Jason Darling

Jason Darling spent his early years near Woodstock, New York, where he first took up the guitar as a child. A subsequent immersion in the next-generation Deadhead scene eventually led him to Greenwich Village, where he followed in Bob Dylan's path while exploring slide guitar and folk-blues and supporting himself through handyman jobs at neighborhood studios. Informal work with his friend Leona Naess began to provide steady income once she secured a deal with MCA. He played guitar on her 2000 release Comatised and joined the accompanying world tour. Between those commitments, Darling inked a contract with the Los Angeles indie Surprise Truck, composed and tracked his first album, and released it in early 2001. Underground presented literate, roots-oriented songs that highlighted his fluid slide guitar playing. He reemerged in October 2003 with Night Like My Head on Yep Roc. That project incorporated wider arrangements enriched by keyboards and drum programming, prompting comparisons to the styles of Shawn Mullins and Jeb Loy Nichols. Darling promoted the record through extensive live appearances, concentrated primarily along the East Coast.