Season 25 of The Voice (Team Reba McEntire) introduced audiences to Donny Van Slee, also known as “Dr. Don.” But long before the national spotlight, he knew music was more than a passion. It was something he was meant to pursue.

Raised on Florida’s west coast in the small town of Weeki Wachee, Donny began performing anywhere he could after graduating high school in 2011. From local restaurants to tiki huts and breweries, he built his sound one crowd at a time.

In 2018, he left home to attend the Palmer College of Chiropractic in Daytona Beach, Florida. Even while working toward his doctorate, he continued performing nearly every weekend, balancing a practical career with something he felt called to do.

That balance started to shift during a road trip from Florida to Colorado for a chiropractic internship. Passing through Nashville, something about the city stayed with him. Not long after, he began reaching out to venues downtown without expecting to hear much back in return.

Most never responded, but one did. Tootsies Orchid Lounge and they offered him an audition! On his drive back to Florida for his graduation, he made one life-altering pit stop, played one song, and was hired on the spot. Rather than opening a chiropractic practice in Florida, he chose to follow that opportunity at Tootsies and pursue music full-time in Nashville.

Today, Donny continues to write and release songs, perform across the country, and is steadily growing an amazing fan base drawn to his raw, honest and unique sound.