western Iowa. As a teenager he bought his first guitar, a Sears Silvertone Flat Top for $30.00.  A friend showed him a few chords to get started, and that led to Don teaching himself to play, which in turn resulted in a lifetime of playing music.

Early musical influences were: Peter, Paul, & Mary, The Kingston Trio, Flatt & Scruggs, Ray Price, Merle Haggard.

Don's first experience at performing was playing Folk Music in the Coffee Houses in the Omaha area. When he later moved to Kansas City, he organized his own Country band, called The Blue Notes. After playing around the Kansas City area for a number of years, Don grew tired of the "bar club scene", and decided to form a Bluegrass Band.

He already knew Bill Norton (bass player) and Tony Rodriguez (fiddle player and an original member of the Great White Possum String Company). He met Mark (lead guitar) and Gary (banjo) at jam sessions which he used to attend down at the Possum Trot Pickin' Parlor in the old River Quay area of Kansas City. There the Possums got together and formed the same band which exists today.

The rest, as they say, is history!

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