A Short ♪

Don Barry was born in Cambridge, MA and grew up in a musical family. His Dad an opera tenor, Mom a pianist, and Grandpa played the banjo, guitar and mandolin. With all these musical influences it is no surprise that Don picked up the guitar, bass, ukelele, banjo, ... things with strings, and has played music for over 40 years.

Early in the 1970's he spent time playing in local Boston area bands which led him to a summer working in the house band in a Catskills resort. There he picked up his appreciation for jazz, blues and developed his chops on the string bass. Don toured with Lonesome Dave Clark, and Chicago Bob, ex-Muddy Waters player and played regular gigs with Luther Johnson down at the old Highland Tap, Speakeasy, and Bunratty's in the 1970s.

During the 80's Don took a break from playing live music to raise a family. He did continue to be involved with theater sound design, audio electronics, and appeared on stage in local community theater. He rejoined the music scene in the mid 1990s to do fill-ins on both bass and acoustic guitar. In early 2000's he began to perform at benefits and the occasional pub with Maria Breen's Just For Fun and Acoutic Fire.

In 2000's, Don joined the Lenny Solomon Band playing bass on Lenny's third CD Maybe Today. He now appears regularly in the Solomon Band, and the more acoustic Solomon Trio, at clubs, concerts and coffee houses in the Metro Boston area.

A lover of bluegrass and country music, Don revived his early influences, performing with singer songwriter Dawn Kenney and played on her Feel That Light CD and appeared with Dawn at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, Podunk Bluegrass Festival, the New England Country Music Organization (NECMO)show in Pigeon Forge TN, Blue Grass on the Bogs, Stone Soup, and other local New England festivals, coffee houses and shows. In 2012 Don appeared with the Dawn Kenney Band playing at Carnegie Hall, NYC.

Don was a performer at the Taunton River Folk Festival, playin bass for Ragtime Jack Radcliff, and Backstage Blues band at Steve's Backstage Pass in Taunton MA.

Don played bass for folk singer and songwriter, Dale Robbin Goodman, on her newest CD Sweet and Salty which was recorded by Wepecket Island Records.

In addition to the annual tour with the Wepecket Rolling Roots Revue, and hosting Cafe Milano's open mic, Don recorded an album with bluesman Sherman Lee Dillon, from Jackson MS. The CD, State of the Blues is Sherman's own Mississippi take on some old favorites and some new tunes written for the album. In 2014 Sherman won “Blues Album Of The Year” from the Rural Roots Music Society for this CD.

Don also played bass on Jim McGrath's Last of the Romantics CD available at Wepecket Island Records. Don also help to produce the CD, "We really captured Jim's special style that has been a mainstay in the Newport music scene for decades."

Don joined Steve Ventura's Mill City Growlers, along with Mike Paolucci on guitars and Paul Curran on sax, flute, and harp. The Growlers perform a jazz, blues, and country mix of mostly orginal music around the Southeast Massachusetts region and have recorded their debut CD, Questionable Sentiments available at the MC Growlers web site.
After the Growlers disolved, Don played bass for the New England to Nashville production company bringing over 100 new country artist to Lorettas Last Call in Boston, and also touring with emerging artist country Jimmy Connor at top venues such as Xfinity Center (Great Woods), Toby Keiths, and New England country festivals

Don is the “house” bass player for Wepecket Island Records, and has recorded and toured with about 30 of the artists on that label.

That's all for now, stay tuned ... ♫