Doug Backer received a Bachelor Degree in Music Education from the University of Nebraska, majoring in Composition & Arranging. 

Doug was in working bands from age 14 to around age 48, when he created a blues music education organization called BluesEd in cooperation with the Blues Society of Omaha. The BluesEd organization has supported from 2-4 youth bands every year for the past 20 years and earned a “Keeping The Blues Alive” award from the Blues Foundation in 2018, with bands attending the Blues Foundation Youth Blues Band National Contest many of those years. Two alumni have been nominated separately by the Blues Foundation (Memphis) for awards.

The Blues Unknowns, Backer’s new project, borrows from some of the methods used in BluesEd but with a focus on “jamming experience” for adult musicians in the area looking to jam occasionally with other locals.