Biography

Contact Information: Marilyn Darrell
(402)770-7409
atowncalledhomemusic@gmail.com

CD Release Date: July 8, 2022

Click here to go to A Town Called Home's website

Americana folk country duo, Howdy Darrell (guitar, mandolin) and Marilyn Darrell (guitar, mandolin, accordion) release their debut album “Ravel and Twine”. Recorded in Austin, Texas, with engineer and bassist Gary Calhoun James and many talented stalwart Austin
musicians, the album features six originals and a cover of a Kurt Hagardorn song. Both Marilyn and Howdy are accomplished songwriters and multi-instrumentalists, previously working with artists including Wayne Hancock, Grammy-Award winner Joel Guzman, Brennen Leigh, Leo Rondeau, and Noel McKay. They have been playing and touring nationally, including showcases at the Brooklyn Americana Music Festival.

This album weaves together close heartfelt harmonies, driving rhythm, and an authentic down-home approach to their own cut of Americana music that merges deep Texas roots with a West coast vibe. Without sentimentality, the story of these songs reveals the never-ending quest to make a home while reckoning with change and chaos, and longing for the seeming-stability of the past. They
bring a warmth and realness that makes everyone feel —
well, at home.

A TOWN CALLED HOME IS:
Marilyn Darrell - lead vocals, rhythm guitar, accordion, mandolin
Howdy Darrell - lead vocals, electric guitar, mandolin

Featuring:
Gary Calhoun James - bass
Chris Wallis - drums
Will "Willie D" Daniel - piano/organ
Heather Rae Johnson - fiddle

Recorded & Mixed: King Electric Recording Studios, Austin, TX
Engineered by: Gary Calhoun James
Assistant Engineered by: Schivona Johnson
Mastered by: Paul Saff
Cover Design: Kelley Willis
Photography and Layout by: Marilyn Darrell

1. Right Time
Songwriter: Howdy Darrell
Publisher & PRO: BMI

"Full band mid-tempo/rock about those initial butterflies and anxious feelings that come with having and dealing with a crush. Howdy always jokingly says this is one of the first songs he ever wrote -
about his babysitter."

Electric guitar - Howdy Darrell
Acoustic guitar - Marilyn Darrell
Bass - Gary Calhoun James
Drums- Chris Wallis
Vocals - Marilyn Darrell, Howdy Darrell


2. Fanning the Flames
Songwriter: Marilyn Darrell and Howdy Darrell
Publisher & PRO: BMI

"This sweet heartfelt autobiographical acoustic two-beat was Marilyn and Howdy’s first co-write. She was living up in Portland, Oregon and he was down in Austin, Texas. The spark for this song originated with Howdy. They were
doing the long distance dating thing and he texted her a verse and she answered back with one of her own. “...I
need to know how far will this go...” so far 7 years and counting."

Bass - Gary Calhoun James
Acoustic guitar - Marilyn Darrell
Acoustic guitar - Howdy Darrell
Vocals - Marilyn Darrell, Howdy Darrell

3. There's Gonna Be
Songwriter: Marilyn Darrell
Publisher & PRO: BMI

"This full band, up beat groove came to Marilyn in a dream one early morning. An honest take on that stage in a relationship where the new has just worn off and you see each other in a new light. Usually, reckoning and wrestling with these inner demons relationships either transcend into something richer or things just fall apart... “your version of the truth and mine don’t match. ‘Cause I‘m right and you’re wrong.” Originally, the song was intended as a quintessential but satirical Texas two-step shuffle about another broken heart song but after seeing the Hammond organ in the studio she knew it needed to go in a different direction."

Bass - Gary Calhoun James
Drums- Chris Wallis
Piano/organ - Will “Willie D” Daniel
Acoustic guitar - Marilyn Darrell
Electric guitar - Howdy Darrell
Vocals - Marilyn Darrell, Howdy Darrell

4. Learn to Get Along
Songwriter: Howdy Darrell
Publisher & PRO: BMI

"Acoustic quick up-beat/bluegrassy number with accordion and fiddle. Howdy wrote this one a while back when
he was still living down in his hometown near Corpus. Driving around one day he saw an old beat up park bench and that got him to thinking about all the folks who might have sat right there lamenting their life choices."

Bass - Gary Calhoun James
Accordion - Marilyn Darrell
Fiddle - Heather Rae Johnson
Acoustic guitar - Marilyn Darrell
Mandolin - Howdy Darrell
Vocals - Marilyn Darrell, Howdy Darrell

5. Time to Fly
Songwriter: Marilyn Darrell
Publisher & PRO: BMI

"The irony of the live music capital of the world being too expensive for musicians to afford to live there is rooted in this song. After deciding to buy a house in a small town outside Austin and after many miles of commuting, Marilyn wrote this laid back Stone-esque tune as an ode to the highway that was her home and the small town that never quite was."

Bass - Gary Calhoun James
Drums- Chris Wallis
Piano/organ - Will “Willie D” Daniel
Acoustic guitar - Marilyn Darrell
Electric guitar - Howdy Darrell
Vocals - Marilyn Darrell, Howdy Darrell

6. Cold Day in Hell
Songwriter: Howdy Darrell
Publisher & PRO: BMI

"An acoustic waltz about a jilted lover handling the end of a relationshp by galvanizing himself with feelings of
unforgiveness. Accordion and a loping beat take this song in a different direction than most songs about heartache and endings."

Bass - Gary Calhoun James
Drums- Chris Wallis
Accordion - Marilyn Darrell
Acoustic guitar - Marilyn Darrell
Vocals - Marilyn Darrell, Howdy Darrell

7. Lily Virginia
Songwriter: Kurt Hagardorn
Publisher & PRO: ASCAP

"Appalachia-tinged acoustic two-beat written by Kurt Hagardorn harkens back to an early morning home town homecoming. With an old timey real country feel, it’s soothing melody and story asks more questions than it answers about what it means to return home."

Bass - Gary Calhoun James
Fiddle - Heather Rae Johnson
Acoustic guitar - Howdy Darrell
Mandolin - Marilyn Darrell
Vocals - Marilyn Darrell, Howdy Darrell