Alan Lane is not the typical chemical engineering professor: He doubles as Doobie “Doghouse” Wilson, singer and songwriter.

With a head of gray hair and a face framed by a matching beard, Lane started performing for audiences late in his life. Having learned guitar in middle school, he kept music tucked away for his spare time and developed a career in chemical engineering. Lane realized, late in life that if he didn’t start performing for an audience before turning 50, he never would. That moment 12 years ago, Lane decided to take his performances beyond his basement.

“I just enjoy playing,” Lane said. “At age 48 I started going to open mikes. It’s just a way to get out, enjoy playing, meet other musicians and that sort of thing.”

Lane’s first performed at the songwriter’s night at Hales Tavern, which is no longer on The Strip. After a few visits over the summer, he found the crowd small and comfortable enough to try playing. The audience gave Lane a positive response, and he’s been performing for people ever since.

“It takes a lot to get up in front of a group and do anything where you’re putting yourself on the line,” Lane said. “I was not sure that the patrons of these bars around town, who are mostly students, would appreciate the older songs that I play. But when I went to start listening to these bands and soloists at the bars, they’re not playing modern music. They’re playing the Beatles, James Taylor and all this old stuff. So I [thought,] okay, the music I’m playing fits right in. It was mostly about getting the courage up to do it.”

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After getting out, Lane decided he wanted a stage name. There was an 8-year-old neighborhood boy who always went to Lane’s house whose nickname was Doobie. Lane took that name and adopted a nickname for his stage name as “Doghouse,” because he always felt like he was in the doghouse at home, and Wilson just rolled off his tongue.

And so Doobie “Doghouse” Wilson was created. The first time he used the name, the crowd was more amused than he expected. He didn’t understand the crowd’s reaction, and his wife had to explain to him that doobie was a marijuana term.

“I’m about as straight as they come, but here I’ve chosen a name that has marijuana implications, and I guess they made assumptions,” Lane said.

Not only is Lane a singer who covers other artists, but he also writes his own songs. From personal experiences to political issues to chemical engineering to random encounters, his songs have a wide variety of topics. His song “She’ll Fly Away” is about his daughter growing up. The song “Savin’ Room for Dessert” came to him when his friend denied a second helping of dinner. His latest album, “Ride the Bus,” is celebrating the Freedom Riders. All of his songs are put online for free download because Lane said it is more important to him that people can listen to them.

“I make too much money as an engineer to worry about it,” Lane said, “I would rather have more people listen to my songs than earn money from it.”

Although Lane creates a full band sound with technology like a looper that allows him to record himself in real time, he also helped create band PhD’Licious. The band started at a Christmas party when Lane overheard other university professors talking about the possibility of creating a band.

Norman Baldwin, political science professor and lead singer for PhD’Licious, said Lane gave him an opportunity to sing. Six years ago at age 56 and with the start of the band, Baldwin began singing. Baldwin said he admires Lane’s songwriting ability and how his songs offer a variety of emotions for people.

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“I think that people can take away something uplifting and fun,” Baldwin said. “But then he plays music that is very emotionally moving. I mean, he wrote a song about his daughter. I think anyone that hears it is touched by it. He wrote a song about Martin Luther King, and if you hear it, you’re moved by it.”

Lane said he tries to play as often as possible, going to various venues around town. On rare occasions, Lane will even play on the stairwell in his building during his lunch break, inviting people to bring their food and listen. He said people are typically surprised and amused to find out about his singing.

“I think the first time, especially students who know me as a professor, they are amused by me, that their professor would do something like this,” Lane said, “As an older musician, people are used to seeing younger guys unless it’s one that you’ve been seeing for a long time. For somebody to be new on the scene and older is different.”

As part of Bama Dining’s “Don’t Be a Starving Artist” program, Lane will perform at the Starbucks in the Ferguson Center on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. He will play a mix of rock ‘n roll, blues and funk.

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