Gene McDonald first began singing when he was still a young child and, surprisingly, sang the high tenor part with family who traveled across the Midwest from 1968 to 1980. When his sister left for college and the family stopped touring together, he joined Jack Campbell and the Ambassadors (also as a tenor). It was in 1982 that his voice changed from high tenor to a booming bass. During his college years at Arkansas State University, he received operatic vocal training. There he also studied under one of the leading choral directors in the nation, Al Skoog.