James’ guest on this episode of the dHarmic Evolution podcast is a fellow New Jerseyan and one of the few finger-style guitar players in the musical world. Donrique was first introduced to the indy/emo music world when one of his friends in 8th grade asked him to design a t-shirt for his band. He began to hang around with the band and was asked to design shirts for other bands around town, which is when he realized that he really liked that style of music. With his dad’s old acoustic guitar, Donrique started learning how to play bar chords, and when he discovered YouTube, he realized that he loved finger-style.

After a few years of playing finger-style and writing some of his own songs, he played for the owner of CandyRat Records, the home base of most of the finger-style players in the country. The owner recommended that he try to create something unique, which led Donrique down the path of integrating hip-hop and rap into his music and eventually into the singer-songwriter world. Now that he has found his sweet spot, he is committed to being a musician for life, constantly honing his craft and teaching others to do the same.
When it comes to recording, Donrique has found that he prefers to record in stereo, using matched pair microphones to capture sound from different angles. He has been heavily influenced by people like Jethro Tull, John Mayer, Johnny Cash, and Michael Buble, who all sing in a lower register as he does. Donrique is in the musical world for the long haul, building his brand and figuring out what works in the studio more than doing live performances, but that may change. Coming up soon, he will be launching online songwriting and recording courses for interested musicians, which he hopes will inspire and instruct aspiring artists.

Key Quotes:

“Then YouTube happened…and I was completely sucked in.”
“Every day it was like I was getting more and more committed to learning this art-form on the guitar.”
“Fingerstyle guitar is still my roots.”
“The through-line with all of these people is the songwriting.”
“Songwriting puts the spotlight on the guitar, vocals, and instruments.”
“I’m not trying to be a ‘flash in the pan’ thing – this is my life and what I want to do.”
“You have to cultivate the right crew of people to support you.”
“Music happens best when you’re just living your life.”
“I want to inspire people and help them actually write their own songs.”

Follow Key:

Twitter:
@donrique
Facebook:
@donrique
Apple Music: https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/donrique/1306449767
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/artist/6BWkvG0hRFlAoQ0wFElwgz
YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtejVgij-mXXuboGpQN1vKw

Tricky Stewart:
http://trickystewart.com/
Michael Hedges:
http://www.nomadland.com/Bio.htm
Ken Oriole:
https://www.kenoriole.com/

CandyRat Records: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMJecdKUslHToOEpeuRGwXg

Road matched pair microphones: https://www.guitarcenter.com/Rode-Microphones/M5-Compact-1-2-Condenser-Microphone-Matched-Pair.gc

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