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The end
Posted On 12/01/2010 20:42:56
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Well Kerchoonz friends, this has not been an easy decision to make, but I have decided to call it a day for Darnell.
I have thoroughly enjoyed the many years I have been part of Darnell. From attending LIPA as a student and working with amazing people who really believed in what we were creating, to last year being one of the Kerchoonz winners and being broadcast to an audience around the world. It has been a pleasure to play live on the many radio stations around the North West. I have enjoyed all the fantastic amazing people we have met on our travels, , some strangers, some friends, who have commented on our songs my voice, Juniors playing, I thank you all. I thank all the people around the world who have ever left a message or comment on any of our pages, amazing!
I have loved every part of the journey within making music, I have done a lot of things that I never dreamed of. Playing live on the radio, writing songs with Junior and recording them, being on tv, seeing people sing along to your songs (didn't play Wembley though!!!...)
I was hoping Darnell would really move forward in 2010, but I just can't see that happening at this moment in time.
I hope to be still involved with music in the future.
I will keep this page open for anyone who wants to listen to the music.
Many many thanks
Thank you Kerchoonz x
Living the dream
Living the dream.
I was thinking about the last year for Darnell, 2009, what did we achieve? Was we supposed to achieve anything? Can we expect to achieve anything with a full time job, 6 kids and trying to keep the music going, all at the same time? (I speak for myself there, Darren)
So with a few questions like this and a few more spinning round in my head, I am thinking, where are we heading in 2010? Where should we be heading as Darnell?
I guess being in Darnell we have always just took each day as it comes. We are not managers, promoters or anything like the hard working gigging bands out there who are out playing a few nights a week for very little pay, just trying to make a name for themselves. We don’t really have the stamina, time and commitment that it takes to really push our music forward.
So why do we do it, why do we carry on? I guess in a funny way, it’s because we have a strange funny little belief in ourselves that we, Darnell two unknowns from Runcorn just may have what it takes to have a shot at the title and have a hit recording with one of our songs. We have this belief probably the same way people, ordinary people may I add, put £1 on the lottery and dream, even if it’s only for one night a week, dream, dream of that one time, your numbers coming in.
So I guess that’s why we do it, we are not living the dream, but we are dreaming the dream! Or are we?
Back to reflecting on 2009.
So I am thinking about 2009 and I think, we have not done that much really as far as music goes, but here is a little taste of just some of the things we have been involved in.
Early in 2009 Darnell were invited to play at “The House of Rock” studios in Glasgow as part of a live video shoot with Kerchoonz., (kerchoonz video’s are on our page) this was a huge surprise to be one of the winners of the Kerchoonz.com online competition, we enjoyed every minute of that experience and we met some really fantastic people along the way. With the live recording followed a massive worldwide, promotion of Darnell and Kerchoonz, (google Darnell,Kerchoonz and see how many pages it comes up with!!) So this was like our first taste of being in the music business. Following on from that a few gigs came up here and there, we played charity gigs, always worth doing no matter what the cause is. We played some big gigs and we played some tiny gigs with just a handful of people. But along the way we have met some fantastic like minded people who are all living the dream and doing what they are doing because they enjoy it. Especially the people at Jumbo Acoustic in Whalley Range Manchester, here was a group of people playing together as one in a collective, enjoying music just for the sake of enjoying music. We were not sure how they would have taken to us with our “pop” songs, but you know what? We really appreciated them and they really appreciated us, what an experience that was.
So as we race towards 2010, who knows what the year will bring, we are hoping to have a new recording or two for you all to listen to. And for once in our lives we are going to try and make a single, not a demo, a proper single that we can hold up and be proud of. In reflection we are proud of our demo’s that you have listened to on our pages, but to be honest they were all recorded many, many years ago, “I would Really Like” was recorded in 1997, but we feel as a song it still sounds relevant today.
So at this time on behalf of Darnell I would really like to thank all of you out there who have listened to, commented on, joined a fan page, watched us play live or helped spread the word on Darnell.
Who knows what next year will bring, we will just keep living the dream!
Have a great Christmas and all the very best for the New Year
Lot’s of love and respect
Darnell
Tags: Kerchoonz
Darnell had a great gig at 3345 Parr St, last night. We got to play 7 of our own songs to the most fantastic audience. We were on stage at 9 so the place was a little quiet as we started. Half way through our set and the place got packed! (They must have heard us from the street) It has been well over a year since we played at Parr St, so it was so good to be back, even better to be back as one of the guest artist's. We had a few people come up to us and comment on the set and telling us which song's stood out for them, which was great. It really shows people are listening. We even had four members of the audience singing their own backing vocal to one of our songs which sounded rather good! The next guest spot of the night was a lad called Ian Dunn, he was fantastic, I have never seen a guy play guitar like this guy in my life! Fantastic!! After a few more "open mikers" Junior managed to sneak back on the stage and sneak a cover of No Woman No Cry, which went down great with the crowd. All in all it was a good night and also a kind of reminder of, thats why we do what we do when we write songs and go out and perform them live. Until next time............Darren. Ps Thanks to Shaz, you were a great host x
Tags: Playing Live 3345 Parr St Liverpool Darnell
Well as you may know, Darnell was invited to perform at the very first "Kerchoonz Live" show, at the House Of Rock Studios in Glasgow, for an invite only audience. The show was a fantastic experience for us and we had the most amazing time. Since playing at kerchoonz live, we have had some interviews and also a lot more online press too. If you are a musician/performer and you are reading this, then I would say, get involved in the next kerchoonz live show. It was fantastic!
Have a read of one of our online interviews here:
http://www.musicdish.com/mag/?id=12369
Many thanks, Darren
Tags: Kerchoonz New Music Acoustic Darnell
The reason for so many "wow's" is that you may have heard by now that Darnell came third in the competition that was running throught December, right here on kerchoonz!
We cannot even begin to tell you at how excited we are. Darnell would first of all like to thank all of our friends that we know who have took the time to listen too and even better download our tracks. That thanks also spreads out to all the people who we don't know who have stopped by our page, right here on kerchoonz. "So thank you".
We would also like to say a big thank you to kerchoonz, It is amazing for a website this new to run such a great competition, we are thrilled to be part of it!
A big well done to Donna Marie and Helicopter girl, I am sure the gig that we play in Glasgow will be fantastic and who knows it may lead to greater things. Whatever happens it will be a pleasure just to hear some great music, never mind being part of it!
Have a listen to some of the other Darnell songs on our page, some of them are old demos, but I am sure in time you will hear new versions of the demo songs and also get a chance to hear some of our new material.
Thanks for stopping by, I will update you when I have more info,
Darren from Darnell
Tags: Competition Darnell Kerchoonz
I was doing a search on Darnell (loads of big brother's Darnell came up) so I searched on darnellmusic and a few web pages came up.
One in particular was from The Liverpool Echo's Music writer Jade. I had forgotten about this little review but this is what she wrote about Darnell:
Darnell – Smooth Sophisticated Sounds
Darnell make smooth, cool, soulful pop.
Their songs remind a little of Spandau Ballet and Lamarr, with their lovely vocals and mellow vibe. The sophisticated musical arrangements give the self-penned songs a real touch of class.
Get into the Darnell groove. Yeah baby, yeah!
We were chosen as one of Jades six of the best unsigned acts to look out for!
Lets Hope she is right!! he! he! Happy New Year everyone!
ps you can still downloads our songs for FREE!!! FREE I tell you!!!
Tags: Liverpool Echo Review
So what do you think about Kerchoonz?
I am wondering what other users, musicians and listeners think about kerchoonz!
When I first came on to kerchoonz, I thought I wanted it to be a bit like myspace (that I hated at first) then I thought, no, I want it a bit like facebook!! (that I really hated at first) but then I thought, no I want something new and fresh!! Now don't get me wrong, at first I did not hate kerchoonz, I was a little bit like??? because I am not that great at navigating and setting up pages!! (can you tell??) but now, I love it!! I get excited to see more and more bands on everyday, I love it when I get to see that people are listening or even better, downloading a Darnell song, I find it amazing just to be in any type of charts!!
So my feeling about kerchoonz now??? I must say, I love it, it's fresh, it feels right and it's fun. I feel it is and will continue to use the latest technology available on the web to make the whole internet experience as fun and as exciting as can be! I look forward to seeing just what 2009 brings with it and what a difference kerchoonz will make for many artists, signed and unsigned, lives!
Keep up the good work kerchoonz, well done!
All the best for Christmas and the New year!
Darren xx 
Tags: Kerchoonz New Music Acoustic Darnell
The strangest thing happened at last nights gig, the audience were singing the chorus to our track "Time" back to us. That has never happened before and it was an amazing experience. Ok we were not playing Wembley, this was just a local pub that was running a jam night. In the crowd were a few local musicians that have seen us play before. The request to play time came from a couple of the audience members as soon as we started to play. We kept it back to our second to last song, as we started to play and sing the crowd were singing and cheering, before long the audience members who had not heard the song before were also joining in, it was fantastic. It also shows that with a catchy chorus, a lot of fun can be had, it also shows that you do not have to be playing Wembley Stadium to be having a real good time.
Cheers
Darren
Tags: Darnell Playing Live Acoustic Runcorn
