MUSIC: Darsombra To Play White Water Tavern

On Wednesday, Baltimore-based Darsombra brought the stunning "trans-apocalyptic galaxy rock" to Little Rock's White Water Pub. The forest light is on.

Darsombra features guitarist Brian Danilowski and keyboard player and videographer Anne Everton creating a broad, cosmic and expressive instrument. Their most recent release, last year's "Call the Doctor/Night Garden," is an EP featuring the opposite of "Sun Side" and "Moon Side."

Everton's visuals highlight the band's live performances and music videos, with a delightfully psychedelic experience highlighted by the couple's clear passion for the music they make. They often talked on the phone from their home in Baltimore before the tour that took them to Little Rock.

"We're busy," shouted Everton in the background when asked what the tour dates were.

"We will also play at the metal festival tomorrow," added Danilowski.

Speaking of metal, Danilowski is a member of the heavy metal band Meatjack. Mitjak in 2010 He toured the underground metal scene in the early 2000s, rocking and befriending Arkansas metal legend Rwake (coincidentally, Wednesday's opening act for Inside the Woods was Rwake drummer Jeff Morgan's project).

Darsombra started a solo band and Danilowski has released several albums, including 2006's dark debut Ecdyss. (After some debate, he and Everton concluded that there were a total of six Darsombra records.)

The couple met and started dating in 2011. That was around 2009, although their creative partnership came a little later.

"He has his own video art, I mean a one man band," said Daniloski. "We never thought about putting the two together until a friend of ours started organizing the show and Anne asked if she could show me the video while I was making my own."

Until 2013, Darsombra was divided into two parts.

Call the Doctor/Nightgarden is a preview of a planned double album, said Danilowski. Everton's colorful and fun 15 minute video for 'Call a Doctor' is filled with the duo's excitement as Daniloski blasts out a riff and Everton's guitar gods dance to the keyboard.

"We had a great time," said Everton. We wrote these songs during the pandemic to lift our spirits, and we find that when we perform and share them with people, they lift their spirits too.

"I played in an angry metal band for years, pretending to be angry and unhappy," Daniloski said. "Well, don't pretend…"

Everton said: “You are frustrated.

"Now I want to approach music in a different way and have fun."

However, it's not just rainbows and unicorns.

"There was a lot of disappointment in the first half of the 2019 season," said Everton. "Like Halloween, camp, the other half is a bit more psychedelic and McCall-influenced."

Darsombra has played Little Rock several times over the years. Daniloski said Mitjak made it his mission to return after finding supporters here.

"You play (in certain venues) and people just see the band and they're not very emotional," he said. “We found that the audience at Little Rock seemed very engaged and excited about the music.

Everton still regrets visiting Gurdon and not seeing Gurdon's mysterious light during his visit to the south a few years ago.

"I'm still a little crazy about it," he said. But we love Arkansas for many reasons. We love camping at Lake Ouachita and the hot springs. Arkansas has a lot of magic for us.

Darsombra