Meet D Boone Pittman of Lawrenceburg

Today we’d like to introduce you to D Boone Pittman.

Hi D Boone, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
D Boone Pittman’s music has always been tethered to his roots. A product of Appalachia, Pittman’s songwriting captures the depths and majesty of his homeland while giving the listener a front row seat to the culture and history. Pittman writes and sings about this culture and history with an authority given only to those who have lived in the area. With now 4 studio albums and 2 live albums, Pittman’s catalog is growing exponentially. Recently awarded “Songwriter of the Year” at the 2024 Josie Music Awards, as well as “Best Original Song” at the 2024 Appalachian Entertainment Awards, Pittman is coming off a big year.

Pittman’s musical story begins in the early 1970s at the grand opening of the local town drug store. His late father, from whom Pittman would later inherit his trademark Martin D-28 acoustic guitar, basically forced him to sing a Johnny Cash song, much to the delight of the crowd that had gathered there. Pittman, though he immediately received enthusiastic accolades and even tips, wasn’t havin’ it. “I hated it,” he recalls, “but I In my room, I’m playing air guitar and pretending to be Elvis, but to do it in public as a kid was really tough. It wasn’t that I struggled doing it, it was just more the fact that I was being made to do something. That ended up driving me into a phase where I refused to sing out in public at all.” Even going to a Johnny Cash concert at the age of 5 with his mother wasn’t enough to lure Pittman back into the spotlight, and transcribing the lyrics to hit songs off 45s for his father didn’t quite do the trick either—but it did lay the groundwork for the lyrical depth and flair that Pittman showed so effortlessly right off the bat with his 2019 debut Bluegrass American Dream. “My dad would pay me a dollar a song to sit down and figure the words out for him,” Pittman chuckles. “I have to really question how good I was at it because I was so young, but I guess he was able to use it. Who knows how many of the lines I’d get right at the end of the day, but I think that’s when I got my first appreciation for lyrics.” “Back when I was 7 or 8,” he continues, “country rock was really big, and ‘Lyin’ Eyes’ by The Eagles was a big hit. I remember that song specifically because there were so many verses in it. Even at that age, I could appreciate the darkness behind the cheating and the lying and everything in that song.” Pittman’s resistance to performing in front of people went out the window, however, when he got the opportunity to go on a field trip as a freshman in high school. “All the girls were going,” Pittman laughs. “It was an academic competition and they had a talent category. I specifically remember the teacher saying, ‘I need somebody to fill the talent spot. You get to go on this three-day trip to Louisville and compete.’ So I raised my hand. ‘Well what’s your talent?’ she asked. And I said, ‘I sing and play guitar.’ Nobody knew I sang and played guitar—because I didn’t! So I’m thinking I’ve got six weeks between now and this talent show, and that was when I had to swallow my pride. I go to my dad and I’m like, ‘Look, I’m ready to learn how to play guitar. I want to do this.’ And my dad was like, ‘You’re crazier than hell—I can’t teach you how to play in six weeks!’ I was like, ‘Just think of the easiest bluegrass tune that you know and I’ll run with it.’ So he taught me how to play a medley of Jimmy Brown The Newsboy and Wildwood Flower, but his style of playing was like Maybelle Carter, where they played the melody and the rhythm at the same time.” The trip, alas, got cancelled, but Pittman’s life path was set. (By the way, he learned the song in four weeks). Pittman captures this story in a tribute to his Dad on Resurrection Noise with the song “The Wildwood Flower” (to be released in the fall ’23) “There was just no running from it,” he muses. “I had an undeniable love for music, and singing came naturally to me. I’ve never put it down since.”

As a tribute to his father, Pittman adopted The Fugitives band name, but he sees his work as carrying-on an even broader legacy. “I grew up in an environment where it was a common thing for people to bring their instruments over on the weekends—banjos, fiddles and guitars where everybody was singing and just having a good time. That was a really crucial aspect of my childhood. I really miss that. You don’t have that front-porch picking kind of spirit anymore, at least not where I’m at. So whatever I can do to bring it back with my music, I feel like I have to at least try.” In other words, Pittman is inviting you back home—back home to a world that still has room for community, back home to the most cherished aspects of your past and back home to yourself. You don’t have to be from Kentucky for his music to take you there, but D Boone Pittman sure does make it seem like a wonderful place to explore on the way.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Tying to make a name in the music industry is always like dragging a bus up a hill with a rope. Only a few make it to the top. But the journey is worth it. I have learned to keep my expectations in check while stil dreaming big. It is really easy to allow insecurity to set in when things just arent’ happening at the pace you would like. You begin to question yourself, your abilities, and whether or not your energy, time and money is being used wisely. But every now and then. a little taste of notoriety or recongmition hapens and its just the spark you need to keep going.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Bluegrass American Dream LP (2019)
EMERGE LP (2021)
D Boone Pittman and the Fugitives (Live on Overtones) (2022) LP
Resurrection Noise (2023) LP
Tyrone Blues EP 2025

Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
As long as I can keep writing songs that have meaning and can reach folks who need those songs I can be satisfied as an artist. But that alone is a tough chore and requires meticulous promotions and lots of work just to reach a small fan base.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.dboonepittman.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dboonepittman/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dbpittman
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC72135voz3F1Um2uBDR-Tiw
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/dboonepittman