Don McKinzie Allison, known as Donnie Allison (March 26, 1962-May 24, 2011) was a musician and vocalist from Lubbock

Lubbock, Texas

Lubbock is a city in and the county seat of Lubbock County, Texas, United States. The city is located in the northwestern part of the state, a region known historically as the Llano Estacado, and the home of Texas Tech University and Lubbock Christian University...

, Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

. He sang on Music Television

Music television

Music television is a type of television programming which focuses predominantly on playing music videos from bands, usually on dedicated television channels broadcasting on satellite or cable. Music TVs may host their own shows charts, award prizes. Examples are VIVA, Scuzz, MTV, JBTV, MuchMusic,...

 and performed at the Cactus Theater

Cactus Theater

The Cactus Theater is a theater located in Lubbock, Texas, US. It hosts live music productions, musicals, and theatrical plays.-History:In 1938, Lubbock businessmen Joe H. Bryant, M. A. Sanders, and Glenn Woody, built Lubbock’s first suburban neighborhood movie theater. The Art Deco style theater...

 in Lubbock in such productions as Jesus Christ Superstar

Jesus Christ Superstar

Jesus Christ Superstar is a rock opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber, with lyrics by Tim Rice. The musical started off as a rock opera concept recording before its first staging on Broadway in 1971...

 and Buddy - The Buddy Holly Story

Buddy - The Buddy Holly Story

Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story is a jukebox musical in two acts with a book written by Alan Janes, and music and lyrics by a variety of songwriters. Based on the life and career of early rock and roller Buddy Holly, the musical hews closer to Holly's actual life story than the 1978 film version...

, the saga of the Lubbock rock and roll

Rock and roll

Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...

 legend Buddy Holly

Buddy Holly

Charles Hardin Holley , known professionally as Buddy Holly, was an American singer-songwriter and a pioneer of rock and roll...

.

Early life

Allison was born in Wichita Falls

Wichita Falls, Texas

Wichita Falls is a city in and the county seat of Wichita County, Texas, United States, United States. Wichita Falls is the principal city of the Wichita Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Archer, Clay and Wichita counties. According to the U.S. Census estimate of 2010,...

, Texas, and moved to Lubbock with his family shortly after tornadoes

Lubbock Tornado

The 1970 Lubbock tornado was a tornado event that occurred in Lubbock, Texas, on May 11, 1970. It was one of the worst tornadoes in Texas history, and occurred exactly 17 years to the day after the deadly Waco Tornado...

 devastated Lubbock on May 11, 1970. He graduated from Coronado High School and attended Texas Tech University

Texas Tech University

Texas Tech University, often referred to as Texas Tech or TTU, is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and originally known as Texas Technological College, it is the leading institution of the Texas Tech University System and has the...

. He graduated from South Plains College

South Plains College

South Plains College is a community college located in Levelland, Texas. It operates satellite branches in Plainview and at the Reese Technology Center, formerly Reese Air Force Base, in Lubbock. SPC also has many classes in the Byron Martin Advanced Technology Center in Lubbock, as part of a...

, a community college

Community college

A community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries.-Australia:Community colleges carry on the tradition of adult education, which was established in Australia around mid 19th century when evening classes were held to help adults...

 based in Levelland

Levelland, Texas

Levelland is a city in Hockley County, Texas, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 13,542. It is the county seat of Hockley County. It is located on the Llano Estacado, west of Lubbock. Major industries include cotton farming and petroleum production...

, Texas. At the time of his death, Allison was employed by GrantWorks, Inc., in Lubbock, a planning, housing, and community development service for rural Texas since 1979.

Early career

By the late 1970s, Allison had formed his own rock and roll band called "Impeccable" 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.During his musical career, Allison went from being "a long-haired rocker to a short-haired cowhand."

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

KDAV

KDAV is an AM radio station licensed to Lubbock, Texas, broadcasting an oldies format which focuses on 1950s and early 1960s pop, rockabilly, mild doo-wop, and country oldies....

, 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

Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

Lubbock Avalanche-Journal is a newspaper based in Lubbock, Texas, U.S. It is owned by the Morris Communications Company.-History:The Lubbock Avalanche was founded in 1900 by John James Dillard and Thad Tubbs. According to Dillard, the name "Avalanche" was chosen due to his desire that the...

 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."

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

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

; 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.