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Feel For You 4:430:00/4:43
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Every Passerby 3:580:00/3:58
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Thanksgiving 5:190:00/5:19
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Follow A Dream 7:070:00/7:07
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As A Scribble 4:130:00/4:13
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To Have To Hold 4:060:00/4:06
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Only The River 4:090:00/4:09
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Still Running 3:550:00/3:55
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First of the Year 4:060:00/4:06
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Quiet As A Mouse 3:510:00/3:51
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Deaf Ears 3:120:00/3:12
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Way Back Machine 3:450:00/3:45
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0:00/3:09
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0:00/4:04
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The Reason 3:550:00/3:55
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Misleading 5:170:00/5:17
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0:00/3:53
press
“Out of the ashes of Elephant Revival, comes the first solo release from any of the members...from the Bon Iver-esque presentation of First of the Year to the soft finger-picking of The Reason, to the dark, industrial synth of Detour Garvey puts forth a diverse and raw collection of highly personal tracks...and finally places his art out in front.”
- Brian F. Johnson (Marquee Magazine)
“Garvey is a life-long musician who studied jazz and percussion…and has been touring with bands since the late 90s. He is a producer, a father, and plays a myriad of instruments. He is inspired by his deep-rooted passion for music and the challenges of life. Those experiences shape his songwriting.”
- Cynthia Wilson (The Silver Lining Magazine)
“He's one of my favorite percussionists! His ability to play with a band acoustically and just invent, use a million percussion instruments to recreate a drum sound in an acoustic setting; he's an absolute artist with that...I love his percussion, but I love Darren's harmonies. He's such a good harmony singer as well, just really complimentary.”
- Adam Duritz (Counting Crows)
AS A SCRIBBLE (Nov 2025)
Selected Music
AS A SCRIBBLE (2025): Streaming on Samply.com
Elephant Revival on PBS: PBS.org Elephant Revival at Telluride Bluegrass Festival 2024
Biography
Darren's long-anticipated sophomore record As A Scribble (Nov 7, 2025) survived a move across the country and a broken wrist. It was recorded in Colorado, Wisconsin, and Chicago over the course of a few years and crowd-funded into existence while Darren was sidelined by wrist surgery. Darren Garvey is well known as the versatile drummer and percussionist in Elephant Revival and a slew of Midwestern bands, while continuing to established himself as an idiosyncratic songwriter with heavy-hearted lyrics and clever arrangements.
For Garvey, songs come from somewhere – an instrument, the confluence of two rivers, a scribble in his daughter's sketchbook. Take “Only the River,” a song that came from listening to the rush of the St. Vrain behind his house. Or “As A Scribble,” the title track from his forthcoming album that evokes the wonder of child's play and the messiness of life. Inspired by LGBTQ+ friends and family, Garvey penned “No Love Is Wrong,” a song about how “the shine of the sun finds everyone” regardless of who or how they love. This speaks to an overarching theme in his music – finding positivity in times of unrest. Other songs include themes about the endless unjust treatment of America's Indigenous people ("War To Table"), empathy for immigrants ("Miss Liberty"), and the evils of the common tech era ("Way Back Machine").
While touring extensively with Elephant Revival and past projects Daniel Rodriguez, Shook Twins, Cameron McGill & What Army, Daniel and the Lion, Andreas Kapsalis Trio, and Cory Chisel & The Wandering Sons, remaining an active songwriter and producer has been the one constant. Darren's debut solo effort Under A Common Ceiling (2010) delivers honest and sincere lyrics while offering "advice for the struggle with technology and loneliness" and set in an indie folk/pop infused soundtrack-like excursion. In 2020 Darren paired up with his longtime music collaborator, the late Dan McMahon of Miles Nielsen & The Rusted Hearts to release the split EP Social Distance to follow up Darren's 2018 EP Heart Attack Sleeves.