Donald Glaude

Born in Tacoma and bred in Seattle, Donald Glaude is a Washington man through and through. He has stayed in his home state throughout a blossoming career and even though more frequent trips to California might have easily led him to go Hollywood. Glaude has long held the Pacific Northwest title for house-music DJ domination; in fact he has remained virtually unchallenged for more than a decade. And it's a deserved distinction, as any of his many mix CDs can attest (including the recent double-disc dynamo, This Is Me). A Glaude set is not predictable and will often give the newest up-and-coming artists' songs a platform on which to boogie with veterans' party classics. And there's no downcast, shrinking violet here: Glaude is a wonderfully outgoing DJ who actually loves to play and would rather dissolve the barrier between mixmaster and audience than attempt to pose. A rare bird indeed.