Originally from Ohio, Donley began writing songs in college and started his career writing commercials for radio. He moved to Nashville in 2006 to pursue his career as a professional songwriter.
Since then Donely has written many popular songs including “Sittin’ Pretty” by Florida Georgia Line, “Unapologetically Country” and “4×4” by Hardy; “That Ain’t Me No More” by Matt Stell; “Mama Got The Chair” by Chevel Shepherd; and many more.​