More Information:
Old McDonald was the piano performer at Fort Island Elementary School when Karg was an infant.  This was inspired by his mother and sisters playing the family’s upright piano in the family room. He started playing at 10, and formed a neighborhood band in the 1970s playing Wild Thing and Smoke on the Water.

Karg’s first performance recorded on an album was with the Copley Boys Glee Club at the Sheraton Hotel at the Cleveland, Airport in front of 300+ Teachers and Educators.  About that time Karg was jamming with everyone in Copley who played, Author Coates was the first to make it Nashville.   Karg’s sister always partied with Jeff Gobul down in basement, who later played for Billy Squier and Rod Stewart, and jammed with many others like Les Paul.

In 1974, Karg moved to Bath, Ohio and began to play his mother’s Baby Grand Piano. His first big gig was at New Todaro’s Party Center, Inc., 1820 Akron Peninsula Rd. Akron, OH 44313 playing for Corky Bogner’s Wedding [Son of a Doctor], 1975—Jamming with Jeff Wolff [Bass], Calvin Davis [Drums], and another guitar player.

In 1975, Karg was approached by Akron Promoter at a dinner party at the Lady of Elms and quickly understood the abusive powers of promoters.

In 1977, at Mackinnon Hall, Ohio University, he became a part of a band that formed almost instantly and played Freebird on the first day of college. As the party began on the fourth floor of his dorm, the campus police had no choice but allow it happen.   

In 1980 a Cleveland Promoter shot Karg and his band down by stating, “Do you have anything new?”  A month later he called back.  Karg auditioned for Toe Jam against a guitar player who played like Jeff Beck.

1980, Karg played at Revere High School for a Tribute to his former Principal.  This was the school Jeffery Dahmer went to.  This also costed Karg at OU when he came back late for Classes—kickout of an Accounting class for missing three classes.

At Ohio University Karg formed a band call the Union Band, named after a local bar [Ivan Faske’s Swanky’s], and played at the College Bars until he completed all his courses and was told he had “graduated” by the Dean of the Business College in 1984, after some classes were taken at Akron University.   This was at the time Karg’s wife to be made the statement: “It is me or the guitar.”

Karg copyrighted his first Album with the Government in 1987. In 1988, Karg moved from Ohio to California to seek better opportunities in the Music industry. Instead, he ran into a very complicated situation in Aerospace that threatened his life; this event is now known as the 1999 Cox Report.  This event coupled with others gave Karg a very different perspective on life and this musical career. 

Karg wrote, copyrighted, and promoted several songs, for example “Take the Blue Line”, a political history of Los Angeles in the earlier 1990s, that was recognized by the Rail Authority.   This only happened when a new friend Gary Rayburn appeared in a Local German Bar [the old Bavarian], and Karg and Rayburn began trading leads and recording.

Karg began went to many open mics getting to know everyone in town.  In 1994, Karg ran into Don Kehl’s Alpha Recordings in Scottsdale and began recording with them, this successful relationship lasted for three decades.

In 1995 Karg bought a house in Phoenix, Arizona to rehearse in, and history was made.  Many songs were developed, finished and recorded.  The biggest problem was who was going to sing and play them.    

Zylene Dream, Huh, and Alien were born with the help of Jeff Grant’s effort to finish what Karg started. Thirty years later, these songs are still being played.

In 1997 Karg develop and patented the world’s first interlocking guitar with Todd Nissile, and help from Walter Gura. In 2000, Karg successfully communicated with Neil Skinn, the inventor of the Self Tuning guitar, and met him at the 2000 NAMM show in Anaheim, California. But his dream for the most advanced futuristic Guitar crashed to the ground.  The guitar shapes that Don Karg displayed to Neil Skinn appeared a few years later in Guitar Center Stores. 

in 2000 Karg was warming up on a lead, which became “The River Runs Red”, an epic song about Humanity of the Centuries. The Aquila CD was finished just as the Aquila Star supernova-ed, as did the Band when Karg went back to Ohio.  After the initial failed attempt to record the material with the band,  Karg managed to salvage some of the tunes at Gray Studio’s in Glendale, Arizona. It turned out to be a good start with Susan L. [Taft] on project was called “Pure and Simple” in 2001.

Karg jammed with Back Performer, went to Chars open mics, played with Chico Chism, Simmi, HT, Sir Charles, and Carvin Jones. One jam group that stuck was with Reverend Woody Band, which turned into a successful cover band in Arizona for over a decade.  After a passing of Pete Cepuch, the band morphed into the Woodenickel Band with a Young Munoz. In 2003, he jammed at Drew and the Mason Jar.

2004 POA Performed out a Few times with Alligator Al [Bass Player] and recorded Roof Rats at the Complex on 27^th Ave. and Glendale, which was a very successful music recording venue until one of the founders embezzled from the other and the whole effort collapsed.

In 2005 Karg moved from the Akia Board to Yahama Board to record.  Since then, he recorded several hundred, and thousands of songs have been handwritten out. In 2007, Woodenickel played at the Loft , and Karg played the Star Spangle Banner.

Two years before the Woodenickel Band busted up due to a member moved to Colorado, Karg formed Karg Reed Band to become one of the most video-taped performers in Arizona.

Karg did open mics and weekend gigs to pay the rent.  This went on for years.  In 2011, Karg wrotes “After the Storm.”  In 2012-2013, the Sun Band with Rage Dufrane as Lead Singer made four CD in three months and played live at several events until Dufrane left for Ohio. Notable songs: Finger in the Air, Face of Evil, In the Moonlight, I feel fine, After the Storm, Whiskey Woman, Breakfast with Scorpions, and Live Fast and Die.

2014 Duff band started by Chris Sinclair and Karl Hayden, drummer Barry Green, Karg on Bass. They jammed at the Beaver Lounge for a year and half. In 2016, The Karg Reed Band reached its pinnacle at the Sage and Sands Concert for the Veterans.

2018 Karg & Barry Green big bash played at Beaver Lounge on St Patrick’s Day and Cinco De Mayo.

2019 Don Karg taught guitar at Sam Ashe Music Corporation for nearly 2 years.  Karg’s class had both experienced and inexperienced students, and it was the largest class size in the nation.

2020, Earl Rhode [a friend since 2015] takes a Santa song from Don Karg [like a ZZ Top Song] records and registers it in Canada.  Karg drives around Chris Sinclair helping him make an income with postmates.  August 27, 2020 Karg’s father Jame F. Karg dies. During Covid-19, Karg Reed Band pushed ahead and was getting prepared for the gates to open with “Arron McCall” and everything was going good until the attitudes changed.

After a few years of hard work, Running out of Time album was finalized.

In 2021, William Thoma and his current bandmate Don Karg, released an original studio album under project name Fiery Palms entitled RUNNING OUT OF TIME (Spotify Link). The album was distributed by CD baby pro and achieved world wide streaming distribution on multiple platforms (even Peloton, lol). William and Don are also proud members of ASCAP and are both credited song composers. In 2022 Karg, Reed, and Thoma performed many times at Lucky Pizza Restaurant. 

2023 Earl Rhode, Don Karg, and Elliott Reed bang out a couple of songs. Karg jammed at a Bar Called Jimbos.  Karg wrote: Black AK, Not the Same, and many more tunes. In 2024, the finishing of the promotion of the Fiery Palms project [9 videos] were put on hold.

Karg has played at least once a month, 4-hour show/paying gig, at the Loft, since the beginning of 2025.  To this day, the Karg Reed Band gets together every Wednesday to jam at an Open Mic somewhere in Arizona.   Karg is currently working on the 5^th Element a cover-band and Autonomous Sonicus which Karg calls a 6-piece Concert Band.  As always, Karg has hundreds of songs handwritten out for future recordings.

1992 Candidate for the 36th Congressional District, Los Angeles County, California
2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010 Candidate for the 4th Congressional District, Phoenix, Arizona
2017 Candidate for the U.S. Senate Arizona