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Below are some of the musicians and/or artist Don has worked and become friends with over the past years. He still keeps in contact with most of them and on occasion will go out on tour with them for a few weeks at a time. PARTIAL CLIENT LIST Rod Stewart, Elton John, Paul McCartney, Three Dog Night, Kansas, .38 Special, Henry Lee Summer, Billy Joe Royal, Journey, Aerosmith, White Lion, Winger, Firehouse, Warrant, Greg X. Volz, Rick Derringer, KIX, Dr. Hook, Danger Danger, Queensryche, Billy Squire, Wynton Marsalis, Milton Bullock, Conway Twitty, Loretta Lynn, Charlie Daniels, Blackfoot, Gregg Allman, The Cars, Jimmy Buffett, Junior Walker and the All Stars, Linda Ronstadt, The Fabulous Kays Band, Grand Funk Railroad, Fog Hat, Eddie Money, Nazareth, iron Butterfly, Delbert McClinton, Diane Bailey, Eddie Miles, Johnny B. Denton, Molly Hatchett, Steve Earle, Marshall Tucker Band, Eddie Rabbit, Louis Mandrell, Barbara Mandrell, Dottie West, Shelly West, T. Graham Brown, Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers, The Black Crows, Alice in Chains, Little Caesar, Savatage, Joan Jett, Little Feat, Gladys Night and the Pips, Herman's Hermits, John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band, Ben E. King, Ray Charles, Roberta Flack, Meat Loaf, Mother's Finest, Richard Marx, Steppenwolf, The Coasters, Hall and Oates, Jon Bon Jovi, Staircase and Doc Holiday to list a few. Don Christopher Kassay Brief Profile
Don Christopher Kassay started playing drums when he was 4 years old. in 1965 when he was a sophmore in high school, he and his best friend formed their first band "The Tempest". The band consisted of 7 members that included a 3 piece horn section that was unheard of for such a young group in 1965. The band typically played a variety of top 40 rock and Motown cover songs including songs from such artists as the Rolling Stones, The Who, the Tempations, Wilson Picket, Four Tops, Otis Redding and Marvin Gay just to mention a few.
Although the the members of the band averaged in age from 14-16 (Don was 16), the band was extremely good due to most of the members were in the HS band studing music. It did not take the band long to became very popular and a big success; playing an average of 3 nights a week (W, F & S) and they even had their own club called "The Post" that was managed by the local Boy Scout Troop. "The Post" was located on main street downtown Selma, NC and had a capacity for about 800 people. Yes it was large! It was open every Friday and Saturday nights and the local Boy Scout Troop ran the consecion stands that served Soda, Popcorn, Candy and Hot Dogs etc. It was usually standing room only with an admission of $2.00 per person, did quite well for 1965. The Tempest however was so busy they only played at their own club on an average of one weekend a month, so they had to hire other local bands to come in and play (Friday & Saturday nights). The Tempest did have a big advantage over other local bands in the area, their manager was the editor of the local paper. You cannot get much more publicity than that! And he was the Boy Scout Troop Leader. When asked what was one of his most memorable moments, he instantly said that in 1967 "The Tempest" decided to enter a state-wide 'Battle of the Bands' held at the Fairgrounds. He remembered being on the double ferris wheel when he heard The Tempest's name being called to be ready to go on in 20 minutes. On stage Don recalls looking out at the 1000s of people yelling and screaming. When the Tempest begin to play the crowd became louder and louder as they watched and listened as the the Templest played. Don thought, "Now I know what the Beatles felt like at Shea Stadium. He recalls playing and never heard a note from the band because the crowd was screaming and yelling so loud. Luckly however, their performance was good enough for the Tempest to walk away with 1st place. In 1972 shortly after graduating from college, Don hired an agent and almost immediately became a highly recuited professional tour drummer. In fact, he was so highly recruited that the agency had to turn down a lot of tours. Don's reputation as a great drummer grew that fast. Don's very first tour was with Rod Stewart. He laughs because they called it the "Maggy Mae" Tour whn it was actually promoting Rod's "Every Picture Tells A Story" album. In 1995, after 25 years touring, he decided to semi-retire and pursue other oppoturnites in the music business. This is when he started Thunder & Lighting Concert Productions, Thunder Mastering Studios, Don C. Kassay Publishing, Inc. and Thunder Records. In October of 2008 Don decided to start his own social network/Website. This is when he started http://thunder-produtions.net. According to Don, Thunder-Productions has only one theme and that theme is 'MUSIC'. Written by: Becky Slayzak
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