Don DeStefano

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Don “Don D.” DeStefano Born with the full name Donald Walter DeStefano, sharing the same middle name as legendary blues harp virtuoso Marion “Little Walter” Jacobs, Don may have well been destined to play the harmonica. Picking up the instrument as a teenager, he didn’t seriously study the harmonica until attending college in the Midwest, when he came under the spell of the Chicago blues style, observing such legends as Junior Wells and Big Walter Horton who were still actively gigging in the Windy City during the 70’s.
Don’s harmonica style is a musical gumbo inspired by traditional blues legends, such as Little Walter, Rice Miller, Walter Horton and the modern blues/rock and R&B/soul practitioners; Paul Butterfield, Lee Oskar, Magic Dick, Stevie Wonder, Norton Buffalo, and legendary Nashville recording session, country and bluegrass harmonica virtuoso, Charlie McCoy…and his playing is also heavily influenced by many R&B horn players such as King Curtis, Junior Walker, Maceo Parker, and Grover Washington Jr.
Don has performed across the four corners of North America, from Alaska to the Canadian Maritimes, southern California to the Caribbean, and points in between. In addition to performing steadily over the past 30+ years and sharing the stage with such notable musicians as, Mark Naftalin (of the Paul Butterfield Band), Eric Von Schmidt, and Jimmy Vivino & Mike Merrit (of the Max Weinberg 7) and opening for many major artists including Robert Cray, the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Peter Wolf, Greg Rolie Band (of Santana) and Rick Derringer, Don also has been active as a studio musician, recording on several commercial jingles and songwriter demos. His harmonica and slide guitar playing were featured a few years back on recordings by two of America’s musical icons: bluesman B.B. King and country star Johnny Cash. His harmonica playing has also been featured on CD releases by Peter Gale (“Landlord Of Love”), Gershwin’s Roommate (“Walking On Water Wasn’t Built In A Day”), jazz vocalist Sally O’Brien’s (“Passion”), the collaboration CD (The Cutting Room Sessions) by two of St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands most popular music entertainers, Becca Darling & Barefoot Davis, along with Davis’s newest release (Barefoot Dreamin’) and the recently released single, (Wicked Man Rail) by Connecticut based, power funk/rock trio, Solistic. Don also appeared as an on-air guest, along with internationally renowned harmonica virtuoso, Howard Levy, on a radio broadcast dedicated to the harmonica,”Harmonica Heroes Take Over WNPR” on the nationally syndicated Colin McEnroe Show on WNPR Public Radio. In addition, he has reprised the legendary harmonica performance of Paul Butterfield in the critically acclaimed Martin Scorsese concert movie by The Band,”The Last Waltz”, as a performer with the musical re-creation “Last Waltz Live.” In addition to his performing and recording credits, his willingness to share his knowledge on all things “harmonica”, Don has also written numerous articles on harmonica repair and customization, and amplifier modification for harmonica use in several print and online publications.

Don is an endorser of and sponsored by Seydel Harmonicas, the worlds oldest harmonica manufacturer.

Besides performing and recording, Don teaches beginning, intermediate, and advanced students the fundamentals of the diatonic harmonica (blues harp) and will cover genres such as folk, blues, rock, country, R&B, and bluegrass. Techniques such as chording, scales, note bending, alternate tunings and positions, and music theory as it is applied to the harmonica. An introduction to beginning blues chromatic harmonica for intermediate and advanced students. Don has been teaching harmonica for 20 years.

Don is sponsored by and is an endorser of Seydel Harmonicas.

Don now has his own Seydel Artist page…visit him at: Don D’s Seydel artist page…

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  • Another song from October 14 at the I81 Northbound Virginia welcome center.

  • Ran into four of the guys on October 14th at the I81 North Virginia Welcome Center just inside the Virginia state line coming from Tennessee. The welcome center / rest area has an area setup with guitars for travelers to stop and play a while and that’s where I had the pleasure of meeting them and listening for a while. Nice break from driving. Oh and thanks guys for the CD! Love it!!

  • Tonight we went into Horizon Music Group Studios to talk to the man himself, Vic Steffens, and get the process started. We will be taking it slow on shows for the next few months as we put together a full blown studio CD this winter and we couldn’t be happier to be doing it with Vic! We will still have a few shows here and there, so don’t miss out on the cream train when it comes rollin’ into your town: 11/8 - Bishop's Lounge in NoHo, MA (10pm start) 11/15 - The Eleven in Naugatuck, CT (9:30pm start) 11/17 - Beau's Bar in Greenlawn, NY (EARLY SUNDAY SHOW: 4-8pm) 11/27 - Worcester Palladium for Wormtown Thanksgiving in Woostah, MA supporting our brother Zach Deputy! (8pm Creamery opening set) 11/30 - The State House in New Haven, CT w/ John Spignesi Band and Friends Of A Feather (Music starts at 8pm) 12/6 - Arch Street Tavern in Hartford, CT w/ Joon (Music starts at 10pm) 12/20 - Harlow's Pub in Peterborough, NH (9:30 start) See y’all out there on the road! And keep an eye out for our new CD. We plan to release a few songs along the way to let you hear some of the magic that is unfolding! ???

  • That stage one live lp is fire! Good to see you guys as always.

  • Love ya Vinnie! Remembering you (and all of our fallen brothers and sisters) today as we hit the road heading south. Don’t forget to look out for one another y’all! ❤

  • Dayum, that was a weekend for the record books!!! We needed a few days of recovery before posting this. Friday night saw Creamery Station roll into Hebron, CT for an appearance at the "sold out" Just Joshin' Music Festival ...whatta fun and creamulicious good time as hundreds joined us and many other talented bands for one helluva raging hoot and good time...this has got be one of the most fun Fall music festivals in Connecticut, and the most comfy digs you can ask for in a music fest; rain, early snow, chilly temps; no problemo, the stage and some of the rooms are indoors at the super nice, yet rustic Camp Hemlocks facility...we love throwing it down here!!! A very special shout out to festival organizer, Andy Mooney , for putting together one of the best parties in the state, and while we're handing out kudos, howz about Cody Urban (guitar)and Isaac Young (sax) for sitting in with us and helping us pack the dance floor for a rip snorting cover of the Billy Preston classic, “Will It Go 'Round In Circles"...some blazing playing by Cody and Isaac on that tune that had the entire Just Joshin' crowd shakin' booty!!!!!!!!!!!! Late night shenagins followed with a variety of late night acoustic jams... All in all, yet another off the charts Just Joshin' Festival for the record books...we look forward to returning to Camp Hemlocks hopefully again in 2020... Stay tuned!!! Saturday afternoon, the Cream bus rolled into "the Valley" for an appearance at the Smoke In The Valley Festival at BAD SONS Beer Co. in Derby, CT!!! A mind blowing variety of micro brews from around the state, along with yummy barbeque and food trucks, and gorgeous Fall weather drew a big crowd to "the Valley" for a fun Saturday afternoon shindig! Following a kick ass opening set by roots rockers, Fingersleeve, Creamery Station took the stage, performing for a crowd of over a thousand beer swilling, but good natured folks, what an appreciative audience... Dayum, whatta off the hook gig... So great to see many of our Station Nation citizens in attendance, along with so many new friends and fans we met that day... Yup, that was a mighty fun show!!!!!!!!!! Great to see live music return to the Smoke In The Valley Festival again, and we hope this may become a regular, annual event for us! If that wasn't enough, a stripped down, (almost) acoustic version of Creamery Station, performing under the moniker of, "Creamery Kid And Friends", hit the stage Sunday afternoon at the Bethany Harvest Festival in Bethany, CT... We performed a set of bluegrassy acoustic versions of some of our Creamery Station songs and rootsy covers!!! Unfortunately rain moved in about 15 minutes into our set, but we enjoyed playing for several dozen hard core fans who danced on in the rain... Turned out to be a fun gig! We would like to thank those of you who soldiered on with us in the rain, we're very appreciative of your fortitude! The large, appreciative, and enthusiastic crowds we performed for this past weekend just shows us how incredibly fortunate we are to have so many devoted and loving fans...we can't thank you all enough!!!!!! We're just so appreciative of your support...we love our friends, fans, and fam...thank you to our Station Nation!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ???

  • TODAY we head to this year’s Smoke In The Valley event at BAD SONS Beer Co. in Derby, CT. Fingersleeve just finished sound check and are about to kick off the event with some groovy tunes and then Creamery Station takes over from 2:30-4:15pm to close out the event. Get on down here!!

  • TONIGHT! We begin our double header weekend. ***Note: THESE WILL BE OUR ONLY SCHEDULED CONNECTICUT SHOWS OF OCTOBER!! *** Tonight (Friday 10/4): We play from 10-11pm at this year’s Just Joshin' Music Festival in Hebron, CT alongside a huuuuge list of our good friends bands. Like, fuck yeah. Tomorrow (Saturday 10/5): We head to BAD SONS Beer Co. in Derby, CT to play at this year’s Smoke In The Valley event alongside Fingersleeve and a long list of incredible beers on tap for the day!! Fingersleeve 12:30-2pm and Creamery Station 2:30-4:15pm See y’all out there!! ❤ ???

  • Happy Tuesday! Fortunately, I still have one of these swell Flintstonian devices in my office...

  • TOMORROW NIGHT! We head to the legendary Chance Theater in Poughkeepsie, NY to play a show with our good friends in Gratefully Yours. We hit at 8pm sharp followed by two sets of the dead, so come early and stay late for a full night of music! ❤ Art by Kenny Schneidman

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