Donald Mercer Music

Donald Mercer has always been fascinated with music, at even a young age. It wasn't unusual for him to be found singing to himself, making up his own words or humming a wordless tune of his own invention. His first public performance was at the age of five where we stood on a picnic table and sang “Dead Skunk In The Middle Of The Road” at a family reunion. From there he has had his songs performed onstage of the the Grand Old Opery and performed by others.

When he was twelve years old he found his fathers unused guitar in a closet and, using a chord book started learning chords making up his own songs. His parents were impressed and offered to gift him a six string guitar for Christmas, but Donald insisted on a bass guitar instead, which confused his parents, but on Christmas morning there it was. By the time he was sixteen, he was playing in bars, pretending to be older that he was and keeping a low profile so he wouldn't get noticed. It always seemed to work. He continued to play bass in bands. eventually became a well respected bassist not only in his own bands but also as a “gun for hire”. His acoustic stayed at home, only used for writing his songs.

In the coming years he played in bands large and small, from full twelve piece bands doing every thing from Blood Sweat and Tears to Chicago and more. Three piece bands were always his favorite, playing anything from Grand Funk to Alice Cooper. He also played in country bands, polka and square dance music as well.

He began recording his songs in the 1980's, but always felt that he was holding back on the emotional experience of his songs. After he retired he build his own small studio and with it decided that he wasn't going to hold back, put his fear of personal and emotional lyrics aside and open himself up. That is when his music began to show promise.

In the years since, he has gained awards for songs such as “Cries From A Graveyard”, “Beater With A Heater” and others. He is the recipient of the 2025 Hugs 24/7 Radio Best New Male Artist Award as well as the 2025 Record Of The Year honors. He also was invited to play two of his songs at the Awards Show, which was heard by over a hundred thousand people on internet radio.

Donald has a goal of writing for and collaborating with other artists. He has also begun to perform with his acoustic guitar in public again after many decades of preferring to only appear on stage playing bass guitar in full bands.

He released his first CD in January of 2026 and hopes to have his second CD ready for release by the end of the year.