It was the never-ending traditional music playing at the Irish pub he frequented while earning his Ph.D. (clinical psychology) in Athens, Ohio that inspired Don to play. Upon moving to Mississippi in the late 80's, he began to play guitar and whistle with the local popular trad. band, Gramarye. It was back then that he began his exclusive use of the “dadgad” guitar tuning with tips from such notables as Zan McLeod and Daíthí Sproule.
Since 1994, Don has been a founding member of Legacy (with Valerie Plested and Justin Murphy), an Irish traditional band who tour nationally and are especially well known in their home region of the South and Southwest. Don also has performed on stage with Tim Britton, Randal Bays, Brian Conway, Jimmy Crowley, Máirtín de Cógáin, the Fuchsia Band, and Betsy McGovern and the Poor Clares, and he also recently has begun performing with Captain Mackey’s Goatskin and String Band.
Don’s discography includes Gramarye's Gael Force (1993), Alicia Merritt’s Celtic Dream (1997, Rockingchair Records), Jim Flanagan's Blood Drops in Snow (1998), Kansas-based Sunrush's Horse of a Different Color produced by Mick Moloney (1999), as well as Legacy’s Fresh Frozen (1996), Navan (1998), An Triréad (2006), An Irish Christmas (2007), and Not Making Hay (2008).