{"id":10,"date":"2026-05-11T15:07:51","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T15:07:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\/?p=10"},"modified":"2026-05-11T15:07:51","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T15:07:51","slug":"live-wire-holyokes-donut-kings-making-tasty-music-for-40-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\/?p=10","title":{"rendered":"Live Wire: Holyoke\u2019s Donut Kings making tasty music for 40 years"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>When one of the founders of the Holyoke-based band Donut Kings was asked what his favorite kind of donut is, he had a surprising answer.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\/?p=7\">Funeral services announced for Wellesley children whose mother is accused of killing them<\/a><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t eat donuts,\u201d Rikk Desgres said.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>But the story behind the name is almost as unusual. Apparently, the band\u2019s first guitarist loved donuts, and they called him \u201cThe Donut King.\u201d But oddly, he never actually played out with the band. Desgres and drummer and co-founder Nate Crowell were setting up the band\u2019s first-ever gig at Lemon\u2019s in Chicopee.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cAnd all of a sudden, I was like, \u2018Wait, did he just leave? \u2019So we went outside, only to see his car speeding out of the parking lot. He got so scared that he just left,\u201d Desgres said.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Despite that shaky start, the group carried on and will now celebrate its 40th anniversary show on May 23 at Two Weeks Notice Brewing Company in West Springfield.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>The band tried to get the original guitarist to come back to play for the 40th anniversary, but unfortunately, he\u2019ll be out of town. Desgres said they were thinking it would be funny if it was the first time he was ever on stage with the band \u2014 even though he was the original guitarist 40 years ago.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Desgres said that the band has had to persevere through other ever-changing band lineups and musical styles. The group is now Desgres (who originally played bass but now plays tenor guitar), joined by Crowell on drums and Aaron Brennan on bass and Chapman Stick.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Desgres and Crowell formed the band in 1986 and leaned into influences such as a fellow Western Massachusetts band The Pajama Slave Dancers (from which Donut Kings took their humorous sensibilities). Other early influences include the Violent Femmes, where they got their minimalist approach, and hard rock bands like Deep Purple, which the Donut Kings tried to emulate to get a bigger, harder sound. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Over the band\u2019s 11 albums, you can hear even more threads woven into the group\u2019s sound: punk, progressive, heavy metal, pop, alternative, goth, funk, experimental, folk, novelty and \u201cjust about any style that made us smile,\u201d Desgres said.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>As to what has held the two founding members together for so long, the answer is two-pronged, Desgres said.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cOne, we\u2019re friends and respect each other. We\u2019re very different, but we\u2019re almost like brothers. And second, no one ever told us to quit, so we kept on going,\u201d he said with a laugh.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>While the group started out as a trio, it has since expanded to four and even five members at different junctures. Desgres prefers the trio setup, although admits there are advantages to having extra hands on deck.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cWith fewer people in the band, it\u2019s easier is to manage. It\u2019s like herding cats. With five people you got to get five people to agree on when you\u2019re going to rehearse, and agree on playing a gig, and these days everybody\u2019s in at least another band or two,\u201d he said. \u201cIt might sound better with a couple of extra people, but with three people it\u2019s easier to manage.\u201d<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>MORE BY <!-- -->GEORGE LENKER<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Beer Nut: Four lagers perfect for spring<span>May. 4, 2026, 12:42 p.m.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Live Wire: Longmeadow musician writes \u2018love letter\u2019 to Northampton via Los Angeles<span>May. 4, 2026, 7:58 a.m.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>For the 40th anniversary gig, Desgres said there will be a slideshow accompanying the band onstage. And, in between sets, they will share older videos of the group with the audience. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>He added that all the various members of the band over the four decades have added to the sound and shaped it.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cAll the other members have influenced things. Because it\u2019s not my band, and it\u2019s not Nate\u2018s band; it\u2019s truly a band,\u201d he said. \u201cHow we got to where we are now is because of every member that has passed through. It\u2019s like weaving a tapestry.\u201d<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When one of the founders of the Holyoke-based band Donut Kings was asked what his favorite kind of<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Live Wire: Holyoke\u2019s Donut Kings making tasty music for 40 years - Massachusetts Moving News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\/?p=10\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Live Wire: Holyoke\u2019s Donut Kings making tasty music for 40 years - Massachusetts Moving News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When one of the founders of the Holyoke-based band Donut Kings was asked what his favorite kind of\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\/?p=10\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Massachusetts Moving News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-11T15:07:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\\\/?p=10#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\\\/?p=10\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f2576c4296f46811c2ced5b2c356cfb2\"},\"headline\":\"Live Wire: Holyoke\u2019s Donut Kings making tasty music for 40 years\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-11T15:07:51+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\\\/?p=10\"},\"wordCount\":679,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\\\/?p=10#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/b6fee19e173cfa58d48ac9330ca89f2b.avif\",\"articleSection\":[\"Entertainment\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\\\/?p=10#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\\\/?p=10\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\\\/?p=10\",\"name\":\"Live Wire: Holyoke\u2019s Donut Kings making tasty music for 40 years - Massachusetts Moving News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\\\/?p=10#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\\\/?p=10#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/b6fee19e173cfa58d48ac9330ca89f2b.avif\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-11T15:07:51+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f2576c4296f46811c2ced5b2c356cfb2\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\\\/?p=10#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\\\/?p=10\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\\\/?p=10#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/b6fee19e173cfa58d48ac9330ca89f2b.avif\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/b6fee19e173cfa58d48ac9330ca89f2b.avif\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":960},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\\\/?p=10#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Live Wire: Holyoke\u2019s Donut Kings making tasty music for 40 years\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Massachusetts Moving News\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f2576c4296f46811c2ced5b2c356cfb2\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Live Wire: Holyoke\u2019s Donut Kings making tasty music for 40 years - Massachusetts Moving News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\/?p=10","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Live Wire: Holyoke\u2019s Donut Kings making tasty music for 40 years - Massachusetts Moving News","og_description":"When one of the founders of the Holyoke-based band Donut Kings was asked what his favorite kind of","og_url":"https:\/\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\/?p=10","og_site_name":"Massachusetts Moving News","article_published_time":"2026-05-11T15:07:51+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\/?p=10#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\/?p=10"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f2576c4296f46811c2ced5b2c356cfb2"},"headline":"Live Wire: Holyoke\u2019s Donut Kings making tasty music for 40 years","datePublished":"2026-05-11T15:07:51+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\/?p=10"},"wordCount":679,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\/?p=10#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/b6fee19e173cfa58d48ac9330ca89f2b.avif","articleSection":["Entertainment"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\/?p=10#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\/?p=10","url":"https:\/\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\/?p=10","name":"Live Wire: Holyoke\u2019s Donut Kings making tasty music for 40 years - Massachusetts Moving News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\/?p=10#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\/?p=10#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/b6fee19e173cfa58d48ac9330ca89f2b.avif","datePublished":"2026-05-11T15:07:51+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f2576c4296f46811c2ced5b2c356cfb2"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\/?p=10#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\/?p=10"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\/?p=10#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/b6fee19e173cfa58d48ac9330ca89f2b.avif","contentUrl":"https:\/\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/b6fee19e173cfa58d48ac9330ca89f2b.avif","width":1280,"height":960},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\/?p=10#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Live Wire: Holyoke\u2019s Donut Kings making tasty music for 40 years"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\/","name":"Massachusetts Moving News","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f2576c4296f46811c2ced5b2c356cfb2","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/massachusettsmovingnews.com"],"url":"https:\/\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/massachusettsmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}