+ By Dylan Roche + Photos courtesy of Doug Segree
“I just wanted to be a guitar player—I didn’t even think of myself as a singer at first,” says Doug Segree of his early curiosity about and passion for music. The accomplished singer-songwriter-musician has been a celebrated part of the region’s scene for more than 30 years, and his name is one that’s likely familiar to people who follow local music. They may have seen him performing solo at a venue, as part of a band at a private event, or even entertaining children as part of his latest music venture, SQRRL! They may have heard one of his recordings, seen him on YouTube, or heard his music on television or in movies. His career as a musician has been an ongoing evolution.
It started with that curiosity about the guitar, back in his childhood. Segree’s friend had a Gibson Explorer and let him play it. In that moment, Segree decided that he had to get his own electric guitar. “My parents told me, ‘Hey, before we buy you a guitar, you have to take lessons to see if you like it,'” he recalls. “So I started at Music & Arts in the Severna Park Mall.”
After a few lessons, learning the boring basics of how to read music, his teacher showed him how to play the opening of Van Halen’s “Hot for Teacher,” and Segree was obsessed from then on. All summer, he saved up money. He bought his first guitar in 1984.
“At first, I didn’t know how to play songs—I knew riffs and solos, but that doesn’t really connect with people,” he says. He didn’t find that connection with the audience until he went to college at James Madison University and joined a band. “I could play guitar but not songs,” he says. “So I started learning songs and started writing, too.”
Later, while pursuing his MBA at the University of Florida, he found himself surrounded by a lively music scene that was on the cusp of national recognition. “I got pulled into the music scene down there,” he says. “I knew guys like Rob Thomas, back when he was in his first band, and the guys from Sister Hazel. A year later, I came home and suddenly they were all over the radio.”
The energy must have been contagious, because it made Segree realize the possibility of a music career and pushed him closer toward it. He’s found success by balancing his name as a cover artist, which is always entertaining for a crowd and in high demand, with the satisfaction of writing original work, which has garnered a fan base of its own. That also gives him an outlet for expression in a way that covers don’t. Recording projects have helped him cement his own style: a blend of acoustic rock, pop hooks, and honest storytelling.
Through it all, he credits enthusiasm for keeping him going. “Enthusiasm gets you a long way, for any performer,” he says. “You want to focus on singing the best you can and playing the best you can, but if you’re having fun, that communicates.”
Over the years, his setlists became a blend of originals and thoughtfully chosen covers to reflect his many influences while still representing his authentic persona as a singer-songwriter. At the same time, more people were starting to follow his music, coming to know him not merely as a local act but, more importantly, as a writer and recording artist with a genre-defying catalogue.
“I don’t need to be a top star, per se, but I want to be as good as I can and enjoy it and be in the conversation—and to do that, every few years, you have to reinvent and stay excited about it,” he says. “This is a tough gig to fake for too long if you’re not enjoying it.”
In recent years, Segree’s music career has taken a fresh and maybe surprising turn, as he’s embraced family music and found a new audience in children. As a father himself, he’s taken a lot of joy from being able to write songs that make children laugh, dance, and sing along.
This love of performing for children was the jumping point for SQRRL!, aptly named because of his self-confessed inclination to be easily distracted, like a dog seeing a squirrel. But even though the name reflects a playful, frenetic, rambunctious spirit, there’s serious precision to the art of entertaining children. Along with his bandmates, Segree has created a cast of characters that come out and perform at SQRRL! concerts, including Daisy SQRRL, Aunt Vicki, and Eddie the Elf.
It’s worth noting that while SQRRL!’s sound and style appeal to children, it’s just as enjoyable for parents—it’s not the bouncy or saccharine music they’ll get sick of playing and is instead the type of tunes they’ll all want to listen to together on repeat. “It’s imaginative, it’s fun, it’s creative. Some of it’s goofy, but it’s heartfelt. There’s an innocence to it that’s really cool,” he says. “I call it kids’ music, but it’s not kiddy music. . . . It’s family music.”
SQRRL! has also proven to be a way of giving back, which is something that Segree acknowledges goes along with being an artist. Although he has performed with his band or solo at benefit concerts or charity events, he gets the most satisfaction out of playing with SQRRL! for children in hospitals as part of Hope for Henry, a DC-based nonprofit.
Three decades into his music journey, Segree isn’t slowing down. He continues to balance solo gigs, ensemble shows, and SQRRL! performances, all while working on new material. He tries to remember that he doesn’t have to do everything all at once and there’s no set timeline that he must follow. “I have to remind myself this is not the destination—this is the journey,” he says. “I try to run in the middle, but I’m not real good in the middle. The things that make me successful probably hinder me as well.”
He’ll be the first to admit that being a full-time professional musician isn’t easy, but it’s rewarding, especially when connecting with his audience—those are the moments that are worth more than the paycheck. “I’ve had some successful songs where people come up to me and say, ‘Dude, I heard you,’ and you can tell they get it,” he says. “I can’t feed the family with words alone, but that’s why I keep doing it, right?”
Besides, he loves playing. “It’s easy to have days where you go, ‘What am I doing?’ It’s hard,” he admits. “There are times when you get down on yourself. But it helps my game to appreciate what I do. There are moments that remind me why I don’t stop. I don’t want to disconnect. I feel very emotional and very alive when I’m singing and playing. When I have a gig coming up, sometimes it feels like work. But once I’m there, and I’m playing and I’m focusing, there’s something about it that makes me feel more alive.” ν
