Don Everett Pearce
I grew up in a funky California beach town called Leucadia, just north of San Diego. My dad was a race car driver, which made him a somewhat atypical post-hippie, 1970s beach-mystic. Jackson Browne and Stevie Wonder records thumped loudly in the Living Room after dinner, and I was informally schooled in the lyrics of these writers, though at the time I would have preferred to be in my bedroom listening to KISS Destroyer on my Fischer Price stereo.
I got started writing and performing during my high school days, playing electric guitar in a mighty loud little band called Carnival. We took our cues mostly from The Clash, The Replacements, early U2 and The Who. That lasted a couple years.
After that band hit the skids, I hit the solo acoustic route. I started listening to a lot more Bob Dylan, and paying closer attention to lyrics in general. I used drag my guitar down to Balboa Park on weekends to play for tips alongside mimes, magicians, jugglers and portrait artists. Over the next few years I gigged around in San Diego's revved-up young coffeehouse circuit, got some home demos played regularly on a local FM radio show, and was written up a few times in local rags, including the San Diego Union Tribune.
I moved to New York City in late '97.
Ah, I loved living in New York! Good times, good times. A key source of musical inspiration and "scene" for me there came from a small bar on Manhattan's Lower East Side called 9C, where on the right nights you could catch some great country-blues and old-timey American music played by young devotees of the traditional styles, and sometimes by the old-timers themselves. 9C closed for a few years, but recently re-opend as Banjo Jim's...keeping the groovy roots thing alive in the East Village. Other favorite places to play while in NY were CB's Gallery (R.I.P) and the Baggot Inn.
While living in New York, I recorded and released my first full-length album, Brutish Little Ballet. The musicians on this album are a stellar little combo that I pulled together from different bands. This band consists of Steve Antonakos (electric guitar), Chris Benelli (drums), Andy Cotton (bass) and Ryan Williams (keyboards). We recorded the old-fashioned way; live-in-the-studio with few overdubs. Brutish Little Ballet. is available for purchase online (sound samples included) at CDBaby.com and at folkweb.com
Jennifer Layton of Indie-Music.com says, "This is ragamuffin gospel blues sung under a streetlight. Beautiful, soulful, and real."
Andrew Ellis of PopMatters.com says, "Sounding like a mix between Dylan, The Stones and Van Morrison, it's an absorbing listen."
Eigen Beheer of RootsTown says, "Don schrijft mooie songs, de melodie blijft in meer dan een geval hangen na enige keren draaien" which translates roughly as "Don is a god among songwriter-men.".. or something like that.
I moved to Los Angeles in late 2004. The last time I lived in LA was during the Nixon administration. I was about 3 years old. I've been exploring my new/old city and discovering a bit of family history as well. (I'm a 3rd-generation Angelino).
I haven't been playing out heavily lately, just a couple gigs at Room 5 Lounge and The Mint, plus the occassional trip back east to play Baggot Inn or Banjo Jim's.
See the "news" page for updates on new recordings and a new album due out in 2007.