Don Allison

Don McKinzie Allison (March 26, 1962 – May 24, 2011), known as Donnie Allison, was a musician and vocalist from Lubbock, Texas. He sang on Music Television and performed at the Cactus Theater in Lubbock in such productions as Jesus Christ Superstar and Buddy - The Buddy Holly Story, the saga of the Lubbock rock and roll legend Buddy Holly.^[1]

Early life

Allison was born in Wichita Falls, Texas, and moved to Lubbock with his family shortly after tornadoes devastated Lubbock on May 11, 1970. He graduated from Coronado High School and attended Texas Tech University. He graduated from South Plains College, a community college in Levelland, Texas. At the time of his death, Allison was employed by GrantWorks, Inc., in Lubbock,^[2] a planning, housing, and community development service for rural Texas since 1979.^[3]

Early career

By the late 1970s, Allison had formed his own rock and roll band called "Impeccable"^[2] and thereafter joined The Nelsons, organized by guitarist John Sprott. He became the lead singer for the P. J. Belly Blues Band, which performed at the since defunct Lubbock blues club known as "Belly's." He also created the doo wop group, The J.D.'s, which performs at the Cactus Theater.^[2] During his musical career, Allison went from being "a long-haired rocker to a short-haired cowhand."^[1]

Toby Caldwell, a former sound engineer at the Cactus Theater, located on Buddy Holly Avenue near the old-style rock and roll radio station KDAV, said, "Donnie was always very particular about what he wanted to hear in the monitor" and was constantly striving for improvement." Caldwell told the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal that Allison's "gentle but definite guidance in running sound, playing music, directing a band or production, and in living life through adversity, will stay with me for the rest of my life."^[1]

Death

Allison died at the age of forty-nine of a four-year battle with cancer at a Lubbock hospice. He was cremated. His survivors were his wife of sixteen years, Maria Stephanie Andrade Huff Allison, a native of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; his son, Zachary Wayne Allison, and his parents, Wayne Allison and Jane Shawver Allison; a sister, Jana Allison Jones and husband Steve, and a brother, David W. Allison.^[2][4]

References