Donald Loeffler

Kentucky musician and vocalist Donald Loeffler began exploring jazz and popular music at the age of 13. He has studied the genres under Louisville musician/educator Jeff Sherman, and Loeffler counts jazz icons Wes Montgomery, Kenny Burrell, Jack Wilkins, and Jimmy Raney among his greatest influences in his style of playing the guitar. Donald Loeffler plays hard bop, bebop, and swing styles of jazz with the JazzCrafters band. The Kentucky group takes its cue from the traditional style of Latin jazz reminiscent of the bossa nova tunes of the early 1960s and blends the sounds of the mandolin, hand percussion, acoustic bass, and nylon-stringed guitar.

Donald Loeffler serves as a guitarist and vocalist in a charity groups and benefits. Until its recent break up, he performed for charity events with his band, BarnJovi Band. Formed in 2008 and comprised of old friends who had performed with top Louisville groups, the band also welcomed guest artists periodically. Originally, Loeffler and his fellow Kentucky musicians came together to play good music because they could, but the idea evolved into something greater. The band played in the barn that inspired its name and collected donations from the audience, with all proceeds going to charities. Beneficiaries have included The Kids Center for Pediatric Therapies and the WHAS Crusade for Children, Inc., both in Louisville, Kentucky, and The Lustgarten Foundation in Bethpage, New York.

At Mulligan's Open Mic night, hosted by Amos Hopkins, Donald Loeffler serves as the house guitarist, playing lead electric guitar for the Kentucky Hellbenders, the house band. The Kentucky Hellbenders are a vintage country group that performs around the local and regional area playing such great artists as Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, Hank Williams, and new artists like Junior Brown that feature a vintage rock-and-roll sound.

A musician through and through, Donald Loeffler plays several instruments and sits in with different bands as a sideman. His own Donnie Loeffler Trio performs in various Kentucky venues for club and private events. Loeffler also owns and operates a Kentucky music production facility, Shimmy Studio, and he is writing material for his first pop/rock/blues solo release. Shimmy Studios is located in the heart of St. Matthews in Louisville, Kentucky, is a modern recording studio. Chief Engineer Tom Curtis has designed the studio with appropriate sound treatments,