Don Potter began his career in Rochester, New York, as a member of the rock and roll band the Show Stoppers before forming a folk-rock duo with Bat McGrath; their 1969 album Introducing Bat McGrath & Don Potter documents that early partnership. He connected with Chuck Mangione around 1971, contributing acoustic guitar to Friends & Love and going on to sing lead vocals and play guitar across several of Mangione's albums, most notably the title vocal on Children of Sanchez (1978), the soundtrack to the film of the same name that won Mangione a Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Performance. Mangione's own catalog is covered in full in his JazzProfiles.com profile.

Potter continued releasing his own records through Columbia in the mid-1970s (Take It Out on Main Street, 1975; Why Don't We Live Together, 1976) and Myrrh, a contemporary Christian label, in the 1980s (It's the Messiah and Free Yourself, both 1984). His career then took its most consequential turn when he became the longtime producer for Wynonna Judd and The Judds, credited by many as the architect of the Judds' signature sound, with production and bandleading work spanning from 1984 through 2000.

In the years since, Potter has shifted his focus toward worship music and ministry, serving as a worship leader in churches and writing about "prophetic worship" in his book Facing the Wall. He now lives in North Carolina.

Potter's career traces an unusual arc even within crossover jazz's genre-blending cast of characters: Rochester folk-rock duo, jazz vocalist and guitarist for Chuck Mangione, Christian contemporary recording artist, architect of a defining country sound for The Judds, and finally a worship-music leader, each phase a genuine pivot rather than a continuation of the last.