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The Metroplex music scene is nothing new to musician Darius Holbert. He's been a big part of it for 5 years as the frontman for the successful Denton band, Dr. Teeth. But this time around it's different. Darius is taking hold of the reigns, all of them.
The product is an an intelligent, ecclectic mix of gospel, country, blues, rock and maybe a little more pop than the musician expected. Darius moves from bluesy piano to new-wave keyboard without hesitation, only pausing with slight humorous anecdotes that allow his audience to catch up with him.
"The only rhyme and reason to it is that it's all the amalgamation of all the stuff I grew up on," he said. "I'm into everything from Lousiana rock to southern R & B to English pop to modern classical."
Deriving material from personal endeavors, darius produces thoughtful, sometimes humorous, sometimes dreary, but always soulful melodies. You have to listen carefully, but songs that sound superficially upbeat and funny are, in fact, deep and meaningful.
"Wives of the Circle Five," a song Darius describes as a "sweeping ballad to trailer-park women", is really a song about trying to overcome being a small-town boy - still wanting to be comfortable, yet wanting to know what else the world has to offer.
"Stupid Parade" is a song that takes a painful personal look at being powerless over certain aspects of love. The song is purely honest - reflecting Darius' emotional, yet ever-witty personality.
Songs such as "Fall of 88" and "Angola", named after a maximum security prison outside of Baton Rouge, La., bring out the gospel soul in Darius, exposing Darius' full adaptability to any style of soulful music.
Jennifer Robertson
Entertainment Chronicle
- Entertainment Chronicle
From the moment "tothethingsthemselves" (2006 82music) starts you hear a man driven to make music. Lyrically the album is a trip into a beautiful world of innocent emotion and educated flow shaken with the heart of a rocker and finished with a twist of T&A. Darius' words are so well written you find yourself listening over and over and yet the words never seem to lose definition. You get sucked in. Darius has filled this cd with striking chords, harmonies, and layers of sound that tear into your chest. Track after track you are fed delicacies of seasoned songwriter and masterful musicianship. The pleasantly haunting harmonies Darius creates with his voice combined with the cascading layers of skilled and polished instrumentation gives the album a very grounded balance. "tothethingsthemselves" is not only a handful of fulfilling tunes but a great listen as a complete record. From its start to the sexy hidden tracks at the tail end, you won't be able to let this album alone. Each time you listen to it you get a stomach full of butterflies and chills up your back like you did with your first kiss.
Nic Climer
cdarmy.com - CD Army
(Excerpt from Quick's "Best Concerts of '06")
DARIUSTX TRIO AT LIQUID LOUNGE, SEPT. 15: I always knew Darius Holbert was an accomplished pianist and guitarist, but until this night I’d never seen him play both instruments at once.
Dan Koller
Quick
- Dallas Morning News
Discography
Open Letter (82music, 2001)
tothethingsthemselves (82music/soul patch 2006)
The Revelator and the Twilight (82music 2007)
Photos
Bio
Born in Dallas, Texas during what was, according to some locals, the most sweltering August in recent memory, Darius Holbert was born red-hot. Now, after years of stoking the flames and lighting up Southern California, Darius finds himself poised to burst onto the international scene like a house afire. That's probably why A&R man Barry Squire recently called Darius "the hottest new keys player in L.A."
Darius is a classically trained multi-instrumentalist steeped in the southern gospel and blues tradition. A respected session and studio musician in LA, Darius is also an accomplished composer who studied at the University of North Texas and London's Royal Academy of Music. Darius has worked with artists varying from The Wu-Tang Clan and Bobby Brown to Sophie B. Hawkins and Vinx. His songwriting has won him respect from high profile peers, his composition has won him accolades from clients, and his performing has won him admiration from new fans around the globe.
DARIUSTX is a release-valve project that Darius has worked on over the past few years in between composing, studio and session work and touring. It is a very personal glimpse at this songwriter's heart and mind. Darius says "It's the music that I'd rather hear when I flip on the radio." He claims he writes, arranges, performs, and produces these DARIUSTX records because it is a cathartic exercise for him, but the growing group of fiercely loyal DARIUSTX fans seem to benefit from these very personal albums as well.
As far as his music career, Darius says there is nothing else in the world that he would “rather do...[pauses]... hell, can do!” He still has the same fiery passion for music, a palpable ardor rising from his heart. You can take the boy out of the Texas heat, but not the heat out of this Texan.
by 82directive in conjunction with MRMPublicity
An excerpt from Quick's (Dallas Morning News)
"Best Concerts of '06":
DARIUSTX TXRIO AT LIQUID LOUNGE:
"I always knew Darius Holbert was an accomplished pianist and guitarist, but until this night I’d never seen him play both instruments at once...
This trio will blow your tiny mind."
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