Darden Smith is our guest this week!
After releasing Native Soil in 1986, Darden Smith was signed by Dick James Music to a publishing deal. In 1987, Epic Records signed Smith at the inaugural South by Southwest Festival and released Darden Smith (1988), which produced two country chart hit singles, “Little Maggie” and “Day After Tomorrow.” Later that year, Nigel Grainge, the head of Ensign Records, introduced Smith to the British songwriter Boo Hewerdine. Four days later, they had eight songs and a record deal with Ensign/Chrysalis that resulted in Evidence (1989). After Smith's label deal with Epic was transferred to the pop division of Columbia Records, he released Trouble No More (1990), best known for “Midnight Train” and “Frankie & Sue," and Little Victories (1993) which included the Top 10 pop hit single, "Loving Arms".
Smith left Columbia in 1995 and spent several years without an agent or label. He returned to recording through independent labels, which led to a trio of albums for Dualtone Records (Sunflower, 2002; Circo, 2004; Field of Crows, 2005) to Marathon (2010), a 15-track cycle of songs named for a remote town in West Texas, described by one reviewer as "a peak in [Smith's] 25-year songwriting career" His 2017 album Everything was co-produced by Smith and Stewart Lerman and released on Compass Records. The Habit of Noticing:Using Creativity to Make a Life (and a Living) (2018) was published by Irie Books. His installation, "What I See When I See You" is in the permanent collection of Facebook. Smith continues to tour, performing regularly across America and the UK.
Interviewer - Seth Welker
Camera Op - Curtis Cole
