Darrell Wallace

My name is Darrell Wallace and I play guitars, as well as a few other instruments including Dobro, lap-steel, mandolin, and a bit of violin. My Grandmother gave me my first guitar when I was six and dragged me on-stage at her Pentecostal Church where I learned to play. In spite of their religious fervor that never quite took with me, those people could Rock! My roots were in gospel bluegrass but eventually morphed into rock and roll, Blues, then classical and fusion.
My first professional recording session was with the legendary Carl Perkins and took place in his home in Jackson, Tennessee. Carl’s youngest son, Greg was bassist in one of my earliest working bands, Capricorn. I played lead guitar in the eight-piece rock fusion ensemble, Pearl, during the late seventies before moving back to Memphis to co-publish Memphis Original Music Magazine with M.T. Kitchens and perform as half the acoustic duo , Slider and Kingfish. After a stint as a studio musician in Nashville and Jacksonville, Florida, I hosted a song writers night at Jacksonville’s Bluebird Club and eventually hosted a weekly live radio broadcast from there called “Live at the Bluebird”. I performed with several nationally recognized acts there, including Guy Clark, Billy Joe Shaver, Steve Forbert, and Don Oja Dunaway and was front for the road show “Jax Seacattleman’s Association Meetings” with my ensemble “The Seacowboys”. I also toured with a “Cowboy” band and a gang of legitimate cowboy poets and played several performances at the Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia.
While my influences may lean heavily towards Steve Howe of Yes, Jerry Garcia, David Gilmore, and Ry Cooder, I have a singularly unique approach to acoustic guitars that lends itself quite well to the music I write and perform. I seldom do covers, much preferring to do my own music but if I do cover someone else’s song, it will be as my personal interpretation and never as a parrot. My belief is that if someone wants to listen to a song as done by the original artist, buy the record.
I am a lyricist and a poet and tend to write very dark music with the desired results being to create an emotional impact. I do not wish to play in a venue that places my music as background to some bubba getting laid. That is why I have pulled together The Mississippi River Crooks; we intend to steal your soul.
http://imasongwriter.org/members/profiles/Darrell.Wallace.htm