Darren Arsenault

Darren lives deep in the woods in a place called Farmington, not far from Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. He celebrates black flies, stays up all night, writes and sings great songs, and never answers the telephone before 11am!” Known for his strong banjo and guitar ability, Darren also plays a whack of other stringed instruments. His rhythmic and percussive style comes from his formative years as a drummer. His Resonant voice and emotionally charged lyrics ice the multi-layered cake that is his repertoire. Darren has a recording studio which helps keep him up at night experimenting and playing with new sounds. He plays many instruments and tends to experiment with all of them. He plays; lead and rhythm guitar (acoustic and electric), banjo, dobro, mandolin, harmonica, drums, percussion and a little fiddle and piano.

He loves different styles of music and never plays too much of any. Swing, country, folk, acoustic blues, jazz, bluegrass, r&b - He loves it all. He doesn’t stick to one style of music so his performances are very eclectic and he always has a score of talented people to play with. Darren’s style comes from the influences of Ry Cooder, John Hartford, Leo Kotke, Steve Earl, Guy Clark, Taj Mahal, Hank Williams, Merle Haggard, Robert Johnson, Tom Waits, and playing over traffic in the years he spent busking.. His jaunty guitar solos have percussive licks that ring clear and bright from the finger picks he wears. His love of bass and bottom end gives him a solid sound, pounding and pulsating with rhythm.

Darren’s instrument collection is as varied as the styles he plays on them. A 1928 Epiphone arch top for country swing, a seven string dobro with an extra bass string for a country ballad or bluegrass solo, a banjo for slide, blues, jazz or maybe even a bluegrass instrumental, And a deep baritone guitar to cry out a haunting melody about test monkeys. He’s been known to carry around a full drum kit to his shows as well. ”My bass drum is a c.1920’” marching drum. I can have my own parade!” Darren has performed from New Orleans to St. John’s to Key West and across Canada. He enjoys horseback riding, long walks on the beach and someday hopes to be the first banjo picker on the North Pole.

These days Darren has been working with a hot little trio consisting of George barkhouse on the upright bass and Paul buchanan on piano. These guys have been making a lot of feet tap every where they play. Check out the schedule to find out where they'll be next.