Darren Holden Live & Learn CD

DARREN HOLDENDarren Holden is one of Ireland's most talented and popular young performers. Born in County Kilkenny, Darren put together his first band at the age of 16. The band, Tweed, developed an excellent reputation for its country-rock sensibilities, and toured extensively in the UK, Europe, and the US. After Tweed disbanded, Darren concentrated on songwriting, winning several prizes in the 'Irish Song for Europe' competitions, as well as composing awards in various competitions in Finland, Sweden, Greece, Los Angeles, Kiev and Kazakhstan. One of his tracks, 'After Tonight' was released domestically and peaked in the top ten of the Irish national charts.In 1995, Darren came to the attention of Louis Walsh, who asked him to support Boyzone on their first major tour of Ireland and the UK. During this period, Darren worked with producer Ray Hedges (Boyzone, B*Witched), and had top ten hits in Ireland with 'After Tonight' and a cover of Leo Sayer's 'More Than I Can Say'. In the summer of 1998, he toured as a guest artist to various festivals with artists such as Paul Young, Peter Andre, and Belinda Carlisle. He collaborated with country artist Rodney Crowell on a track, 'Wendy's World', as part of the Celtic Harmony Festival. He also collaborated with R&B artist Montell Jordan on a track, 'It Will Always Be You', and has worked with Boyzone's Mikey Graham and Alan Roy Scott.Darren's debut solo album, 'Suddenly', was released in Ireland at the end of 1998. The album contained three top 20 hits, and the national Irish music radio station, 2FM, gave it 'Album of the Week' status. A few months later, Darren was cast as a lead singer in the Irish spectacular 'Riverdance', with which he has performed on Broadway and on tour for over two years.In early 2001, during the Broadway run of 'Riverdance', Darren met producer/writer Don DiNicola. They began working together writing and recording a CD of original traditional/contemporary country songs. Several recording sessions took place in Nashville where Darren was warmly and enthusiastically received. His first single, 'Blood and Smoke', was released in September 2002 in conjunction with Blacksmith/Ark21/Universal and peaked at #50. The second single Ecstatic Electricity peaked at #32. The latest single 'Wherever You Are' is currently at #41 after only 6 weeks.The news only gets better for Darren. In the summer of 2003 he landed the lead role (for the US tour) in Billy Joel and Twyla Tharpe's Broadway show 'Movin Out'. He broke in doing shows on Broadway to standing ovations and on 2/2/04 opened the show to rave reviews in Detroit. For more info on the tour go to darrenholden.com.Management: DiNicola Inc. 212-957-6017