Music home page - Don Stamey

I started piano at nine years old, and have played in churches since I was 15. I have played for weddings, theatre, restaurants, vocal groups, soloists, and countless years in church orchestras and band. I have also done casual recordings with friends. In addition to piano, I have played organ (electronic and pipe organs), electric bass, and alto sax (have not played sax since high-school). If you want to know more, you can view a more detailed musical history below.

Recordings

Here are a few recordings I have been a part of that are not available anywhere but this web site.

An original song by Denny Russell

A songwriter friend, Denny Russell, writes many songs, and also wrote and submitted a song for the American Idol Songwriters Contest that was a part of the show in May 2007. The song didn't get selected, but we want to make it available to everyone. The song is titled "New Day". Arrangement is by me and Denny. We recorded it one afternoon at Denny's house.

Vocal: Anna Campbell
Piano & strings: Don Stamey (Roland RD-500 keyboard)
Bass: Don Stamey (Fender P-bass)
Drums: Denny Russell (an electronic set assembled by Denny)
Engineer: Denny Russell (recorded on a Roland digital recorder)

An original song by Don Stamey

I'm not a songwriter, but I felt my wedding was a great occasion to write one. We had chosen several songs for the wedding, but I couldn't find that one song that said everything I wanted to say, so I wrote my own. I wrote it in 1988, but did not record it until 2001. During the wedding, I had my wife's brother sing it (unfortunately, I'm not a singer), and I played piano. For the recording, I added some additional instruments.

Vocal: Gary McDaniel
Piano & strings: Don Stamey (Roland RD-500 keyboard)
Bass: Don Stamey (Fender P-bass)
Drums: Mel Flores (an acoustic set; Ludwig if I remember correctly)
Alto Sax: Dave Friedrichs (only on the instrumental version of the song)
Engineer: Jack Ketchem (recorded with Pro Tools lite, on a Mac)

Other recordings

I recorded many songs when I was in the Denny Russell Band. Here is a live recording we did in June 2008 of one of Denny's original songs:

Play: Old Wood Rocking Chair - Denny Russell Band

I hope to record a piano solo album. Through the years, people have asked me if I have a recording of my piano music. What little I have recorded has usually been with other musicians. So I'm finally going to attempt my own album. It will be my own arrangements of old church hymns done in various styles that many church folks might not be accustomed to. It's a collection of many of the songs I have arranged and played in church through the years. I chose the hymns because there will be no copyright issues to deal with. I plan to give it to family and friends and whoever else might want it. I will probably post the MP3s to this web site.

Musical History

I am a self-employed software developer, but have been involved in music since age nine, and have played for all types of events, including weddings, theatre, restaurants, parties, vocal groups, and countless years in church orchestra and band. I have also done casual recordings with friends. I have experienced several different flavors of church music through the years, from very traditional in the 1970s, to big production full orchestra, and currently with Christian pop/rock that you find in many churches today.

The piano is my main instrument, but I also like to use electronic keyboards to add brass, strings, organ, and other instruments in various musical settings. I also enjoy playing electric bass.

Music caught my attention at an early age. I always liked it, and it always made sense to me, and I liked chords with a lot of color. I think it's a major part of the reason that I was attracted to music. Since my high-school years, I have had a reach of an 11th, and I use that to create some thick chord voicings.

I started playing piano at age nine. Most kids had parents that made them take piano lessons, so the kid hates it, wants to quit, and regrets quitting many years later. I've heard that story countless times from people I meet. I had wanted to play since about age 6 or 7, but there were no musical influences in my family. My parents thought it was just a whim, and thought I would play it for a few weeks and then never touch it again. But I kept asking, so for Christmas, at age 8, my older brother and I got one of those small organs that were popular in 1960s. It had about 25 keys and 6 chord buttons. There were special books written for it, that allowed you to play by number and chord symbols. On Christmas day, my brother and I fought for control of it, but after that day, my brother never touched it again. I went through both books, and then started playing whatever I heard on radio or TV. It must have been a test to see if I had a real interest, because the next year we got a piano, and I started piano lessons. The first year or two was fun, but then my lessons shifted into playing classical music (Bach, Beethoven, etc.) with recitals and all kinds of other things that are boring to a ten year old. I quit taking the lessons after about 5 years, but I kept playing.

One Sunday, when I was 15, the church we attended didn't have anyone to play piano. They asked me to play, and I have been playing in church ever since. In high school I got into the jazz band, and I liked hanging out with the band members so much that I asked to be in the marching band, so the band director put me on cymbals. That was fine, but cymbals weren't my thing, so I tried alto sax. Unfortunately, after high school, I did not play the sax again until I got an alto and a tenor sax a few years ago. I was amazed at how much I forgot. I also started playing some acoustic guitar in high school, but didn't go very far; I was too involved with piano. I have enjoyed electric bass since teenage years, but it wasn't until the early 1990s that I bought one and started to play. I played the bass regularly in church for a number of years. It is definitely my second favorite instrument to play, after piano.

I decided in high school that I did not want to try to make a career in music. I was a business finance major in college, but after taking a few computer classes I became hooked on programming. By the time I graduated college, I had no interest in business finance, and just wanted to write software. After two years at my first job of managing a main-frame computer system for a company, I became self-employed, and have been doing that ever since.

My wife and I attended large church in Fullerton, California for many years, where I got to be part of full orchestra, playing piano and bass. Orchestra had fascinated me since teenage years, so it was great to finally be part of one. I had an opportunity to create some arrangements for full orchestra, and found that to be one of the more satisfying aspects of doing music.

Since moving to the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, I am doing more music than I ever have. I am one of the keyboard players in the band at Twin Cities Church in Grass Valley. In late 2005, a friend in the band there asked me and some other musicians to be part of a CD project to record his original songs. By early 2006, the CD project turned into a country-rock band, and the Denny Russell Band was formed. It lasted about five years, until some key members moved away. I never thought I would be part of a country-rock band, but it was a lot of fun.

From 2011 to 2016, I was part of a Carpenters tribute group that performed the music of Richard & Karen Carpenter.

Musical Influences

Sometimes people ask me who has influenced me musically. I don't have very many famous keyboard players that I feel have influenced me. However, I have worked with various non-famous keyboard players that have definitely had an impact on the way I play. I tend to be more influenced by keyboard players that I get to know and work with.

If I had to name one famous player, it would probably be Richard Carpenter. When the Carpenters became popular in the early 1970s, I was only in my early teens, but Karen's voice really caught my attention. I got all their recordings, and as I listened to them, I started noticing all the great things Richard had done, especially his arranging and orchestration. Those recordings are what started my passion for orchestra. I really liked the chords that Richard used for the piano, orchestra, and the multi-tracked vocal parts. I'm sure Richard's style has shaped the way I play. When I wrote a song for my wedding, many people said it sounded like it could be a Carpenter's song (I don't think so), even though I didn't intend that.

Chicago has been my other favorite band of all time. When they transitioned to the Peter Cetera ballads of the 1980s, there was a lot of great keyboard work by Bill Champlin.

I like Carole King's style and feel on the piano style. It's not complex, but it's so great to listen to. She is one of my favorite song-writers. Elton John also has a great playing style.

Through the years, I have enjoyed musical groups such as The Carpenters, Chicago, Carole King, Whitney Houston, Elton John, Natalie Cole, Gloria Estefan, Amy Grant, Michael Buble, Glen Campbell, Ray Charles, and Frank Sinatra (just to name a few). A more recent artist I like is Glennis Grace. Lady Gaga has a great voice. She suprised me when I heard her sing some older songs.

Instruments & Gear

My favorite instrument to play is either a 7 or 9 foot grand piano. As a result, I have never really acquired very much gear. At home, I have a Baldwin 7 foot grand. When I play at other places that don't have a good piano, I use a Yamaha CP-4, which I got in 2018. I looked at many 88-key weighted digial pianos (Roland, Kawai, Korg, various Yamaha models, etc.), and I liked the Yamaha CP-4 the best. It does not have as many sounds or features like the Roland RD-2000 or Yamaha Motif XF8, but the Yamaha CP-4 has the best acoustic piano, and is more portable than other large keyboards.

I previously used a Roland RD-500. I had played the later Roland RD models (600, 700), but didn't like the acoustic piano sound as much as the RD-500, so I kept it a long time. It worked well, except for a design flaw that caused the key weights to break. I'm a heavy-handed player, so I broke a lot of the key weights, but was able to acquire spare parts.

Instead of buying more keyboards for sounds, I also use my Mac laptop.

Sometimes I want to play music around the campfire at the beach or on a camping trip. Since my guitar skills are limited, and needing something small, portable, and battery powered, I have an old Yamaha PSR-282. I was suprised to find several good sounds in that keyboard, including some organs. I sometimes use it as an extra keyboard at gigs.

I also like to play electric bass, but don't get to do that as much as I would like. I have three Fender American made basses: 4-string P-Bass, 4-string Jazz Bass, 5-string Deluxe Jazz Bass.