[1] Doan grew up in Venice, California, and at the age of eleven began playing the guitar, first a 12-string, and later a double-neck electric in a rock band.
Later when he found a century-old harp-guitar on the back wall of a music store, it called to him with its beautiful shape and unusual collection of extra strings.
He is a Professor Emeritus of Music at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, a historian, and a multi-instrumentalist specializing in unusual vintage instruments.
[4] Over the years Doan has played with many folk and country artists, including Donovan, Burl Ives, Larry Carlton, Chet Atkins and Mason Williams.
[5] He followed that up with Remembrance: Melodies from a Forgotten Era (1993) on the Tapestry label which was inspired by his own musical traditions in folk tunes of the American West.