Darrin James Band

Darrin James is a Brooklyn-based musician who has honed his skills over the past fifteen years to become a multi-instrumentalist of great feeling and intensity. His newest CD, Thrones of Gold, marks his debut as a singer/songwriter, a role that Darrin seems natural and confident to fill. By the age of 15, Darrin had emerged as a soulful blues guitarist in his home state of Michigan. Now, at 29, Darrin has lived in New York City for several years, soaking up a melting pot of gritty rock, soul, country, jazz, and plenty of blues.

Darrin took his time to record his debut, slowly compiling an impressive repertoire of original songs that display both his musical ability and his lyrical wit. He produced the album himself, recording in a variety of settings with an eclectic array of musicians. His patience paid off. Since its independent release last winter, Thrones of Gold has yielded glowing reviews on both sides of the Atlantic, praising Darrin James not only as an intelligent songwriter, but also as a powerful singer and guitarist whose music has an authentic rawness and realism that speaks to audiences in a meaningful way.

For Thrones of Gold, Darrin James assembled a stellar lineup of New York’s most exciting young musicians. Jordan Shapiro (Project/Object, Astrograss) plays a Hammond organ, providing a textured backdrop that opens up the space for Darrin’s rhythmic finger-picking and bluesy lead guitar. Darrin’s longtime drummer, Jeremy Bronson, anchors the band with a dynamic style that contributes to their loose intensity and hard groove. By incorporating both the upright and electric bass of Dan Jeselsohn (Dub Is A Weapon), Ari Folman-Cohen (Stephan Wrembel) and Dave Johnsen (Mahavishnu Project), they are able to cross over effortlessly from rock to country or jazz where Colin Stetson (Tom Waits, Arcade Fire) provides a beautifully dirty tenor sax or Dennis Lichtman lights up the fiddle. The Darrin James Band plays regularly around New York City, exciting audiences with their soulful performances. Darrin James tours often with the band and as a solo artist.

1984 - After a temporary move to Pennsylvania, the Greenawalt family relocates to Michigan where Darrin would spend the rest of his childhood.

1989 - Darrin's first formal music training begins with trumpet in the school band.

1992 - Darrin buys his first electric guitar, a Fender Stratocaster. He joins up with neighborhood friend Josh Margaritondo, and they begin learning classic rock songs through Guitar magazines.

1993-1994 - Darrin and Josh perform at coffee shops around Michigan. Josh sings, and Darrin takes over lead guitar responsibilities, demonstrating an immediate feel for the blues

1995-1996 - Darrin performs regularly with a variety of groups and forms an instrumental band with Tim Machuga on bass, Nick Bartolone on drums, and several other collaborators and musicians (too many to name) inlcuding guitarists, keyboardists, percussionists, vocalists and horns. Darrin graduates from high school with a reputation for bluesy jam sessions and funky compositions.

1996 - Darrin moves to Ann Arbor to attend University of Michigan. He majors in literature (English and German), and studies music composition under Steve Rush. In Ann Arbor, Darrin meets many of his future bandmates, collaborators, and allies: Jeremy Bronson, Jordan Shapiro, Paul Cox, Joe Grossman, Geoffry Bell, Dave Bronson, Colin Stetson, Matt Gill and Sarah Munro... to name a few.

1997-1999 - Darrin plays in a variety of bands around Ann Arbor and Detroit. He immerses himself in jazz, fusion, world music, soul, delta blues and folk, notably Miles Davis, Bob Dylan, Mississippi John Hurt, James Brown, Ali Farka Toure and Fela Kuti etc...

1999 - Darrin directs music for the multi-media production, Synthesthesia, collaborating with visual artist Geoffry Bell and musicians Leo Eguchi, Brian Lipson, Tim Brown, and Peter Alexanian. The music was composed and improvised by the group as a whole as they sought to coincide with visual projections by Geoff Bell. The visuals captured a stark contrast between the calm, static rhythms of the elements in the natural world and the mechanized man-made rhythms of industrial machinery.

2000 - Darrin composes and produces Soundtrack For Beautiful People, an album of instrumental music influenced by the jazz fusion of Miles Davis as well as the music of Africa and Latin America. For this project Darrin creates his first digital home recording studio and plays all of the instruments.

2000 - Darrin relocates to New York City to pursue his music career. He begins to focus on songwriting and singing. He writes some of his first songs: Girl in Michigan, Herie, and Only a Woman.

2001 - Darrin performs in Fortune Cookie Dreams, a multi-media rock opera written and directed by Jordan Shapiro and Joe Grossman. The show performs a week of sold-out shows at New York's Off-Broadway theater, the Blue Heron Arts Center.

2001 - Darrin lives in New York's Chinatown during 9-11, less than a mile from ground zero. He works as a salesman and continues to write. These experiences and the frustration of the Bush years inspire many of his subsequent lyrics.

2002 - Darrin forms the Darrin James Band with Jeremy Bronson and Dan Jeselsohn to perform his growing repertoire of original songs. He marries Sarah Munro and they embark on an around the world honeymoon taking them to Greece, Turkey, Central and East Europe, England, Thailand...

2003 - Darrin and Sarah's travels continue through Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Japan, and eventually home.

2003 - Jordan Shapiro joins the band on keyboards. The Darrin James Band begins performing regularly around New York City. Darrin invests in some professional recording gear including some tasty microphones, and Bridge Street Records is formed.

2004-2006 - Darrin produces ongoing recording sessions at his loft studio in Brooklyn.

2006 - Darrin James Band releases Thrones of Gold, the first release on Darrin's independent label, Bridge Street Records. The CD and live performances are well received by critics, bloggers and fans.

2007 - Dave Johnsen (Project/Object, Mahavishnu Project) joins the band as bassist, contributing a solid groove and virtuosity to recordings and live performances.

2008 - Drummer Bill Mead joins the band, and the DJB continues to evolve and tighten their live sound. The DJB tours the midwest and plays frequently in NYC. The song "Crazy World" is licensed by Discovery Channel for the Emmy-nominated series "Deadliest Catch."