Darren Jackson has been a fixture on the Minneapolis music scene for more than two decades. He founded three critically-acclaimed bands (Kid Dakota and The Hopefuls, aka The Olympic Hopefuls, and Alva Star), released eleven albums, and won three Minnesota Music Awards, including “Artist of the Year.”
He has headlined nearly every venue in the Twin Cities metro area, including First Avenue, the Fitzgerald Theater, and Orchestra Hall, and has toured extensively in the United States and Europe, sharing stages with rock and roll icons such as Soul Asylum and The Cars as well as indie rock stalwarts like LOW and Trampled by Turtles.
Darren has also scored a film starring Mickey Rourke and Frieda Pinto and had songs placed in television shows such as Num3ers and The O.C. He also owns his own home recording studio, Homesteader Studio, in NE Minneapolis.
Currently, Darren is a K-12 South Dakota state-certified band and choral instructor with 9 years of teaching experience. He has his MA in Philosophy from Virginia Tech and is currently pursuing his Masters in Music Education at the University of Minnesota.
Darren teaches private guitar, piano & voice lessons at Blue Tree and also offers songwriting workshops for kids and adults. He is also fully knowledgeable on audio recording and will be adding recording courses to his teaching roster in the near future.