Doug Sr. loved the big bands-Glen Miller was a big fave-and novelty stuff like Sheb Wooley, Louis Jordan, SpikeJones, etc.

Doug's sisters had a wide range of taste-although he remembers vividly sitting on the couch with his parents while all 3 girls writhed, screamed, and gyrated on the floor as the Beatles rocked Ed Sullivan.

Terri liked girl groups and Patsy Cline kinda stuff, Cathy liked folk-rock (Simon & Garfunkel were big with her) and Sandi loved James Brown/Motown stuff as well as jammin' rock like the Allman bros band. And the house was always full of music

In 3rd grade Doug's teacher let him stay in at recess and listen to Burl Ives singing "goober peas," " little white duck" and "froggy went a courtin'" - along with the short skirts this teacher wore… it changed his life

Doug started playing bass violin at 10 years old, electric bass and guitar as a teenager and by the time he was 17 he had written 20 songs (all REALLY bad)

After touring Europe with an orchestra after high school Doug played bass and sang in a variety of bands in central Wisconsin-"Right-at-Home", "Stacked Deck" "Country Roy & the Mugs" and "Dr. Sax & the Maniacs".

When the "Maniacs" went their own ways Doug drifted from one band to another-"Liquid Johnny" and "Blue Collar"(now that's the blues…)Paula Slow("huh…maybe your NEW bass player will wear cowboy boots") and hosting the Hump Nite Jam at the Wheelhouse in Waupaca for 9+ years (where as fate would have it he met Ivan Strunin the violin virtuoso at the adjoining urinal in the men's room…a lifelong friendship was formed)…as time went on Doug drank less and wrote more; accumulating a catalogue of songs and a band to play them. Dennis Hart: an amazing left handed guitarist has played with Doug off and on since 1976… keyboardist Geoff Cutts crossed Doug's path as a member of Paula Slow's band… drummer/painter Kevin Knopp has been a mainstay since the late 80's.

As a songwriter Doug has been influenced by Bob Dylan, John Prine, Guy Clark and many others who mine the traditions of folk/blues/country/rock/jazz; in other words-American Music.

In the meantime he's helped artists like Tom "Grizzly" Adams, Randy Sabien, and Howard "Guitar" Luedtke as a fill-in bassist/vocalist and written some instrumental music for a DNR commissioned project, all the while managing to not make a dime!

These days Thompson performs solo,the coffeehouse scene provides the perfect setting for doug's wordplay-driven material.

Doug is also actively recording dozens of songs for various projects and has released 3 cd's of his music-"Short Takes & Tall Tales"-"Lightning in the Distance"(with Hart and guest star Ivan Strunin on violin)and "Grace in a Bucket" with the Dum Perfessers, all on his own label; Circus Tent Records.

Doug is the proud father of Liz who is a songwriter herself and Dan who plays trumpet and likes "the dead kennedys" and thinks henry rollins is a cool guy(so do i,for that matter)

The Usual Suspects

Dennis Hart - lead guitarist and great friend. I've played with Dennis for almost thirty years and he still surprises me with his playing… most well-read man I've ever met… can bake bread, kill deer and grow tomatoes… he paints and writes and in his spare time he's raised two great boys (Ian & Paul… who used to hide my cigarettes)Dennis hung up his guitar recently and we'll see how long that lasts

Geoff Cutts - keyboards and almost anything-with-strings, background vocals. Geoff plays like a classically trained, hillbilly church organ player who likes to sin on Saturday night and make up for it on Sunday morning… wonderful musical mind… inventive playing and singing.… never, ever ages.

Kevin Knopp - percussion and longtime confidante… as much fun to watch as to listen to when he plays… multimedia artist (with degrees and stuff to prove it) has had exhibits from Midwest to east coast… tunes pianos and is married to the lovely Mary Kay Welhouse (also a wonderful artist).

Ivan Strunin -violin and legal advice… I met Ivan in the men's room at the Wheelhouse bar… he was drunk on Jim Beam and I had drunk enough tequila to float the Mexican navy… we got on stage and played a Steve Goodman song together and have been friends ever since… Ivan lives in Charlotte N.C. and plays with several differant bands at this time...

Simon Weller -tenor sax, flute… a true pleasure to play with… Simon can play along with virtually anybody and make them sound better… a very intuitive player and sympathetic as hell… we haven't really recorded with Simon yet but hope to soon… he and Vickie are also a great audience

Rick Martin....drums.....best drummer i've ever played with....ex irene's garden,stellectrics,heartstrings drummer

Doug's Favorite Songwriters

(Male Division)

Bob Dylan-duh!

John Prine-midwestern & global at the same time

Guy Clark-the uncrowned king of texas(la freeway is my favorite song about moving)

Loudon Wainwright III-best I ever heard at writing about himself-writewhatyouknow!

Steve Earle-fearless as a writer and artist,a personal hero for sure

Neil Young - how ironic is it that the best chronicler of the American Myth is from Canada-eh?...from Cortez to Pocahontas thru the Civil War, Nixon to welfare mothers to that plane crashing in a Pennsylvania field….

Butch Hancock-romantic epics and biting populist humor

Tom Russell-so great at character sketches and stories of real people

Robert Earl Keen-almost as funny as Prine,almost as personal as Wainwright

Graham Parker-the first british guy on my list-nobody's better when pissed off

Paul Kelly-the only aussie,great lyrics wed to perfect melodies,w or w/o his band

Greg Brown-started as a folkie,ended up as an important artist who pushes his borders

Randy Newman-so snide,so cynical,so funny-when he's not being vulnerable

Bruce Springsteen-still brilliant when not so damned domestically content

Chuck Berry(with an honorable mention to Johnny Johnson,his pianist)

Lennon/McCartney-aw you know-my sisters had all the albums

Townes Van Zandt-a lonely poet, too drunk and disaffected at the end to know how great an impact he had on other writers-pancho &lefty should've been filmed by sam peckinpah

Steve Goodman-wrote compact little gems, he could breakyourheart or bustyourgut

Stan Rogers-nobody wrote better songs about the great lakes/Canada

Shel Silverstein-when my daughter was about 3 she'd pick shel's book "The Giving Tree" for me to read cuz she thought it was so funny to watch me cry (and I always did)

Woody Guthrie-my favorite all time New Yorker cartoon had a king high on a hill wearin a guitar singin, "this land is my land, this land is my land…" still cracks me up-w/o woody the top of this list would have a different name

Warren Zevon - always surprises me and makes me laugh or think or both

Shane Macgowan - london - irish drunkard poet with an incredible mastery of the irish folk lyric and melodic traditions (hope he doesn't die)

Tom Waits-san diego drunken poet with an incredible mastery of the beat vocabulary and the cool jazz melodic traditions (glad he didn't die)

Jimmy Buffett - some people call him the John Denver of the florida keys - but especially his early work had a lot of sharply observed moments

Kinky Friedman-before the mystery novels there was "they ain't makin jews like jesus anymore"and "ride 'em jewboy"-a great writer

Jerry Jeff Walker-pretty inconsistent but truly great on a handful of songs,"curly & lil" - "hill country rain", and of course "mr. bojangles"

Dave Carter-I was at his 2nd to last gig w/tracy and was amazed at his songwriting, what a tragic loss, tho I feel lucky to have seen him

Kris Kristofferson-brought intelligence as a virtue to the Nashville mix and was the first country songwriter I paid attention to

Dave Alvin - I always loved the Blasters and his take on America is dead-on and his writing is full of cynicism and wit with a keen eye for detail

Steve Forbert - the Mississippi kid turned New York folkie… has never made a bad album… turns a phrase and finds the right tune to go with it

Mark Germino-probably the least known name on this list...fiery,populist writing..left and right wingers are fair game...the man wants justice dammit,and his songs are sharply written and morally committed and catchy as hell-political songs need hooks too ya know

Doug's Favorite Songwriters

(Female Division)

Joni Mitchell - when I need or want to know how a woman might feel about things it's always helpful to listen to Joni's take on life-lyrically wise/funny and musically adventurous

Lucinda Williams - "Passionate Kisses" & "Just Wanted To See You So Bad" are the only two reasons I need to have her on the list - I love those songs - but all her albums are worth owning

Ani Difranco - my daughter turned me on to this incredible talent - always her own person both musically/lyrically and on the business end

Christine Kane - hilarious and very intelligent - high energy music in a folk world she never made

Laura Nyro - the late earth mother poet of the broken hearted - suffered from stage fright so was never fully appreciated except by her peers

Michelle Shocked - I was driving on highway 10 heading home and listening to 89.9 the campus station from Point -in the middle of a set of blistering punk rock the dj played "Anchorage" off the album "short sharp shocked" - I had to pull over to listen to the song - what brave artist/writer she is

Kasey Chambers - so young and gifted… already writes as if she's 50 years old and she's barely out of her teens… great Australian talent - "Barricades and Brickwalls" indeed

Katy Moffat - often co-writes with Tom Russell… her album "Greatest Show On Earth" is a cycle of love songs that works so perfectly it leaves me breathless (wheeze…gasp) and I love the way the lady sings

Alison Moorer - right now such a pure sweet intelligent country writer but she's so young… God knows where she'll be at in 10 years (she's Shelby Lynne's sister… another great singer and also a pretty good writer)

Cindy Lee Berryhill and Brenda Kahn - 80's folk chicks with major attitude - paved way for all the successful women singer/songwriters-both had wit, wisdom, panache and no shyness - my daughter thinks they rock

Kirsty MacColl - ok first she sang the female part on the Pogues amazing Xmas anthem "Fairytale of New York" and then she puts out a string of great rock/folk/worldbeat music… AND she called an album "Electric Landlady"… we lost a lot of wonderful music when she died

Roseanne Cash - Johnny's little girl has a way with words and can explain the female psyche as well as Joni

Carole King - ok, ok…"Tapestry" was her one shining moment as an artist and her co-writes were 3-5 chord early 60's teen stuff-so effin' what! - "Tapestry" was a landmark album and the teen stuff was timeless - that's what I think

Iris Dement - homespun voice and not near enough product - "My Town" is a perfect song - she recently married Greg Brown who's on my fave male writers list

Nancy Griffith - Texas schoolteacher who followed her poetic muse and started singing/writing songs - heartbreak and wanderlust are 2 themes she knows well

Bonnie Raitt/Aretha Franklin/Shawn Colvin - when they write it's usually pretty good… none of these women write as much as they should/could've

Doug's Favorite Movies

"The Wild Bunch" - Sam Peckinpah's gloriously bloody epic tale of outlaws at the end of their day,also a tensely plotted thriller-beautifully photographed and so well acted - you can tell that all participants were dedicated to making a great film.

"Reservoir Dogs" - incredible energy,this movie literally explodes off the screen,from the opening diner sequence to the final tragic twist at the end

"She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" - "Fort Apache"-2 of the John Ford "cavalry trilogy" are photographed and acted so perfectly I can't decide which is best, Ford always got the best out of John Wayne

"The Searchers" - John Ford and John Wayne again but telling a brutal story about racism,more great acting by Wayne, more of Ford's wonderful camera work

"Ride The High Country" - Sam Peckinpah, the last real performances from Joel McRae & Randolph Scott, the beginning of Peckinpaugh's stock company, and a great plot-it looked for awhile like Sam would become the new Ford

"Citizen Kane" - Orson Wells - wow - why does America chew up artists? this movie is damn near perfect

"Once Upon a Time in America" - Sergio Leone wanted to be an American so bad and his westerns were mostly that (so bad) but this take on jewish mobsters in the twenties was well acted and had an intersesting if densely structured plot - I'm a sucker for epics and this was a great film

"Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia" - Peckinpah was ridin the cocaine train pretty heavy by now but if you've got the stomach for it, this twisted tale is a masterpiece, Warren Oates is a tragically flawed hero

"The Grapes of Wrath" - John Ford again, bringing a chunk of Steinbeck's to life with Henry Fonda and Ford's stock company absolutely brilliant and a great score filled with folk songs

"It's a Wonderful Life"- merry christmas you wonderful old building and loan - Frank Capra & Jimmy Stewart and Ward Bond & Frank Phelan are all at the tops of their game with this one - I don't care if it's overexposed, it's still a great movie

*****HONORABLE MENTIONS-"Public Enemy", "The Ox-Bow Incident", "The Longest Day", "Dr Strangelove", "The Professionals", "Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid", "Goodfellas", "2001:A Space Odyssey", "Apocalypse Now" and of course-"Bigger,Longer,Uncut:The South Park Movie" - My pick for "best ever" musical - What a score! *****

DOUG'S FAVORITE SINGERS                                                                                                                           Ray Charles - the man takes any song in any style and makes it his own… it's not that there's sameness to his work: it's the uniformity of excellence in his choices… Country, Gospel, Soul/R&B, and even show tunes… he can sing 'em all…"I Got A Woman", "What'd I Say" and "Oh What A Beautiful Mornin'" are my favorites                              Waylon Jennings - somebody wrote once that Waylon proved he had balls by singing as if someone had a hold of 'em… I disagree … I think the man could tell a story and make me want to sing along … check out the album "Honky Tonk Heroes"

Bob Dylan - oohhh I can hear it now… no I'm not out of my mind… listen to the early stuff including the boots floating around… check out the newly released 1975 shows… he was yellin' thru some shitty PA's in the old days ya know… he makes me feel what he's singing… like "Lily Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts" or "Girl From The North Country" or "Mama You Been On My Mind" with Baez on the '75 official bootleg disc

Bonnie Raitt - her first four albums in particular but her honeyed voice is always sweet to my ears… "Love Has No Pride", "Sweet And Shining Eyes", "Under The Falling Sky"… I could go on & on

Aretha Franklin - oh my God she makes me want to become a Baptist one minute and crawl all over her like a worshipping dog the next… "Natural Woman", "Respect", and even "Pink Cadillac"… I love her singing

Johnny Cash - if God sings country music He sounds like Johnny Cash… "Flesh And Blood", "John Henry", the duets with June and his amazing latest works

Merle Haggard - however if the devil sings country he sounds like the Hag… his early stuff made Hell seem like it was his destination…in middle age and lately he's all jazz phrasing and syrupy (that's good) baritone… "Mama Tried", "Big City", "Working Man's Blues" just to name a few

Jerry Jeff Walker - the bartender/poet… makes me feel it like it happened to me… "Hill Country Rain", "Curly And Lil" and "Wheels" from the classic years and "ToAn Artist" lately… I think he sings like a drunken angel

Kirsty MacColl - sang the female part of the duet on the Pogues classic "Fairytale Of New York" and went toe to toe with Shane… wonderful purity of tone and sooo human… I miss her…                                                                 Frank Sinatra / Dean Martin - it helps if I'm in a lonely lounge near closing time and some poor sap is nursing a highball and missin' his woman… all the 50's stuff with Nelson Riddle's arrangements and the stuff with Tommy Dorsey was cool too-my favorite Dean Martin stuff was when he sang c&w - "Houston", "Little Things" and "My Rifle, My Pony and Me"                                                                    
Stan Rogers - he had THE folksinger's voice… beautiful yet human enough to tell his stories… "The Mary Ellen Carter", "The White Squall", "Blue Dolphin"… a voice that boomed and rolled like thunder over the Great Lakes-killed in a plane accident

Steve Goodman and John Prine - Chicago's finest -neither one of these guys has what you'd call a trained voice but for me, singing is communication and these guys let you know how they feel and why they feel that way - "Souvenirs" is a duet that they loved to sing - "My Old Man" by Goodman and "Lake Marie" by Prine are standouts

Tina Turner - what can I say? - "River Deep Mountain High", "Proud Mary" ,"Private Dancer"… the woman rocks when she wants too and coos when it's appropriate

Hank Williams - it's a cliché to appreciate his gifts now but he still sends a chill through my bones - "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry", and "Kaw-Liga" are my favorites… his kid can sing like hell when he wants to but junior's pretty lazy

Chris O'Connell and Ray Benson - co-lead vocalists for prime "Asleep-at the Wheel" the western swing revivalists-they could sing so well together and individually they always connected with the emotional center of whatever song they sang - "The Way We Make A Broken Heart" is my favorite

Prince (or whatever the hell he calls himself these days) I know… I know… a world class weirdo but man can he sing - stinging falsetto, rolling bass and velvet midrange-"Little Red Corvette", "1999" and "kiss" are my 3 favorites but hey… he can SING

Sam Cooke - well he was too young... "Another Saturday Night", "A Change Is Gonna Come", and of course "Cupid"

Otis Redding - so young when he went -"Dock Of The Bay", man-what a song… his whole catalogue is great-so much energy… "Shake" at Monterey…whoahh!

David Allen Coe - yeah I know he's almost as weird as Prince (maybe weirder) and he's kind of an asshole (but he used to get pretty wasted) he's a great country singer… "Revenge" is a little known gem, "Dakota The Dancing Bear", "If That Ain't Country…" and "Would You Lay With Me?"…great stuff

DOUG'S FAVORITE SONGWRITER/BAND COLLABORATIONS

1) Bob Dylan and the Band - a funky/fluid rhythm section, great background vocals and ensemble playing, an amazingly creative keyboardist, an enigmatic lead guitarist who shunned the spotlight-the songs come first with all these groups but this is the standard by which I judge the others.

2) Graham Parker and the Rumour - When the survivors of British pub-rock band "Brinsley Schwartz" hooked up with songwriter Graham Parker they cranked out two of my favorite albums in less than a year.

3) Jerry Jeff Walker and the Lost Gonzo Band - the fact that these guys could play as tight as a fist or as loose as a goose (sometimes in the same song) and still keep up (put up?)with Jerry Jeff puts them high on my list.

4) Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band - I saw them at Alpine Valley in 1984 and I wish I could have seen them in the early 70's…the show was 3 hours long and time flew by, the records (cd's?) are timeless for the most part.

5) Mark Germino and the Sluggers - A crazed ranting populist from Nashville playing with session guys who do enough playing for money…when they play Germino's songs the music is tight, supportive and most of all…joyful.

6) Robert Earl Keen Band - Keen's songs get the right treatment every time, whether it's high-lonesome bluegrass, folk-rock, honky-tonk or dirty blues… the playing is always tight but with room to breathe.

7) Joe Ely Band -They roared through Texas like a honky tonk tornado…Ely's songs and his great choice of cover material gave this bunch of musicians the perfect frameworks for stunning twists and turns down the country roads of the 70's - 80's.

8) The Tom Russell Band - Russell and guitarist Andrew Hardin play and record so well together… the band can really build an epic or lay a simple folk groove depending on the mood of Russell's tunes.

9) Steve Goodman and Jethro Burns - I know, I know… two guys isn't really a band but I've heard the recordings… they sound like more than two guys

10) Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - I think they're the world's best "thinking man's bar band"… a rockin' rhythm section and cool keyboardist, an enigmatic lead guitarist who eschewed flashy moves and rock star crap and a front man who wrote great songs ( hmm…#10 sounds like #1 )