Dawayne was born in Cedar City, UT. He relocated to Rock Springs, Wyoming at an early age where he got his first guitar, an inexpensive nylon string classical. Dawayne start really playing and practicing at the age of 12 when his mother bought him a Westminister Les Paul model electric guitar. He was influenced by rock music and neo classical styles, and studied Music Theory in an Advanced Placement class in high school. This lead to the study of jazz, and the compositional theory of George Gershwin. Dawayne started his first band, Asira at age fourteen with a few local boys under the watchful eye of the drummers father. He later joined Visionary a progressive rock act with whom he recorded two albums, including the 2002 release 'Strange But Familiar Shores' on Nightmare Records. Between the first and second Visionary albums, Daywayne played for two years with The Deep Water Band, a highly respected alternative-country act out of Salt Lake City. It was during the writing/recording of the second Visionary album that Dawayne reconnected with future Marc Allen Band co-members Marc and Kevin, who were sitting in on the recordings. It was during these sessions that the initial idea for The Marc Allen Band took shape. The Visionary recording project was nearing completion, and Dawayne was invited to join The Marc Allen Band. Being no stranger to country music, having spent 18 months with Kevin in The Deep Water Band, Dawayne jumped in with both feet. The rest is history. Dawayne is currently working on a Masters Degree in Physics.