- Donavon Frankenreiter
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Donavon Frankenreiter
Personal information Born December 10, 1972
Downey, California, United StatesResidence San Clemente, California Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Weight 190 lb (86 kg) Surfing career Years active 1985–present Sponsors Billabong, Sanuk, Von Zipper, Surf Prescriptions, Coors Light, Verizon Wireless Surfing specifications Stance Regular (natural) foot Shaper(s) Jeff 'Doc' Lausch Quiver Donavon has one of the largest quivers of any surfer, comprising boards dating from the 1950s to present. The number is in the hundreds. Favorite waves Trestles (San Clemente, California) Hossegor (France), Pipeline (North Shore, Oahu), Puerto Escondido (Mexico) Website donavonf.com Donavon Frankenreiter (born December 10, 1972, Downey, California) is an American musician and surfer. He is a long-time friend of Jack Johnson and his debut self-titled album was released in 2004 on Johnson's Brushfire Records through Universal Music and made the Australian ARIA Top-40 charts in April 2004.
Contents
Surfing career
He took up surfing as a teenager at San Clemente, California,[citation needed] and was signed to a sponsorship deal with Billabong allowing him to travel the world surfing. During his travels, he rented a room in North Shore, Oahu, Hawaii, from Jack Johnson's parents and the surfer-musicians developed a strong friendship.
Donavon is also well known for his appearances in the Drive Thru series of surf videos.
Musical career
Donavon Frankenreiter 
Donavon Frankenreiter on stageBackground information Born December 10, 1972 Origin Downey, California Genres Soft rock
Surf rockYears active 2000 - present Labels Lost Highway Records, Universal Records, Wrasse Records, Liquid Tambourine Records Associated acts Sunchild
Peanut Butter and JamWebsite http://www.donavonf.com/ Members Donavon Frankenreiter, Matt Grundy, Eric Brigmond, Craig Barnette, and Pete Winders Past members Jose Medeles, Dean Butterworth, Koool G. Murder, David Leach Frankenreiter started playing in Peanut Butter and Jam at the age of 18. In 1996 he began to seriously pursue a musical career when he formed the band Sunchild. In Sunchild, Frankenreiter was the lead guitar player but did not sing. The band had a 70s rock sound similar in style to The Black Crowes. They released their first CD, Barefoot & Live, on Surfdog Records in 1997. Produced by Gary Hoey, the live album featured covers of The Allman Brothers Band, The Marshall Tucker Band, The Rolling Stones, and Van Morrison, as well as several originals. California Honey followed in 2000 on their own Sunchild Records. This studio album is now out-of-print. Sunchild disbanded in 2001 and Frankenreiter went on to pursue a solo career.
In 2002 Frankenreiter signed with Brushfire Records. His self-titled solo album, Donavon Frankenreiter, was recorded with co-producers Jack Johnson and Mario Caldato Jr. Johnson appears on the album, as do G. Love and Eels member Koool G. Murder. The album was released in April 2004 in Australia due to his high profile in that country from his support gigs for Jack Johnson and from Frankenreiter’s own surfing career. He toured Australia in April 2004, helping the album reach the top forty of the ARIA albums chart. Gary Jules was his support act on this tour. The album was released in the United States one month later, on 11 May 2004.
In 2006 Frankenreiter left Brushfire Records and signed with Lost Highway Records, home of such notable artists as Elvis Costello, Ryan Adams and Willie Nelson. His follow-up album, Move by Yourself, was released on June 6, 2006. Later that year Donavon recorded a song called "Lovely Day" along with Koool G., which was featured in the opening sequence of the 2006 film Snakes on a Plane, and also appears on that movie's soundtrack.
Donavon's first live DVD, "Donavon Frankenreiter: The Abbey Road Sessions" was filmed and recorded at a special concert performed at Abbey Road studios in London, England in November 2005, and subsequently released in early '06.
In November 2007, Donavon toured throughout Brazil on the Mostra Alma Surf Festival with bands, Animal Liberation Orchestra, G. Love and Matt Costa along with Surf Artists Jay Alders, Nathan Gibbs, Céline Chat, Surf Photographer Sean Davey and Surf Film Maker Sunny Abberton.[1]
An acoustic EP of cover songs called Recycled Recipes landed in 2007 with the polished full-length Pass It Around following a year later. For the Pass It Around Tour, Donavon teamed up with Surf Artist and friend, Jay Alders to design a Limited Edition Tour Poster.[2] A second volume of "Recycled Recipes" followed in early 2010 which featured another round of cover songs performed by Donavon and the band.
In 2010 Donavon parted ways with Lost Highway Records and formed his own label, Liquid Tambourine Records. He subsequently recorded and released his fourth studio album of original material entitled "Glow", which was produced by Mark Weinberg.[3] The album has had two singles thus far: the title track "Glow" (written by Matt Nathanson) and "Keeping Me Away From You".
Donavon is well known for his iconic mustache and quick witted humor. He is married with two sons and lives in Kauai, HI.
Discography
with Sunchild:
- Mr Jesus (1994)
- Barefoot & Live (1997)
- California Honey (2000)
- The Galaxy Session (2009)
solo:
- Donavon Frankenreiter (2004) #165 US
- Move by Yourself (2006)
- The Abbey Road Sessions (DVD) (2006)
- Recycled Recipes EP (2007)
- Pass It Around (2008) Wrasse Records
- Revisited (2010)
- Glow (2010)
- Recycled Recipes, Vol. 2 EP (2011)
With Jack Johnson and G.Love:
- Some Live Songs EP (2005)
References
External links
- Official Homepage
- Official MySpace Page
- Official Facebook Page
- Official Twitter Page
- Beat.com.au Interview
- Feature on Donovan Frankenreiter
- Official Donavon Frankenreiter Artist Page
- Donavon Frankenreiter Band collection at the Internet Archive's live music archive
- Donavon Frankenreiter at The Dwarf
- Painting of Donavon Frankenreiter
Categories:- 1972 births
- Living people
- American rock guitarists
- Songwriters from California
- American surfers
- American singer-songwriters
- People from Downey, California
- Surf musicians
- Wrasse Records artists
- Lost Highway Records artists
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