News

NEWS INDEX
Click on a title to see the entry.
 

 
Lunch and Learn Session with D'Arcy
D'Arcy Selected as Finalist in Mountain Stage NewSong Contest
Malahat Highway in Top Ten at Garageband.com
Feather Fingers CD Now on iTunes
New Websites for D'Arcy
Slideshow from Winterfolk
Terry Hart Now Managing D'Arcy Wickham
Fingerstyle Guitar Associations in Ontario
Musicians and Injuries
The Canadian Guitar Festival
PAGA Presents D'Arcy Wickham Guitar Workshop and Concert

Lunch and Learn Session with D'Arcy

On Wednesday, October 28, D'Arcy will be presenting a Lunch and Learn session on guitar technique from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the SOCAN offices at 41 Valleybrook Drive, Don Mills. Anyone interested is asked to contact the SOCAN offices at rattanc@socan.ca or phone Chimone Rattan at (416) 445-8700 ext. 726 by October 20 to confirm your attendance. See the poster below for details.

 
D'Arcy Selected as Finalist in Mountain Stage NewSong Contest

D'Arcy has been selected as one of the Canadian Region finalists in the Mountain Stage NewSong Contest for his song "Malahat Highway". See details at: 
 
 http://www.newsong-music.com/contest/regional_rounds/2009/Canada2009.html .

Malahat Highway in Top Ten at Garageband.com

D'Arcy's song, "Malahat Highway", is burning up the Acoustic charts at Garageband.com. It is currently in ninth spot of 485 tunes in the first round, and 197th spot overall of 685 in all rounds. It should easily qualify for the second round. To see the excellent reviews the song has been receiving, click on: http://www.garageband.com/artist/darcywickham . Then click on "Malahat Highway" on the garageband webpage.
 
Here are what some of the reviewers are saying about Malahat Highway:


Malahat Highway 
Band: D'Arcy Wickham
Genre: Acoustic


 
 Lesson Learned in Paradise
Great song - a finished product. Worthy of significant attention in many adult oriented formats.

Where to begin:

Guitar and drums - Mark Knopfler influence?

Vocals - clear and pure folk voice with a touch of Gordon Lightfoot magic.

Instrumentation - Jethro Tull meets native American?

Arrangement - world class, tasteful.

Production - fantastic.

Lyrics - meaningful lament about the environment.

Verdict - Too Good for this forum. Get this out to the people now!!!!!!!!!!!!

Score - 5+ - arguably the best song on Garageband.
- AndrewKowal from Southampton, Massachusetts on 12Jun2009
 

good moody blues
Lovely feel, delta blues type stuff. Good vocals, strong voice reminds me of someone. I think maybe it's some where between Cat Stevens, Peter Gabriel, a tiny bit of Micheal Stipes and a bit of Dan Tyminski, although I just want to add you make it your own and your voice is truely unique, got a lot of soul and depth. Man this is nice! I think we're talking tune of the day. Very good guitar, both lead and rhythm. Nice subtle keys, great lyrics, hooks, chorus and arrangment and a great mood. Good length and great outro, MASTERPIECE!
- randomkid from Coventry, Alaska, United Kingdom on 6Aug2009
  
 
 Back to the country
This is what I consider to be REAL COUNTRY MUSIC!! A lot of what is being called country music these days is actually pop music with country overtones.. this track has a very smooth guitar riff that slinkies around  the verses but changes into a nice classic kinda stroll wedding-walk course riff that I'd classify as a gentleman's approach. There is no desired field the artist is looking to have criticized and it seems somehow to add to the review, me mentioning it. The production of this track is perfect for a song such as this. It's a very simple song and it was handled in a straight forward manner. Subtle vocal harmonies, light percussion, distant organ sounds that are almost an afterthought, and a very honest older cowboy's voice singing what sounds to be an old county western from the Rocky Mountains stretch.
- VagusBand from Baltimore, Maryland on 13Jul2009


 
A fellow Vancouver Islander??
The Malahat highway?! Oceans?! Eagles?! Hey, you must be from Vancouver Island too!!! Awesome!
...so, getting back to the music, this song is awesome. Solid songwriting, great bluesy feel, and very slick production. Maybe we'll share the stage someday. I bet you have a great live show, especially if you have a story to tell behind each of these songs.
- solomonwellsmusic from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada on 7Jul2009

 

Nicely done
Very nicely executed and written song. Great song. Well sung and played. Professional in every single way. Story takes you on a journey and the instrumentation supports the story perfectly.
- ericetrain from Willow Spring, North Carolina on 3Jul2009

 

good
I like the sound of this song.
The lyric is good and the melody is strong.
The slide guitar sounds great and your voice is very rich.
- raysound from Aberdeen Scotland, United Kingdom on 2Jul2009
  

 

Quality Entertainment
Woulda been a big hit in the 70s. Great lyrics and melody. Really engaging vocal performance complemented by Excellent guitar work.Terrific percussion. Arrangement is strong, evrything balanced, top-notch production. This will go on my playlist. A five
- johnmiles from Boone, North Carolina on 27Jun2009

 

Taking it back to the roots......
Has a Gordon Lightfoot sound to the song. Good melody. Vocals are good. Great production with just enough effects to give the song a balanced amount of dynamics and hook. Song sounds like an old Indian style melody. Taking it back to the roots of the old days. Nice.
- scato from Seattle, Washington on 27Jun2009

 

Really Good
The intro has a really good riff that just grips you at the very beginning. Everything meshes brilliantly. The vocal melody is perfect for the guitar part. The lyrics are great they definitly paint a picture in your mind when you listen to this song. Awesome job!!!
- BTrinclisti from Lewistown, Pennsylvania on 19Jun2009

 

Feather Fingers CD Now on iTunes

All of the songs from the CD "Feather Fingers" are now available on iTunes. Access iTunes at iTunes.

New Websites for D'Arcy


Be sure to check out the following new websites for D'Arcy:
 

Facebook
Garageband.com
My Space

Slideshow from Winterfolk Roots and Blues Festival


View a slideshow featuring D'Arcy's appearances at the Feb. 2009 Winterfolk Festival: complete with festival poster on the Galleries page of this website.
 
 

Terry Hart Now Managing D'Arcy Wickham

For the past year, Terry Hart has been managing the music career of D'Arcy Wickham. This has encompassed publicity, promotion, public relations, booking, and web design and maintenance on his Sonicbids website. Recently, Terry has taken over the maintenence of D'Arcy's website here, as well. For more information on Terry, visit his website:
Terry Hart

D'Arcy has had a very eventful year in 2007, including appearances at the Greenbank Folk Society in Greenbank, Acoustic Harvest in Toronto, the Hamilton Folk Society, and the Ontario Conference of Folk Festivals Conference in London, where he showcased his tune "Feather Fingers" as the winner in the instrumental category of the "Songs from the Heart" competition. For a snapshot of D'Arcy's music over the past year, visit his Sonicbids website at:
D'Arcy Wickham

D'Arcy also happens to be Terry's guitar teacher. For information on D'Arcy's music lessons, see his website at
D'Arcy Wickham.

Fingerstyle Guitar Associations in Southern Ontario

For those who might be interested in joining a fingerstyle guitar organization in Southern Ontario (joining is free!), here are the appropriate people to contact. All organizations have regular open mike nights and regular concerts featuring fingerstyle guitar.

Hamilton Guitar Association
Contact: Shawn Trotter
44 Guise Street East
Hamilton Ontario
905-525-9639
www.hamiltonguitar.com
info@hamiltonguitar.com

Toronto Fingerstyle Guitar Association
Contact: Randy Finney, President & Founder
www.fingerstyleguitar.ca
randyfinney@fingerstyleguitar.ca

York Region Fingerstyle Guitar Association
Contact: Terry Hart
www.terryhart.ca.

Musicians and Injuries

For anyone who has experienced any form of tendonitis, carpel tunnel syndrome, or other discomfort or injury as a result of playing a guitar, there is an excellent book available to address those very injuries. The title is "The Athletic Musician: a Guide to Playing without Pain". It is available at amazon.com. The authors also run a physiotherapy clinic in Newmarket, ON specifically for musicians: Stouffville Musicians Injuries Clinic. I bring this information forward strictly as a service to fellow musicians. I have no connection to the authors except as a person who has benefited from their advice.

The Canadian Guitar Festival

This is the event to catch all the big and emerging Canadian and international fingerstyle guitar players. It happens July 20 - 22, 2007 in Odessa, just a few kilometres west of Kingston, ON. The whole weekend is amazingly affordable and the talent is mindboggling. Check out details at the festival website:
www.canadianguitarfestival.com