Donnie Barren

Donnie Barren Holtzinger was the lead guitarist for the Los Angeles rock band City Lights, who were popular on the regional club circuit in the late '70s and early '80s. Holtzinger began his solo career in 1982, releasing a single, "I Love My Cat's Meow," under the name Donnie Barren early in 1983. The song was a minor regional hit, although it suffered from poor promotion and distribution. Holtzinger went back into the studio and recorded additional tracks to make an album around the single, and while marketing the completed album to labels, he became intrigued with how the business side of commercial music worked. He completely changed direction and returned to school, earning an M.B.A. from Harvard, first taking a job with Proctor & Gamble after graduating, and then moving on to Microsoft, and neither job had anything to do with music. Holtzinger's album project consequently sat on the shelf for over 20 years before it was dusted off and released as I Love My Cat's Meow! in 2005, this time under his full name, Donnie Barren Holtzinger. After a stay playing lead guitar for the Seattle-based band Indigo Soul and working on that band's More Punch Than Punch Line album renewed his interest in recording, Holtzinger returned to the studio as a solo artist, releasing an album of instrumentals called Freedom.