Biography
Darryl Purpose entered the 1990s folk surge somewhat belatedly. His shift to a full-time career as a folk singer occurred in 1996, precisely when the scramble among acoustic songwriters for visibility in the aftermath of major breakthroughs by Tracy Chapman, Shawn Colvin, and the Indigo Girls had grown especially fierce. Because folk music centers on narrative, Purpose arrived with a particularly varied background that supplied an abundance of vivid material. His compositions, shaped extensively by his earlier work as a respected professional blackjack player and as a widely traveled peace activist, drew immediate notice once his recording career began. The 1996 appearance of his first album, Right Side of Zero, launched a strong sequence of victories in songwriting competitions nationwide. His second release, captured in a single acoustic session alongside violinist Daryl S. and issued in December 1997 under the title darryl PURPOSE, later resurfaced as Same River Twice. By the point Purpose completed his third album, Traveler's Code, in 1999, his standing within American folk circles was sufficient to attract contributions from established performers such as Ellis Paul, David Miner, and Lucy Kaplansky. Summer 2001 brought the assured and full-bodied Crooked Line, which was succeeded by the holiday recording Gift of the Magi in 2002.
Albums
