A “master of the lyrical craft” – Frank Kocher, SD Troubadour

 

In the mid-80s Darius broke up his rock band Darius and the Magnets and embarked on a trip of rediscovery. The result was his reinvention as a “folksinger.” Since then, he’s released five albums, and more, as a singer-songwriter. 

 

But he’s also a guitarist and a published poet, and his lyrics stand at the center of each of his songs. In the end, his work is a stew of cosmic alternative-folk, what the L.A. Reader once called a “cornucopia of bright, lyrical wit and intelligently crafted songs.”

                   

He's performed at the Troubadour, CBGB, the Bitter End, the Whiskey, the Roxy, SXSW, and many other venues. He and his bands have played on bills with Don McLean, Lucinda Williams, Dr. John, Guy Clark, and others. 

 

His first solo album, Cardboard Confessional, helped make him a fixture of the Los Angeles acoustic music scene of the late 80s and early 90s. The CD came out on Gold Castle/Capitol Records (the folk music label of Bruce Cockburn, Joan Baez, Eric Andersen, and Don McLean at the time). The CD received national radio airplay. The video for the song "White Boy Raving" aired on MTV and made Billboard Magazine's Top Twenty Video List.  

 

In 1997, Darius released Garage Sale of the Soul, just before moving to Sweden and disappearing from (American) view for a dozen years. After returning to California, his 2012 album The Coyote Cantos was nominated for a San Diego Music Award. In 2015 he released the album Eleven Story Strum. His latest folk album Open Question to the Sky was released in Spring, 2024.

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“If it weren’t for the fact that he’s [several albums] into a career, I’m sure there’d be a call to label him the next Bob Dylan.” -- Leicester Bangs Music Blog

                   

”Every once in a while an album comes along with lyrics so wondrous, so vital, that they should be scripted on parchment, bound in fine leather and handed out . . . Darius -- songwriter or poet?” -- Robert J. Hawkins, San Diego Union Tribune 

                   

”Hearing Hollywood’s poet laureate in concert is always a treat . . . his lyrical abilities are still unsurpassed.” -- Rich Robinson, Los Angeles Reader” 

 

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