Biography
Donahue was born in New York, the son of big band saxophonist Sam Donahue and actress Patricia Donahue and grew up in Los Angeles. Encouraged by his parents, Donahue took classical guitar lessons as a child, but it was Gerry McGee (who later joined The Ventures) who made the biggest impression on him, when the 14-year-old Donahue winessed him playing a behind-the-nut bend at a performance at the Sea Witch, emulating Earl Scruggs' banjo technique. Donahue then took lessons from McGee. Regarding regular bends on the fretboard, Donahue cites Amos Garrett as a major influence. Other influences in his formative years were Chet Atkins, Duane Eddy, The Shadows and The Ventures; later influences were Clarence White, Danny Gatton, Albert Lee, Tommy Emmanuel and Robben Ford.
After moving to England, Donahue soon became a respected member of the developing British folk rock scene. As a band member, he played with Poet And The One Man Band, Fotheringay and Fairport Convention. Later he recorded and/or toured with artists such as Joan Armatrading, Gerry Rafferty, Robert Plant, Elton John, The Proclaimers, Johnny Hallyday, George Harrison, Cliff Richard, Chris Rea, Warren Zevon, Bonnie Raitt, Hank Marvin, Roy Orbison, Nanci Griffith, The Beach Boys and The Yardbirds. In 1990 he founded the guitar trio The Hellecasters with Will Ray and John Jorgenson. They recorded several instrumental albums and frequently toured in the 1990s and early 2000s. Donahue has released instructional videotapes and more recently has produced solo projects including Sandy Denny's Gold Dust (1998) and The Animals' Instinct (2004) as well as finishing the second album by his short-lived Folk rock band Fotheringay in 2008.
Recently, Donahue formed the band Gathering - Legends of Folk Rock with Clive Bunker, Rick Kemp, Ray Jackson, Doug Morter and daughter Kristina Donahue.
Jerry joined The Electric Revelators duo Gordon Wride & Simon Gregory in February 2011 for a UK tour of The Songs Of Robert Johnson in celebration of the king of delta blues birth in 1911.
During this period The Electric Revelators featuring Jerry Donahue, Gordon Wride and Simon Gregory headlined the Acoustic Stage Colne Blues Festival August 2011, once again performing the songs of Robert Johnson - this was a one off festival appearance!
Read more about this topic: Jerry Donahue
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