Darrio ‘keeps on rolling’ with latest personal achievement | Entertainment
Reggae dancehall entertainer Darrio Johnson, better known as Darrio, is pulling the strings of his career in a way that he believes will change the narrative.
“I feel a different kind of satisfaction with my personal accomplishments,” he said in a recent interview The Gleaner.
At the start of the pandemic, the artiste-songwriter assembled a group of talented musicians and formed the band Fyah Force and has reaped the fruits of their labor together as the entertainment sector reopened last year.
“No better name could have been chosen for the band, we’re coming with a hot squad,” Darrio said, adding, “Even I’ve seen the commitment to the band and learning an instrument during COVID-19 has taken.” helped me to diversify my portfolio and unlock new potential.”
Consisting of keyboardist Davian McNaughton; bassist Jowayne Smith; guitarist Jared Ansine; and drummers Akiel Dixon and Brandon Johnson; The band has been dealing with Reggae Month bookings, Darrio said. He performed with Fyah Force at the Essence of Reggae Music Festival presented by Frankie Music over a week ago at the Police Officers’ Club, where the artist made his stage debut as a guitar player. Darrio chose Keep it upa song by multi-award winning Southern Soul Music Awards winner King George from South Carolina to get the audience singing.
He shared, “I was introduced to this track by one of my drummers, Akiel, and I liked it because it was unusual. It had a bluesy sound, but the reasoning of the lyrics and content was not from blues culture. I thought it would appeal to the reggae dancehall crowd.”
TRACKS ON TRACKS
In the 30-minute set, the artist harmonized and performed a medley of songs, including their rendition of the 1968 classic Israelites, Songs by the Beach Boys, Buju Banton’s 2006 track on the Wipe Out Riddim titled me and oonu, and returned to playing it before pulling out the guitar.
Darrio, whose entry into the music industry was in dancehall, introduced himself with the track hub out and since then he has had several major releases including UngratefulI, Clean (Lakka Whistle), Gyal Sidinga song with former labelmate Konshens, just for loving among other.
“Essence of Reggae was a great experience and I was impressed because the atmosphere and setting with the vendors, stage production and works were the same as reggae music festivals in Europe, but the only thing people supported in terms of participation . I think here in Jamaica we took the Mardi Gras season more seriously than the Reggae Month celebrations,” the artist said. “As a people, we cannot complain about what we do not know; We have to step up and do our part and know that we have a responsibility to our culture to preserve reggae instead of complaining that it’s dead. Without support it will suffer because the artists will deliver, but people have to come out and experience it to keep it going.”
Darrio returned to the island from a short tour of Europe last November and the next time people will see him pulling his strings could be when he returns to Utrecht in the Netherlands.
“My knowledge of the guitar is expanding; It started with the basics and now I can play They come harder by Jimmy Cliff; i have sunshine from The Temptations; think out loud by Ed Sheeran; and there is no guitar learning without Bob Marley redemption song. I also pluck a song or two, some unreleased music. Maybe I don’t play enough, but I have about 15 songs to play and most of them are my own,” he said.
“The promoters in the Netherlands actually asked me to perform with my guitar and I’m seeing where more and more people are seeing me on that track. It’s not that I prefer reggae, it’s more to do with my growth…it needs to connect differently and melodically as I get older,” Darrio continued.