my brothers gave me the name "The Madness" . because you never knew what i was going to do when i was on stage or off .

meeting and palying a show at the paramount with Randy Hanson ~ billy cox ~ buddy miles. the band of gypsys / meeting Al and Leon Hendrix.

its the greatest thing to ever happen to recorded music.

yes.

my name is don cooper i was born in portland ore on dec 17 , 1959. my parents divorced when i was 5 or 6 yrs old. I have 2 brothers and a sister tom dave and cindy, im the oldest. in the 70s i lived in juanita wa. I went to juanita high school. I used to jamm with a freind (stainer) in their basment, his brother( kjartan ) later started the band culprit . 1977-80 i was in the us navy . in the early 80s i was living with my girlfriends parents at the kirkland heights apartments .this is where i met and became freinds with eddie jackson of queensryche.
eddie was dating my girlfriends sister at the time so we spent alot of time jamming in their parents living room . eddie taught me how to play the mob rules and kneon knights by black sabbath. i have never forgot those times or those songs. he also took me to a couple of early queensryche practices at the scotts house . i think scotts brother { todd )was still jammin with them.i can remember the white flying v!! in 1984 i started a band in bellingham wa with 2 freinds ( greg martin and dave fender ) and my brother tom cooper . that band became HAMMERHEAD. We moved to tacoma wa . got a singer (pete mainzer) who is now on robbie kenivels a&e tv show. started playing shows , and in 86 recorded rock forever at triad studios in redmond wa. in the 90s i played in a few more bands LIFEBLOOD, MADRONALD, CORRUPT, THE PEOPLE.The People opened for ROGER FISHER at the greenstock music festival in laurel wa 1997. IN 2004 I recorded PUSH , with some good freinds from the bands mindshaker and morning glory.
and again in 2005 i recorded heart still burns.
im now playing in a band in lander , wyoming






INTERESTS. Local bands, Guitars



OCCUPATION. Guitarist



FAV GUITAR PLAYERS. Kenny Wayne Shepherd , Stevie Ray Vaughn , Jimi Hendrix, Toni Iommi, Robin Trower, Ronnie Montrose, Jimmy Page



FAV LOCAL BANDS. Mindshaker, Jellyneck, Morning Glory, Underride, Dog Bone Sanctuary



BANDS I'VE PLAYED IN. The Unknown Nuns, Hurricane Force, Hammer Head, Mad Ronald, Lifeblood, The People, Corrupt .Gonzaga Sushi.


CURRENT STATUS. Lead guitarist for the band Permanent Record. in lander wyoming . they are some of the coolest people ive ever met and im glad to be a part of their band!

jimi hendrix , black sabbath , frank zappa, but I now have a huge love for the blues so i listen to alot of Kenny wayne Shepherd , Stevie ray Vaughn, ZZ Top , BB king , Johnny Winter and David Bray

the wind river canyon in wyoming .

1992 black les paul studio. Crate half stack

my guitars:

1992 black gibson les paul studio.

58 Eric Clapton reissue Fender Strat


2003 BC Rich platinum body art mockingbird

70s gold top Les Paul

Ibanez rg series w/ shark tooth inlays

Cort flying"v" (red)

Charvette tele acoustic

Hand made tele electric.