Glenn "Chops" Lightford, the band leader of "Don't Tell Mama", grew up in Dallas and went to school in Dallas, and later, studied Music Education at Abilene Christian University.  He has lived in Dallas, Abilene, Houston, San Antonio, and the Rio Grande Valley.

Chops plays Trumpet and Flugle Horn with DTM, but also plays French Horn, Baritone, Trombone, some percussion, and keyboards.

Glenn played his first professional performance at the age of 13, (about 6 months after he picked up a trumpet) and has been playing his horn ever since.  He began writing music for small ensembles while in High School, and later in life, he began writing for High School ensembles, College ensembles, and other small groups. Presently, he writes arrangements for the horn section of DTM.

Glenn's most memorial performances that he recalls are from High School, College, and a few "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunities to play along side Herb Alpert, Luis Miguel, The Count Basie Orchestra, and Tower of Power.  Chops has played in several different venues and with several different bands around the Dallas/Fort Worth area for the past 30 years, including, Danny and the Dinosaurs, Roscoe Turner and Company, and The Blues Hunters, just to name a few.

His Trumpet influences include:  Herb Alpert, Al Hirt, Arturo Sandoval, Lee Morgan, Bill Chase, and of course.....Maynard Ferguson !

His Band influences include:  Chicago, Blood Sweat and Tears, Tower of Power, Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, and several bands of today...With "Don't Tell Mama" at the top of the list.  He loves playing Jazz, Latin Jazz, and Tejano Music.  You can see some of these influences come together when you catch a performance by "Don't Tell Mama".

Another "once-in-a-lifetime" event for Glenn was to be re-united with his High School Sweetheart (of 34 years) Maria, and they are now happily married to each other !