J.D. Priest Live at Lorimar Winery

Named after an uncle who was killed in the Korean War, JD wanted to be a singer all his life and follow in his late uncle's footsteps who was a singer/musician before being KIA in 1950. His grandfather Walter “Pete” Priest, was a fiddle player from Kentucky with recordings in the US National Archives and it was he who taught a young JD his first chords on guitar and some old-tyme fiddle tunes like Pickaway and Way Down Yonder. However, it was his mother Patricia who inspired JD to sing at an early age. “There was always music around our place growing up, singing & dancing”, says JD, “Dad loved Country and Mom loved more of the soulful 70’s rock. Mom would always coax me into singing and give me singing advice – she had a beautiful voice”.

JD also remembers his earliest performances entertaining fellow classmates by dancing and singing during show-and-tell time back in elementary school.

In the mid-90’s, after serving in the United States Air Force, JD Priest's musical career began with the Americana-Country group Acoustic Connection. This is where he made his national television debut by performing in Nashville on TNN with Country Music Legend Charlie Daniels on the Talent Roundup.