Darrell Casey

Fingerstyle guitarist, Darrell Casey, has been performing, recording and touring both as a soloist and a part of his family band, Watercarvers Guild, for over fifteen years. In that time, his music has spread from his home in Montana to many parts of the world, including Ireland, Australia, Germany, Italy and Japan.

In the beginning, there was a Watercarver…

Darrell first picked up the guitar at the age of 8. It was love at first sight. It wasn’t long before Darrell was imitating all the great acoustic musicians of his day: Simon and Garfunkel, James Taylor and the Byrds. Thankfully those were the days of records, now called vinyl. That allowed him to slow down the speed of the record to catch those hot guitar riffs in “Classical Gas” by Mason Williams. It was impressive stuff for a teenage guitarist.

Darrell never stopped exploring the guitar. The instrument intrigued him. Though he spent a lot of time singing and playing in bands in the 70’s and 80’s, he always returned home to his first love, the sound and feel of the strings on his Martin guitar. Of course, now the house was filled with other sounds as well… his wife and growing family. But Darrell kept the music woven into their lives and the kids joined in the music whenever they wanted. And at night, the sound of Darrell’s guitar filtered through the closed bedroom doors in the hallway, a familiar sound at the end of the day.

In the 1990’s, Darrell released two highly successful solo guitar CD’s, “Without a Word”, his own compositions and “These Good Figs”, a Christmas collection on guitar, and began touring the Northwest. Jon Chappel, then Executive Editor of Guitar Magazine, gave Darrell’s music high praise, saying:

“Casey’s artful blend of traditional fingerpicking styles with his modern sensibilities recalls the elegance of Chet Atkins and the inventiveness of Michael Hedges. But Casey is wholly original, delivering his intelligent brand of fingerstyle with a sensitive and refined touch.”

The Watercarver and his apprentice…

In 1996, Darrell’s eldest son David was fresh out of college and full of his own musical ideas and gifts. David’s thoughtful songwriting style and talents on a variety of instruments, along with the added talents of Nathan on bass and vocals, became the impetus for a new musical endeavor…

Watercarvers Guild…

They christened their ensemble, “Watercarvers Guild”, after a poem Darrell had written in his youth about the watercarver, a word he coined in the seventies. (Hear “Carve My Name” on their debut CD.) For Darrell, watercarving has always been the best way to describe how he feels about creating music:

“The analogy of making music as carving water intrigued me. The watercarver has a real need to create. He has the tools, he has the medium. He’s the one who goes out daily and makes it happen. It’s his soul that he’s putting into this thing. Through that work, he discovers the meaning of life, so to speak. It's kind of allegorical to what making music is all about. It's something that happens in a very short time and then it's gone… If carving water is pointless, then so is everything else."

Darrell’s solo guitar composition “Remembering Joseph” chronicles the 1300 mile journey of Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce tribe as they fled from the pursuing US Calvary in 1877. The journey ended with the surrender of the Nez Perce just 40 miles from the Canadian border. Chief Joseph surrendered by saying, “From where the sun now stands I will fight no more forever.” Darrell debuted his guitar piece for the Nez Perce tribal leaders at their annual battlefield memorial service along the Nez Perce Trail in 2004, the 100th year anniversary of the death of Chief Joseph.

They tell me where a man's heart is
There also you will find his gold
A bright moon rises on the flowing road.

"Carve My Name" Darrell Casey

Darrell Casey is a meticulous craftsman and virtuoso performer.”

Arnie Malina, Ex. Director, Myrna Loy Center

"His performances aren’t so much songs played on the guitar as they are full orchestrations coaxed out of six strings.”

Ken Nelson, Recording Engineer, Cottage Recording

"Casey’s artful blend of traditional fingerpicking styles with his modern sensibilities recalls the elegance of Chet Atkins and the inventiveness of Michael Hedges. But Casey is wholly original, delivering his intelligent brand of fingerstyle with a sensitive and refined touch.”

Jon Chappel, Executive Editor of Guitar Magazine

"Darrell Casey is an exceptional guitarist -- superlative technique, intelligent arrangements, and heartfelt performances that allows listeners to enter into each song. While Darrell's music is purely musical with no lyric content, it seems (to me, at least) to be deeply imbued with an abiding faith."

Tom Loewe, host of "Notes from Above", Ave Maria Radio

"Darrell Casey has given new life to timeless Christmas classics through his intricate guitar work. These Good Figs quickly became our most requested CD of the season.”

Steve Blair, Radio Program Director, KXMT/KCAP

For more about Darrell, read his interview.
For more about Watercarvers Guild, visit the Band.
To purchase music by Darrell Casey or Watercarvers Guild, visit our Store.
To contact Darrell Casey, email: Darrell@watercarver.com

Rose Casey, Manager
406-442-0417
info@watercarver.com