ABOUT ME!

  I’m a Songwriter, a singer, a guitar player, and a “humorist”.  And I’m a Baha’i.

 I’m originally from Virginia but I moved to California in the winter of 1995.  After my divorce, I settled in Imperial Beach in 2000.  It’s the “most southwesterly city in the continental US”- right in the corner next to Tijuana, Mexico.  I liked to say I was as close as you can get to Hawaii by car.   I remarried in 2006 to my bride, Deb.   We’ve embarked on a 50-year honeymoon!

IB sunset

Sunset at the Pier

I’ve been writing and performing my own songs for about 30 years.  A few years ago I recorded a live show I did for my birthday party.  I called it the “11th anniversay of my 39th birthday”.  That’s humor.  The difference between comedy and humor is important.  A comedian says funny stuff to make you laugh.  A humorist makes you laugh at stuff that ain’t funny.  I consider myself a humorist, but Deb occaisionally reminds me that’s only true if everyone laughs.

TUCSON – Deb and I moved to Tucson, Arizona and I launched a project to record some of my tunes and get them published for people to enjoy.  The first fruit of that labor is a CD called “EACH ONE TEACH ONE – Songs for the Army of Light”.  This CD, containing 10 of my Baha’i “Teaching” songs, was produced at the request of my bride.  She wanted a CD of OVERTLY Baha’i-oriented songs for Baha’i Teachers everywhere.  I guess that makes her the “Executive Producer”!   My prayer is that it will Attract the Hearts of Seekers and Fortify the Hearts of Believers.

Tucson from Mt.Lemon

The “other half” of my songs are about being human.  There are love songs, songs of social conscience, songs of celebration.  All of them are somewhat philosophical and reveal the inner-workings of my own heart.  I have recorded 13 of them in my own Folk-Blues style on a CD called “Plain and Simple”.  We called it that because it’s just me on Guitar and vocals and my friend Rick Heyman on his upright bass  (no artifical additives!).  You can hear samples of both CDs by following the links at the upper right of this page.

CASA GRANDE – In June of 2009, Deb and I moved to Casa Grande, AZ and appropriately, I guess, into a “big house” (casa grande).  We came here to support the Baha’i community which was dwindling in number.  I guess the Lord liked the sacrifice because he gave me three times the house for $100 less than I paid for the small house in Tucson.

I enrolled in the Baha’i Faith in 1973.  I’ve been trying to become a real Baha’i ever since.  The fascinating part about Baha’u’llah’s writings, to me, is that every time I read a passage again, even after reading it numerous times before, I get something new from it.  About half of my songs are “Baha’i-oriented” in content, some “overtly” so, some “covertly” so.   All of them, I believe, are influenced by the Baha’i teachings. 

In the coming months I hope we will enjoy some laughs together and I hope that you’ll enjoy my CDs .

 

        ///Darrell