Darrell Webb says goodbye to Darrell Webb Band

For the past decade, The Darrell Webb Band has been among the most dynamic and entertaining acts on the bluegrass circuit. With a rotating cast of characters, Webb has demonstrated his fiery mandolin and soaring vocal skills on stage, always supported by musicians of the highest caliber.

His recordings have demonstrated a strong ear for material, and a knack for arranging it for a bluegrass band. The most recent, Lover’s Leap, was popular with fans and radio alike, and struck us as one of the finest releases of last year.

The band had found a home at the Ole Smoky Moonshine Distilleries in East Tennessee, performing there regularly during the year, in addition to festival and concert dates around the country.

But Darrell has decided to step away from the band and pursue his musical career in other directions. In a note to fans posted on Facebook over the weekend, he suggests that the stress of holding a band together, and being responsible for generating the income to support other people’s livelihoods, has taken its toll.

“I would like to make this post to tell everyone that this will be my last and final season with DWB. This is one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make and there are so many people to thank that I may forget someone so I would like personally thank everyone who has been here in the last 9 years it has been a great time!

It’s not an easy job being a band leader or running a business all by yourself and I know have made some mistakes in the past but everyone does in this line of work. It’s been a great learning experience and a real eye opener for me and it’s really taken it’s toll on me in the past few years both mentally and physically.

I feel like God has lead me to this decision and I know that he has a better plan for me and my family and my career so I’m going to heed my saviors advice. So all that to say this….

I am going to finish out the rest of my tour dates for this summer and I will be using different people to fill in with the band. But I can guarantee you that whoever is playing that it will be a great show.

I do have future plans to keep on playing music and making solo recordings with Mountain Fever Records and will be announcing my future plans within the next few weeks. I’d like to thank all the people who have supported me and believing in me these past nine years and to all the great people and fans that I have met along the way.

I’m going to continue to play in the Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg area so if you’re ever in the area stop by and say hello. This is God’s decision and I feel like he has another plan for me. So from the bottom of my heart I would just like to say ‘Thank You’ to each and every one of you and May God Bless You. Look forward to seeing everyone this festival season.”

Over the years, he has worked as a member of Lonesome River Band, J.D. Crowe & The New South, Rhonda Vincent & The Rage, Wildfire, and Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper. No doubt there is a demand for his services in our industry.

We’ll be eager to see what’s next for Darrell.

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About the Author

John Lawless

John had served as primary author and editor for The Bluegrass Blog from its launch in 2006 until being folded into Bluegrass Today in September of 2011. He continues in that capacity here, managing a strong team of columnists and correspondents.