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Big Dan Starr

Lead singer "Big Dan" Starr certainly had a colorful relationship with his own identity... The Dan Starr persona was one of many he used during his lifetime, including several variations of his birth name, Estle Don Linebarger (1937-2004). Mr. Linebarger was born in Missouri and as a teen he performed on local radio and played around in a hillbilly band called the Ozark String Dusters. Linebarger joined the Army in the late 'Fifties and played European gigs in a serviceman's band that included Tommy Cash, Johnny Cash's brother. (Or at least that's what he told the Orlando Sentinel when they profiled him in 1973). He started writing music as a teen, copyrighting at least one song in mid-'Fifties, and released a few singles between 1968-73, including a UFO conspiracy anthem ("Captain Tom Martell") and a patriotic song, "Bugle Boy," which he dedicated to Vietnam War-era POWs. At some point, he may have lived in Nashville, and in the late '60s was playing clubs around Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware. Around 1968, he led a group called the Rustlers, which he later changed to the Hometowners. Going by the name Starr, Mr. Linebarger eventually moved to Florida, establishing himself as a bandleader and television host, fronting a group known as the Hometowners USA.