lessons

Darin grew up in the mid-west in a very musical family. Both his twin brother and older sister played multiple instruments through out their youth. By the time Darin reached elementary school, he was already playing and studying piano and drums. He was encouraged to join the school band. Unfortunately there was no room in the band for drums so he started playing saxophone. That continued until the next year when his parents intervened and was then allowed to play the drums for the band. He was the only drummer for the ensemble.

In 1973, his sister came home with a very intriguing new album. The album looked and read like a newspaper. He then listened to both sides and couldn’t believe what he heard. Both sides of the album were one song. The album was Thick as a Brick by Jethro Tull. That album started his journey into the creative and technical progressive rock genre of music. It didn’t take long to acquire all the essential prog rock albums from Genesis, Jethro Tull, Yes, Gentle Giant and King Crimson.

Meeting like-minded musicians was difficult but he did finally find a group that was willing to try to learn and perform this style of music. But to Darin’s dismay they were never able to get the project out of rehearsals and on to the stage. Finding this to be true of almost every project from the time he was in junior high school to his mid twenties and, his desire to compose and record his own music, he felt the need to change direction. Writing and recording become his primary focus. Continuing well into his thirties. Getting married in his late twenties and the added responsibility of making a living, another change in direction occurred. He gave up completely in music, sold all of his equipment and was out.

It wasn’t until he found YouTube that his interest piqued. Here was a platform where you could show your skills to a potentially large audience from the comfort of your own house. Slowly he started back into playing and decided what better way to get back to his roots then to start making YouTube videos of him drumming to his favorite progressive rock songs. Fortunately for him, one of the members of Downing Grey saw these videos and quickly emailed him to talk. There was an audition and an offer to join the band. He quickly made the decision to join.

With over 45 years of playing the drums to some of the most technical music, Downing Grey is a perfect fit for his talents.