(Text by Lynne Robin Green) Doug originally started playing guitar at age five and he picked up his first banjo as a Christmas present from mom and dad at the age of fifteen. Doug learned his own very unique style of THREE-FINGER PICKING by listening to the early recordings of Earl Scruggs, Don Reno and Ralph Stanley.

Doug recalls the first time he heard the music of Earl Scruggs... "I was driving down the road with the radio on. All of a sudden I heard this incredible banjo music. I got so excited that I drove off the road and down into a ditch. I had to be towed out." Young Doug wrote Earl a personal letter inquiring "if sixteen was too young to learn the banjo?" Earl graciously replied and he supplied the needed encouragement. Doug then pestered his parents into driving him to Scruggs' home in Madison, Tennessee, some five hundred miles away from Salem. With courage not usually found at this young age, Doug boldly walked up to Scruggs' front door and he rang the bell. He introduced himself and asked Earl to install the Scruggs' tuners on his banjo. Earl kindly installed them and even brought out this own banjo for Doug to inspect.

In 1956 Douglas played banjo on the local weekly radio show of Howe Teague at KSMO in Salem. From 1956 to 1959 Doug and his younger brother Rodney, along with Bill Glenn, Henry and Jim Lewis and Paul Breidenbach formed The Ozark Mountain Boys. Mitch Jayne who was a local radio personality, (and a member of The Dillards to come), invited the band to play on "Hickory Hollow," his Saturday morning radio show on KSMO in Salem. Doug also played banjo for The Hawthorn Brothers and during that time he appeared on TV with the group "Lee Mace and The Grand Ozark Opry."

After The Dillards left Elektra and recorded some singles for Capitol Records (Nobody Knows / Last Thing On My Mind), Douglas decided to part ways as he wanted to explore some new musical territories. So he joined up with The Byrds for their first European tour. He was featured on their live European album (The Byrds - The Live Byrds on Bulldog Records) with Roger McGuinn, Gram Parsons, Chris Hillman and Kevin Kelley. After the tour Douglas and 'ex-Byrd' Gene Clark teamed up to form a completely new sound, a blend of back hills country and rock music. This new country rock sound was further emulated and duplicated by later acts such as "The Flying Burrito Brothers", "Poco", "The Eagles" and many, many others. Doug and Gene Clark recorded (as The Dillard-Clark Exhibition and as Dillard & Clark) the albums "Fantastic Expedition" and "Through The Morning Through The Night", and "Grass Roots" on A&M Records), (Kansas City Southern - Doug Dillard & Gene Clark - Ariola/Eurodisc) and singles as "Dillard & Clark" (Laying Down The Middle / Don't Be Cruel) and (Why Not You Baby / The Radio Song). The musical sound Doug and Gene made together was a forerunner to the big country meets rock sound to come.

Doug formed other groups in later years and wrote music for movies, commercials, and appeared on several national television shows. His extremely extensive session work includes albums with Hoyt Axton, Johnny Cash, Arlo Guthrie, Vassar Clements, Harry Nilsson, Bob Lind, Linda Ronstadt, Kay Starr, John Hartford, Glen Campbell, The Monkees, Aztec Two Step, Gene Clark with The Gosden Brothers, The Byrds, Judie Sill, Jess Pearson, James Lee Stanley, Steven Fromholz, Tom Pacheco, Michael Melford, Paul Hann, Michael Martin Murphey, Woody Guthrie, Ray Park, John Anderson, Larry Groce, Michael Nesmith, Ron Davies, Jim Ringer, Millenium, Hayseed, Larry Perkins, Byron Berline and The Beach Boys.

Doug Dillard resides in Nashville and is in high demand as a session banjo wizard. He also plays several gigs throughout the year.