2003 “That’s How Far Love Goes” - Smart Guy Music
2000 “Can’t Put Out a Fire” Track featured in movie soundtrack “Alien Species”
2000 “Given The Way She Is” - Smart Guy Music

Don Hughes a musician whose songwriting abilities can best be described as hooky. (hook-ee means "catchy") A gifted country singer and songwriter, Hughes’ love of making music and telling stories comes across in his latest CD That’s How Far Love Goes. It is the second release through Hughes’ Smart Guy Music label and the second consecutive CD produced by Marty Rifkin (Bruce Springsteen, Dwight Yoakum.) It features ten original songs by Don Hughes including the singles “That’s How Far Love Goes,” which spent eighteen weeks on European radio charts and “Illusions of Love,” which reached #1 on the UK radio charts in March 2005.

Hughes grew up in Anderson, a small country town in Northern California and, like most kids, he enjoyed listening to rock n’ roll. It was the Beatles who inspired him to play guitar. He began guitar lessons at the age of eight and went on to study music at Mt. Hood College in Oregon where he majored in theory and composition. He continued to study music and began vocal training and it wasn’t long before he was writing his own songs. In fact it’s the crafting of songs that he says he enjoys most -- creating a great story, adding a melody, and finding an infectious hook.

Don Hughes’ talents go beyond music. After college he moved to Los Angeles to pursue music. However an agent encouraged him to study acting, and he was soon at work on commercials and modeling. He continued writing and performing rock n’ roll, jazz, R&B, and pop music while acting. Commercials led to Soap Operas and ultimately leading roles in feature films.

Hughes’ was spending as much time as possible writing music. Having been a studentof all music and a lover of the ‘story’, it took a good friend to point out that he had written a country song and that it was the best he’d ever written. He was country and he was hooked. From that point Hughes has devoted all his time to the genre that he feels is a ‘natural fit’ and has established an extensive catalog.

Hughes met producer Marty Rifkin through a mutual friend who believed Rifkin would want to work with Hughes. The two immediately connected and since have collaborated on two CDs. In fact, Rifkin appears on all recordings with Hughes. Rifkin has praised Hughes’ songwriting as ‘full of hope and never bitter.”

Don Hughes currently lives in Redondo Beach, California and is already at work on a third CD, which he plans to record in early 2006. Hughes will release several more singles from That’s How Far Love Goes and is preparing to support the CD with an upcoming tour. His long-term touring goals include Europe, where he finds himself in high demand. He is in the process of assembling top-notch musicians and expects to be out on the road by fall. One other dream Don Hughes would like to see come true is his foundation for children.

Wrote and arranged all songs on both CDs.

Second CD, That’s How Far Love Goes completed in 2003

“Can’t Put Out A Fire” single on soundtrack of Alien Species movie in 2000

First CD “Given The Way She Is” completed in 1999

Commissioned to write three songs for “Billy The Kid” movie in 1996

Studied music theory and composition at Mt. Hood

Playing guitar since childhood