Savanna Dohner: American Badass (Jenn Dohner photos)
“I am the one who plays the bass!”
Rock star disguised as a high school student.
Savanna Dohner was born to be a star.
With two outgoing parents to set an example, including a mom who spends many of her nights shooting cutting-edge rockers live on stage with her ever-clicking camera, she had a great start.
Toss in a gaggle of older sisters, all fairly creative in their own right, and the stage was set.
A natural wonder with a bass in her hands, and the rare ninth-grader who looks like she stepped off a fashion runway while still acting like the goofy teenager next door, Dohner will put Coupeville on the map. It’s only a matter of time.
She works with professional axe man Jeff Rouse, who has played bass for bands such as Alien Crime Syndicate and Duff McKagen’s Loaded, and has already received offers to step up off the Island and play in the big city.
“Jeff is pretty much the raddest guy I know. He completely gets me as a musician and a person,” Dohner said. “When I play with him we come up with the most wicked bass lines and songs.
“He has taught me not only how to play like a rocker, but how to hold myself in the business, because the music business is definitely a scary place,” she added. “As far as bands go, I have promised myself to wait until the right one comes along. But I’m just gonna go with the flow and see where life takes me.”
It’s a journey she knew she always wanted to take, right from the days when she started working the crowd in kindergarten.
“Music is the only thing I’ve every shown interest in and it makes me feel more alive than anything else can,” Dohner said. “Even when I was about five I cut out pieces of paper and wrote in crayon “1 free concert ticket to see Savanna” and handed them out EVERYWHERE.
“I know it’s a hard business to get into but I’ll make it work; it’ll take dedication, time, and hope,” she added. “But I’ll make it happen because it’s the only thing I will ever be happy doing; music has my heart and it always will.”
Along with her work with Rouse, and often following mom Jenn Dohner into the camera pits at rock shows, Savanna finds time to fine-tune her musical skills with her classmates as well.
She’s in her fourth year of playing with the school band, and has dabbled with drums and keyboards, while always returning to her beloved bass.
“I started mainly because I love music. I always have and I always will,” Dohner said. “I’ve been raised on music, whether it was punk, rap, country, classic, jazz or alternative. I was exposed to it all.
“I enjoy learning a different aspect of music; without band I’d probably just be reading tabs constantly,” she added. “Even though I really hated learning to read music and learning the notes, it’s improved my playing by 100%.”
But, while she plays what the class requires, there’s a rocker always waiting to break free and get the long, golden hair swinging.
When the CHS freshmen put together a ’90s-themed float for Homecoming, some of the participants might have been just pretending to be playing along to the music.
Dohner was windmilling the bass for real, hair flying in the fog in a scene that would have brought a tear of joy to the members of Soundgarden and Pearl Jam if they wandered by.
“I love the sensation you get in a song when you hit a gnarly bass line that just makes your fingers feel on fire!,” Dohner exclaimed. “That’s the music that makes me forget quite literally everything except me, my bass and the music I’m playing and that’s an extraordinary thing to feel.
“It’s what I’ll be playing forever!”
While she still has most of her high school days to get through, Dohner already has her sights set firmly on the future. The moment the diploma hits her hands, she plans to be on the ferry to Seattle, bass in hand.
Wherever the music takes her, she has her head set right, and knows the value of those who have, and will continue to, support her, financially and emotionally.
“I’ve had so many impacts on my life, so obviously I’ll start with my family; without them I’d be nowhere,” Dohner said. “That’s quite literal too; without my dad (Brent) supporting my crazy dreams and helping a little financially (maybe not just a little…) I’d be without all my gorgeous gear.”
She also gives big props to two families who have helped shape her budding career, the Kertsons, which includes son Jason, a rising singer who she’s worked with, and the Savoias, who are music photographers.
“I have had the honor to jam with Jason Kertson a few times and learned so many things from his mad skills,” Dohner said. “Then became friends with his mom whom I absolutely ADORE and his dad, who is pretty hardcore himself. The Savoias have supported me and my career completely and totally.”
But the figure that looms largest in her life is her mother, the woman who opened her ears to the possibilities of music and has been there beside her daughter every step of the way.
“She has been so forgiving of the countless times I have kept her up at night rocking out, saying “Please mom! Just five more minutes!,” Dohner said. “Along with driving me hours on end to lessons, jam sessions, and band tryouts.
“This girl has been through heck to support me and get me to where I am! Thanks mom!”
While she plays the game when it comes to school (“I always strive to get the best grades possible because better grades means happier parents. Ha!”), music is her life. Plain and simple.
“My time is mainly used to either daydream about my career of being a rocker, along with actually doing the things that will make it happen.”
She reels off an impressive list of favorite bands, with Weezer, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Sick Puppies, 30 Seconds To Mars, Nirvana, The Ramones, Guns ‘n Roses and Blink-182 the first ones to rumble from her lips.
One day, soon, other highly-creative young women looking for influences will be adding her name to the play-list.
Coupeville Sports 
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