At age 17, Don was further inspired when he met a local fingerpicking guitar player named Herman Fox. "Herman played with a thumbpick and his bare fingers. He turned me on to Chet Atkins and Merle Travis. Herman was really instrumental in my development as a guitar player." Humphries' introduction to bluegrass came during a two year stint in the Navy (1962-64). While serving on the U.S.S. Dyess (a destroyer out of Charleston, S.C.), Don met a sailor named Byran Warner. "I used to take my guitar down to the boiler room, one of the few places on board where there was enough room to play. Byran had the "Foggy Mountain Banjo" album. I had never heard anything like that in my life."

Following his discharge from the Navy, Humphries' got a first hand introduction to bluegrass when he met banjo virtuoso Tom McKinney at the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival in Asheville. "We each played solo at the festival on Friday night and met for the first time backstage at the end of the evening. On Saturday night we played on stage together." Thus began a musical relationship that would last for several years. Shortly thereafter, the band "Don and Tom and Co." was formed. This band featured Humphries (guitar and vocals), McKinney (banjo and vocals), Larry Holcombe (guitar) and Gene Dilllard (bass). "We had a great time with that band. McKinney was (and still is) as good a Scruggs style banjo player as I have ever heard. He taught me a bunch."