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Darken, Eric

He is a percussionist, producer and composer born in Nashville, Tennessee, who started out on the drums when he was 12 years old.

Working as an extremely sought after session musician for over three decades, often in Christian and inspirational music, he has worked with artists such as Joan Baez, The Bellamy Brothers, Clint Black, Bonnie Bramlett, Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Peter Cetera, Kenny Chesney, Michael Crawford, Billy Ray Cyrus, David Davidson, Dan Hill, Bon Jovi, Crystal Gayle, Vince Gill, Faith Hill, Alan Jackson, Wynonna Judd, Richard Marx, The Mavericks, Mac McAnally, Reba McEntire, New World Orchestra, LeAnn Rimes, Kenny Rogers, George Strait, Pam Tillis , Randy Travis, Travis Tritt, Carrie Underwood, Andy Williams and Trisha Yearwood to name just a few.  He worked with Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band until Jimmy’s death in 2023.

He has also graced hundreds if not thousands of albums with his performances including his own Drummer Boy’s Christmas as well as License to Chill by Jimmy Buffett , Love is the Answer: 24 Songs of Faith, Hope & Love by Glen Campbell , Everything Waits to be Noticed by Art Garfunkel , House of Love by Amy Grant, Hundred Miles Or More: A Collection by Alison Krauss, Vicious Cycle by Lynyrd Skynyrd, Summer of ’78 by Barry Manilow, Moment of Forever by Willie Nelson, Face the Promise by Bob Seger , I’m One of You by Hank Williams Jr. and the soundtracks/cast recordings of Child of the Promise, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, Legally Blonde 2, On the Line, Second Chance and Touched by An Angel along with many others.

Working in television as a composer he has written music for programmes and TV films such as America’s Most Wanted, Dancing With the Stars, The Fantastic Four: The Rise of the Silver Surfer and The Price of Peace and channels that include A&E, Bravo, CNN, MSNBC and National Georgraphic.  He has also made appearances on The Late Show, Good Morning America and The Tonight Show as well as several others.

Recognised for his contribution to music he has had four Academy of Country Music Award nominations and is in receipt of the Electronic Musician Editor’s Choice Award for Discrete Drumming – The Eric Darken Collection, which is a collection of percussion loops on a 2CD set.  In 2008 he won Musician of the Year in the category “Special Instrument” at the Academy of Country Music awards.

Here he is with his “The Coast is Clear”…

Sources:

  1. http://ericdarken.com/
  2. http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=57973959
  3. http://i-studio.net/eric.html
  4. http://www.discretedrums.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=7702005%2DDP
  5. http://www.christianmusicarchive.com/artist.php?id=9
  6. http://www.thunderechodrums.com/artist_endorsements.htm
  7. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2166199/
  8. http://www.buffettnews.com/resources/coralreeferband/?bid=233
  9. http://shopping.yahoo.com/p:Eric%20Darken:1927021829
  10. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&searchlink=ERIC|DARKEN&samples=1&sql=11:dpfexqt5ldke~T4
  11. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:dpfexqt5ldke~2~T40B
  12. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:dpfexqt5ldke~3~T40B
  13. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:dpfexqt5ldke~4~T40B
  14. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:dpfexqt5ldke~5~T40B
  15. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:dpfexqt5ldke~6~T40B
  16. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:dpfexqt5ldke~7~T40B
  17. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:dpfexqt5ldke~8~T40B
  18. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:dpfexqt5ldke~9~T40B