Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Darrell Wallace. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Darrell, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

When I was 13 years old, I picked up my first guitar. It was a cheap balsa wood nylon stringed guitar. I had a book of guitar chords and slowly taught myself the chords, this was long before computers and the internet. I taught myself some of the popular songs at the time and grew my knowledge and experience from there. Later I started to write my own songs which were not very good at the time. If I had had guitar lessons, this process may have been easier and quicker but I wanted to learn to play songs not necessarily all of the techniques learned from lessons. The easiest way for me to learn the songs was to record the songs off of the radio and deconstruct the song and learn the different parts of the song, chorus, bridge, verse, intro and outro. Later on I was introduced to this miracle thing called sheet music with guitar chords and that certainly sped the process up.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I was born in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains (Knoxville, TN). I am a member of the International Singer Songwriters’ Association and the Tennessee Songwriters’ Association. After meandering through a couple of states and several cities, I headed to Nashville. There I turned down two recording contracts and a publishing deal (maybe not the smartest move, but made sense at the time), I found myself as one of the up and coming writers with numerous appearances at the Bluebird Cafe.​​

My early musical influences were Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Steve Earle, James Taylor and all of the Out Law Country folks, Waylon, Willie, etc. Today I am living the dream (the life of a rock star), playing venues throughout the south and parts of the north. My music is mixed with sounds of Folk, Americana and Country Rock(ish). I currently am living in Spring City, TN writing songs, playing music and loving life on the lake with my amazing wife!!!

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

To me the most rewarding aspect of being a singer songwriter is when people appreciate and enjoy my music. I love it when someone comes up after a show and says, that song really touched me, it told a story from my life as if you had been there which goes to show we all are connected in this thing we call life.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Playing in different bands over the years gives you a different perspective than being a solo artist. It’s difficult to mesh the different personalities and continue on your musical journey. This is why so many bands break up, everyone in the band has a different idea of which direction the band should go. For me, it is simply better to be a solo artist to plot my own course and musical direction and be around like minded singer songwriter musicians rather than being in a band. Starting over as a solo artist meant expanding my ability to create a new path for my musical journey. It gave me the freedom to make choices that you don’t always get to make in a group environment.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.darrellwallacemusic.com
• Instagram: Darrell Wallace Music
• Facebook: Darrell Wallace Music

Image Credits
Tanya Wallace