Over the course of his remarkable three-and-a-half decade career, Darden Smith has released 17 studio albums, landed singles on both the country and pop charts (including the Top 10 hit “Loving Arms”), composed a symphony, scored works for dance-theatre, produced a documentary for BBC Radio, published a widely celebrated book on creativity, exhibited works of visual art, and co-founded the non-profit SongwritingWith:Soldiers program, which pairs veterans with musicians in order to tap into the transformational possibilities of collaborative songwriting. During the pandemic, the Austin-based artist also helped launch Frontline Songs, which connected musicians and healthcare workers to support them in telling their stories and healing their trauma).
His latest project, Western Skies, is a multi-media project comprising of a new studio album; a book of photography, lyrics, and essays; an accompanying spoken word album of readings set to music; drawings, lithographs and works on paper; video and theatre. The collection is an immersive journey through a Texan landscape both real and imagined, a place of mystery and mythology, possibility and longing.
The Daily News hailed Smith as “one of the most respected American musicians working today,” while the Austin Chronicle dubbed him a “master song craftsman,” and AllMusic called him “a singer-songwriter blessed with an uncommon degree of intelligence, depth, and compassion.” In 2023 Smith was named the inaugural Songwriter-in-Residence at the University of Texas at Austin.