Your name: Darwin and Dana Nelson.
Where are you from?
Lucedale, Mississippi, USA.
Name of band:
Double Dee.
Who else is in your band?
We are a husband-wife acoustic duo.
How would you describe yourselves?
Double Dee is a harmonic twist of acoustic sound and percussion with a “gumbo” of musical styles and tempos flavored by Southern accents and Gulf coastal tales. We are Americana singer-songwriters who also represent the Mississippi Songwriters’ Festival throughout the Southeastern United States.
Who are your main influences musically?
Little Big Town, Eagles, Restless Heart, Emerson Drive, Lady Antebellum, Styx, REO Speedwagon, Jimmy Buffett.
What do you hope to achieve in music?
Double Dee has the following cds available: Smack-Dab in Love 2007, Wind Song 2007, Wrinkle in Time 2010, Mom and Daddy’s in a Country Band 2012, Harmony 2012, and Live at Pirate’s Cove 2013. We would like for our music to continue to be recognized and respected by fans world wide, as well as be in demand by artists and pro-writers.
Darwin and I would like to travel and tour the USA and abroad. We are interested in house concert circuits as well as larger venues. We are pursuing gigs that will broaden our fan base throughout the states and internationally. We have been broadcast on international internet radio sites for the last six years. One goal that we have discussed is a Norwegian tour. We are also interested in USO tours.
We will be opening up for Vince Gill for a private fundraiser event in Mobile, Alabama on May 2nd. Darwin and I enjoy touring festivals and we look forward to headlining some this summer. On July 4th along with our friend Matt Hoggatt, we will be performing at the Bay Bear’s Stadium in Mobile.
We are part of Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville entertainment family and we would love to do a tour of the Margaritavilles in the US and internationally as well. The two of us have discussed entertaining on a cruise ship after we retire from our teaching positions. That being said, I plan on retiring next May and Darwin, who could have retired in December, may soon follow suit.
Our music career has exploded in the last year and a half. We have actually been writing and recording our Double Dee originals together for the last seven years. Our Gulf Coast Mississippi songwriters have had an influence all over the state of Mississippi and we continue to collaborate and co-write with each other and build relationships with pro-writers from Nashville, and Perdido Key, Florida. Darwin and I were featured singer songwriters at the Frank Brown International Songwriters’ Festival in November in Perdido Key, Florida.
What has been the highlight of your career so far, and why?
We were invited to join Matt Hoggatt at the invitational “Sixth String Festival” in New Orleans, Louisiana. We played at the “Storyville Tavern” and the “Top of the Tropical Isle” and we were introduced to “Parrotheads” from all over the country. Since that time some of those introductions have opened up a coastal Texas tour for us in June. Darwin and I have been invited to play on the CMA stage in Nashville, Tennessee the first week in June. We have been invited to Chicago, Illinois and Kinosha, Wisconsin this summer. In August we will be playing a house concert with Matt Hoggatt in Atlanta, Georgia.
We were invited by Mike Ramos, Jimmy Buffett’s personal assistant and the Jimmy Buffett organization to play at “The Landing” in Pensacola Beach with Matt Hoggatt and Johnny Mire for the pre-concert and post concert parties this past February 4th and 5th.
And what’s the moment you want to forget?
In 2008, Darwin and I were invited to play at a St. Jude Benefit in Purvis, Mississippi. Because it was an outside venue in a multi-purpose arena setting, we were not prepared for the late winter storm that came through that night while we were setting up for our concert. It was absolutely freezing that night and I know it must have been miserable for the musicians that had to play the guitars under those conditions.
If you could choose just one of your songs to represent your music, what would it be and why?
Long Past Midnight is a murder mystery that was inspired by a tiny community in the Delta. Darwin and I worked on the song on and off for a year. We are proud of the end result. It definitely features our storytelling abilities and Darwin’s alternate tuning creations. That song is a favorite among our songwriting family and our pro-writer friends.
Where can we listen to it?
www.reverbnation.com/darwindana
Where can we find out more about your music?
www.facebook.com/doubledeemusic
https://twitter.com/double_deemusic
https://www.youtube.com/user/lefty8inone
The reverbnation will give you other links as well.
Anything else you’d like to say about your band that I forgot to ask?
God has truly blessed Darwin and I. We love what we do. It is our passion and we are living our dream. Each open door has led to another opportunity. We love sharing our love of God, our love of family and our love of country in our storytelling and our lyrics. We love meeting musicians and people from all walks of life. We love the joy of songwriting and collaboration. Thank you for your interest in us and may our music tickle your ears and may it be an encouragement to your soul.
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