Don Humphries: A Passion for Songwriting
by Dave Capps

Don Humphries has never been really aggressive about pitching his songs. In spite of that, there are a whole lot of songwriters that would be envious of his accomplishments. His songs have been recorded by Del McCoury, The Nashville Bluegrass Band, and most recently, Patty Loveless. The first song selected for airplay from Loveless' recent bluegrass CD "Mountain Soul", was the Humphries' original "The Boys Are Back In Town" (co-written with Stuart Duncan and Pat Enright). In addition to the single release, an accompanying video was produced that has received considerable airplay on Country Music Television.

Known primarily for his songwriting, Don is also an accomplished guitar player. Born in Asheville, N.C., in 1944, his first inspiration came from his father, Lester. Don took up the guitar at age 10 after being intrigued by his dad's flatpicking style on songs like "Deep Elam Blues" and "The Boll Weevil Song". Don credits his mother, Annie Belle with influencing his writing. "She used to read poetry to me. People like Robert Service and Ogden Nash. I was really captivated by it. I started writing poems when I was about 13 and then short stories. I guess I wrote my first song when I was about 15."