NAMM Show, Hammond Artist, & Keys Player: Doug Orlando Shares His Story

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Join us for this week’s episode featuring Doug Orlando, a seasoned keys player with over 40 years of experience in the music industry. Doug shares his inspiring journey from his early days as a drummer to becoming a Hammond-endorsed artist. He talks about performing at the NAMM Show, serving in various churches and ministries, and witnessing the evolution of worship music through the years. Throughout the conversation, Doug emphasizes the importance of staying surrendered to God in worship and offers valuable advice for young musicians who want to grow both in skill and faith. This episode is filled with powerful insights, personal stories, and a deep love for worship. Tune in and be inspired by a musician who has dedicated his life to serving God through music.

Doug Orlando

Doug Orlando Music

Transcript

Speaker: 0:08

Welcome to the Worship Keys YouTube channel. My name is Carson Bruce, so glad you're here. We talk all things music theory, gear, industry and ministry for your worship keys playing. If this episode is beneficial for you or you have any questions as you continue to watch, feel free to comment below and I'd love to hear any feedback that you have along the way. So let's get into today's episode. Today I am with Doug Orlando. Thank you for being willing to take the time to just talk real quick. You've been a keys player for a long time, right? Yeah. How many years? Oh, you've been playing? Oh, wow. Let's see, maybe 40. Uh. 40 years, over 40 years, guys. Uh, and you just throw a number out. It's incredible. I met him at the Worship of Innovation conference, and that's where we're filming this right now. And he said that he signed with Hammond. Yes. You're signed with Hammond. Yeah. That is insane. I want, I want our, our viewers to know how this came to be. You're a great keys player, a great pianist, and a great organist. Mm-hmm. I checked out your page. You were killing it. I think you were, we, I think you were at the na Thanks the name Show. Yep. When at the video I saw and playing at the name show. Yep. That was incredible. Yeah. Yeah. I've been enjoying playing at the namm show and just wherever in Phoenix, you know, where I'm at now. And originally from Chicago. Uh, and I started on drums as a little tyke, and then I went to, my parents got this organ that. Uh, my aunt, uh, my Aunt Gladys. Aunt Gladys. Yeah. She had a, uh, M three, uh, blonde one, and my parents bought a, uh, Walnut one. Okay. Which ended up, uh, tour, you know, we opened, uh, we, I was in several bands over the years. Uh, what bands were, I bought a Leslie. Oh, you on a leslie speaker? Yeah. And that thing 1 47 RV and took that M three all over the place. So I was crazy playing mainly in the band episode. Uh, and Sweet Wine. Uh, played with Michael Angelo Batio I went to school with him, actually the A fellow that has the double guitar. Yeah. And invented it really. And yeah, we opened for Kiss and styx and Thin Lizzie and Ted Nugent. And I don't wanna throw, oh my goodness, all nammes out. But yeah. Back in the day. Wow. And then, uh, yeah, and then I got saved in, uh, year in late seventies. Uh, tell us about this and Willow Creek, uh, church and uh Okay. You know, the Jesus movement timeframe. Yes. Yeah. That is so cool. Chuck Girard, I never met Chuck Girard. Yeah. But we were doing all his tunes and, uh Wow. Yeah. And then it was nice to visit Willow Creek over here for their 50th anniversary. Uh, so I was over there. I played there in the, uh, late nineties eventually. Okay. Didn't really play there, you know, I was. I wanted to, to go into a variety of churches out here in, uh, Chicagoland area. Yeah. And, uh, eventually, uh, I had an ARP synthesizer and a Fender Rhodes piano and, uh, and yeah, so that's incredible. Back in the day, my, my parents, uh, you know, got this organ and then I, I. I learned it. I didn't really like playing show tunes, Broadway tunes, and yeah, I almost quit actually. And uh, and it was until I realized with my, uh, organ teacher, father John was his namme, that I could actually play Chicago. And he knew some of the. Chicago Band members. Oh, awesome. And, you know, and what's on the radio? And it just kind of took off and I started practicing eight hours a day. Oh wow. Yeah. And it was a blast, uh, you know, in my teens, early teens, and talked my parents into buying a piano. Yeah. And then it was great to be able to learn the left hand. 'cause the M three doesn't have all of the keys all the way down like the B three. Right, right, right. So yeah. Now I have a, uh, so. You know, I've got the, I've got the, uh, piano. I've been playing a lot of, uh, you know, Scott Joplin, I did a lot of Ha Hannon Mozart, uh, I love that. Beethoven and all of that. And went to school for two years at, uh, Northeastern University here in Chicago. Okay. With Mike Beo. And, uh, and then switched to electrical engineering, which is actually what paid, uh, my kids through college and whatnot, you know, back in. Right, right. And I was just doing, you know, music at, in. Volunteering at all these different churches. Amazing. And a lot of different, uh, between Charismatic Pentecostal, uh, you know, Lutheran Methodist. You know, I've been, I I spent a lot of time in all these different churches about 10 years. Every 10 years I kind of felt. The Lord's calling to move me on. And my wife and I had a music ministry too, where she sings, uh, she was, she's the lyricist. I would write the music. Uh, love it. So I, uh, it was great to be in the songwriting with Jared Anderson, and yes, talk with him on how, you know, uh, I love his soft, you know, uh. Really intentionality and connection with the Lord. So, uh, a hundred percent. So anyway, yeah, so it's incredible, man. I just gave you a dump. Anything else? I love that. Anything else with that? Oh, I love that man. You got, you got saved here in the Jesus movement. Like do, did you like, uh, bands like Petra and stuff like that? Yeah. Oh yeah. Did you love Petra? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I put a band together was. Doug and Fran, Orlando and band. We did, uh, we did app. Praise you, the Lord. Okay. Did you ever play some guitars stuff? I have a video. Oh yeah. You play guitars. I've got a couple key guitars. Come on now. I wish we were over at your house, so you just play for it. The wireless is the best. Oh yes. The wireless. I got the Elis Wireless Vortex. Oh yeah, those, that's great. And I was able to go 300 feet out, uh, in a, uh. Park. Wow. So we've played a lot of different, I was in the neighborhood picnic band for like 20 years. There's uh, probably, uh, we got a million followers out there. Wow. Incredible. If incredible. If you Google neighborhood picnic band, we'll picnic band, see, you'll see a lot of, you know, cover videos. So yes. That was, you know, there's secular videos and, and we actually did one of the songs that my wife Francie and I wrote called Break Out of the Darkness Come Into The Light of Christ. Yeah. And uh, and it was like. Great. Uh, that's amazing. Uh, I was just thankful that, you know, yes. We was able to do that and then we did that with, with this band and Incredible. And there were people that came up. Is that a Christian song? Christian song? It doesn't sound very Christian. Yeah, it is. That's amazing, man. Oh yeah. Do you, um, are you familiar with Larry Norman and, and Keith Green and Ghost Time? Yeah. Yeah. I did meet Keith Green, Phil Keagy. Really? Yeah. You met Keith Green? Yes, I did. When did you meet him? Tell me about this experience. Wow, that was late. At, uh, seventies, you know, before, uh, he left us, uh, yeah. Right, too. It was, that was, it was rough. Mm-hmm. You know, uh, went through that. But he's man, was he a preacher? Yeah, he was. I saw him at so many different, uh, sessions. Did you see him like out in California area or where did you see him? He was in Chicago. Every time in Chicago, he would come out here. Okay. Okay. Yeah. And he played, uh, you know, you put this love in my heart. Yes. I love his original kind of tune. Yes. He's so good. The beginning one. Uh, when started First dig it, get it. Yes. And you and my, I was playing, he reminded me of Elton John A. Little bit. So I was connecting my, I was playing him for my dad who loved Elton John back then. And it was like. Dad, here's the, you know, let's check this out, you know? Absolutely. Christian, you know, and it was, uh, and then, and then he really got into, you know, so you want to go back to Egypt? Yes. And some of the really, you know, uh, songs that were convicting. Absolutely. You know, and he was, he was quite, uh, yeah, he was, I love it. He was a, like a prophet. He was a preacher and prophet evangelist. Just all the above. Yeah. Yeah. Very convicting. So those were awesome times. Yeah. So now I go to the house of Worship and I, and I met. Uh, Bob Bennett, I had one of his, you know, some of the, uh, and different people from Love Song Band actually was was there at namm Show. Amazing. Yeah. So it was ma uh, talk about the namm show. I, I don't know. We've ever talked about the namm Show. It happens every January. Tell us all about it and tell us how your journey became from being now a actual signed like Hammond. Yeah. Artist. How, what was that process like? So I bought an XK five, Hammond XK five, and that was really that organ is phenomenal. It's a B three really with the upper and the lower manual. And the lower manual, you know, the upper fits into the lower. Got you. And each one is like 40 pounds a piece. So it's a 80 pound B three, which is, uh, still. You know, getting up there. So, uh, so I was playing that quite a bit at the EN A Show and playing with Robbie Robinson, who is the keyboardist for Frankie Val. Crazy, you know, a lot of these guys that are, you know, uh, he's got a Jamin Java, uh, weekly. I mean, he goes over, uh. So many different people and even invites on his show, Gary Swan, all these you know, nammes that you might not recognize, but they played on all of these albums, so many of them. Amazing. It's just phenomenal. So yeah, so I started doing that and then, uh. You know, the, uh, they contacted me, you know, I was posting some things and just playing there and over the last like two or three years, and then, uh, I got an email, have you ever thought of becoming a Hammond artist? And I thought, wow, this is really cool. I, I haven't been signed with anybody before, you know? Like when you said Yes, what happened there? So it's, uh, it's really, so I'll tell you what it is. It's, you know, becoming a Hammond artist is really, uh. Connected with the company, you know, and we pro, you know, I've always been promoting Hammond and whatnot, and I was able to get one of their m solo keyboards at a discount. Okay. And it was really, uh, really special. And that, and that keyboard is eight pounds. We were talking earlier, I, uh. CI play with the Worship support network, uh, play. Been playing like at 10 or 20 different churches every year now. Right. I feel like I'm a music missionary and it's amazing. It's really a blessing. 'cause I, over the years, I've always volunteered, you know, every 10 years I would kind of move on. But I was always a, a volunteer for 10 years at these churches and now I'm the last three years playing. Uh, with WSN, uh, which has, uh, presence in about five different states, uh, across the country. Okay. And Arizona is a real big one. And, and, uh, that's amazing. So yeah. So that, so I come in with the Hammond Yes. On my back, you know, at some of the churches. Or I'll, I'll use their Nord and I'll connect my Sunday keys iPad. Yeah. Uh, you know, so you actually use Sunday Keys, so Yeah. So I use Sunday Keys. Tell us about that. I've been using Sunday keys for the last. Several years. So you're a Hammond artist actually using Sunday, Sunday Keys product to supplement. So, yeah, so I'm using, I'm using Sunday Keys on their Nord when I come in, you know, they usually have, or whatever keyboard, it's a Yamaha or something, and I'll mid it to my iPad. Amazing. And I've got all my pianos and pads and strings and everything pre-programmed. And then I'll have my little m solo, which is a four octave, but you can go up and down a couple octas on it, you know, and I can do the slides and, and I can pull out the drawbar. While I love that, you know, there's nothing like pulling out the drawbars and, and Hammond really did a phenomenal job with this, uh, technology where it sounds just like a, a b3 I mean, I can make that thing sound. Whatever, you know, that's incredible. A real, real raunchy, you know, but you're an incredible musician, so it, it's still, it's still about the driver. You might have the right tools and the right person, but since you're a good instrumentalist, you know how to make it work. Yeah. The first four drawbar, you, I mean, you know, it's like, what, what are your favorite draw? I asked some of these guys, you know, and they're like, oh, I like the playoff. What? You know, it's like, but you know, I remember when I first learned. You know what the best combination settings were or what were these? Rock organists. I'm a kind of a rock organ, so I like to play, I'll put up the distortion and I like to play the fifths and the right and the fourths and, you know, and get a little bit of wrench, and then I'll do the seventh. And you know, a little bit of, little bit of that, you know, and then I, you know, I'm really enjoying learning gospel music and Awesome. Watching some of your podcasts, so, oh, thank you. I know you've had a few, A few gospel artists. Great. Craig, you know, I'm just kind of seeing Okay, that's diminished all that, that it is not really, you know, that complicated. Right, right, right. I have a lot of these chords built in my mind already from years ago. Yes, sir. Like 13th chords. Absolutely. I know exactly how to do a sharp nine, you know, E seven sharp nine or whatever. So it's like, oh, this is a E seven sharp nine. But he's got like an A flat in the base or something. Right. And that's how, you know. Absolutely. Oh, it's a third, it's a G 13 with this in the base, and that's why it sounds, you know, gospely or whatever. Exactly. Right. And I love playing at gospel churches too. I mean, that's one of my churches, I'm sure as an organist, right? Yeah. They'll actually let you, some churches are like, why are you, we don't want any organ. Right? Yeah. Yeah. Somebody. Yeah. Right. When I was doing, uh, you know, initially, like two years ago, you know, uh, yeah. It was like the organ wasn't, you know, it, it kind of got away, you know? Uh, yes, sir. The, the, uh, Bethel or elevation, Hillsong, big pads. They didn't have the organ, you know, they were just so into the pads, but, right, right. But there's something that the organ brings in the, in the big ending Yes. Or the big chorus or whatever, where you can just hit it and you go, wha Yes. And it's growl and it fast and slow. Leslie, you know, that's a, you know, it's the Doppler effect. Absolutely. Engineering absolutely is what that is. If you think about physics, you know, yes, sir. I happen to, in my engineering school, teach two ways, man. I've got the Doppler effect. Oh, I have to remember that You, I love that. Where the pitch changes and it's, uh, phase shifting and, you know, come on, modulation and, uh, incredible and portamento and, you know, all these cool things. So yeah, actually speaking, I'm sure if we had more time on, you could teach us, teach us your ways and the mini mo I found, I found, uh, a couple things that David did with Sunday Keys is fantastic. Okay. Tell us. And they, he put the plugins available, so I was able to get the Model D. Mini moog on my iPad. So when I'm coming in there, you know, playing these different churches, I've got a mini moog on my iPad and I'll use that and I'll put the vibrato in and Wow. You know, and pitch bend someday, but yeah. Right. One of these days it just has the, we need to get that pitch bend in there. Yeah. Because that's what really, you know, gives you that Chick Korea, or I'll just throw out some nammes of, you know, really phenomenal. Cory Henry loves it. Oh, Corey Henry. Come on. Corey Henry. I know. I met, met him. I met on podcast one day. He's incredible. Love Corey Henry rewriting. He's one of my favorites. Yeah. So anyway, my, tell us about, okay, the namm show, is it worth it for worship keys players to go to the namm show? Yeah. Yeah. I would say for sure. There's a, you know, there, yeah. There is a worship, uh, mag worship music magazine. Okay. Uh, group that's there. Awesome. Uh, from worship artists man, you can learn so much. And then they have the House of Worship actually. So they actually have a chapel, they have a service that you can go to in the morning Incredible. With, you know, and you can meet, you know, some of these players like Love From Love song or whatever. You don't know who's gonna be there that year. Yes sir. And uh, you know, I was always hoping, you know, I am sure Phil Kagy used to go. I haven't seen him, but Corey Henry's going every time now. He's amazing. And I've, uh, I did get to meet him at the last namm show. That's great, man. He doesn't come up to the Hammond booth as much. I was hoping he would, but he's got his own thing going, you know. Will you be at the Hammond booth this January? Yes, I will. Yes, definitely. But like all days or just a certain timeframe or? I don't know yet. Okay. I don't know what the schedule will be, but yeah, I'll definitely, I'm going. Well guys, definitely register for namm. Go see Doug Orlando there at the namm show in 2026. Y'all the end of January, right? That's what it is, right? Yeah. Yeah. That's gonna great. Uh, CC Winans did the concert last year. Wow. Before that was Toby Mack. So love cc I mean, they love Toby Mack too. Yeah. They have a, uh, a worship night. Oh, that's great. And it's like a Yeah, it's a worship night. I'm gonna have to come. I'm gonna have to go there. I'll have to see you there, Doug. You should. That'd be great. That'd be great, Carson. Okay. I noticed this is a shorter episode. I hope you all have enjoyed this episode so far. Our conversation with Doug Orlando, we don't have too much time. I know time is, is, um, we're running a little bit out of time. By the way, love your shirt. In Jesus namme. I play. I love that. But one other question for you, Doug. Um, and it's an important question, you know, with worship Keith players, it doesn't matter how young or old you are, but since you have been playing for over 40 years, what advice would you say you'd give to any younger musicians? Any younger Keith players? Yeah, I would say, you know, um, stay surrendered, it's all about really emptying yourself and thinking about why am I here? How do I fit into what I'm doing? Um, and, you know, helping everyone else, you know. Sound good? I was gonna say, or sound, you know, uh, as. Pleasing to the Lord. I mean, we are providing an incense, you know? The worshipers led the charge in warfare in the army. Absolutely. So we're helping lead the charge here. And, and we, you've gotta stay surrendered. It's not about you, you know, as much as we're in our bodies, you know, so it is like about us. Right? Right. You know, and yet if we can stay surrendered, I, you know, is my favorite word, you know, and all to Jesus, I surrender is the best. Frame of mind to have every moment. Yes, sir. I love that, man. Well, it's been a pleasure just meeting you, even if we didn't record this podcast, like it was great to meet you. Yeah. And I saw you out there in the lobby. Thanks. It was so good to meet you here at the Worship Innovators Conference. Totally. And, uh, you have such a great spirit about you, such a great personality. And um, I know you obviously kill it on stage. You didn't get to hear you play live. I've seen some videos, but if we had. A Hammond B three or any kind of other organ or simulator or anything here we, we would gladly let you play and show everyone your skills, but y'all need to go follow him. Doug Orlando on Instagram. You're on YouTube. You got your website Uhhuh? Yep. Doug Orlando. Is it Doug Orlando? Yeah, I have doug orlando.com. Dot com, okay. Yeah. Yeah. And then the worship sn.com as well. The network. That's the Worship Support Network for on 55 states sn.com. Yep. And then, uh, wonderful. Yeah. And uh, and I've got the YouTube and Yes, sir, you know, Instagram and Facebook and everything. So maybe one day we'd love to get you on the Hammond, where you actually give us some tips and you play a little bit for us. That would be crazy. I don't know