| Location: |
, IA |
| Website: |
http://www.darrenraleigh.com |
| Email: |
bard@darrenraleigh.com |
| Genres: |
Celtic Folk |
| BIOGRAPHY |
| “Sure I can do it! What is it?” is a motto that has provided me with a great deal of fun and gotten me into a great deal of trouble over the years.
I was born in California, where I lived largely by my wits. At various times I’ve been a Shakespearean actor, and taught actors how to speak Shakespeare. I’ve been an explosives technician for the movies - fortunately nothing blew up that wasn't supposed to. I’ve traveled as a street harper, supported by the donations strangers dropped into the magic hat.
I’m still a member of the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Radio and Television Artists, and I’ve appeared in a couple of movies and done some radio commercials. I’ve done voice-over for computer games. I’ve done stand-up comedy. I’ve been recognized as an Actor Combatant by the Society of American Fight Directors.
For three and a half years I was a helicopter pilot-and-reporter for a television station in the Midwest. I’m currently a Knight of the Society for Creative Anachronism and a Freemason.
Having been trained in music as a child, I returned to it in 1984 when I was inspired by a story that could only be told with voice and harp. So I got a harp, and did very little else for three years until I could play it. I first performed Torna's Harp in 1987. It's a classic Journey of the Hero story, heavily influenced by the archetypal mythological works of Joseph Campbell and others.
These days I lead a double life: in the one that makes money I’m an emergency medical services helicopter pilot, flying patients and accident victims to the hospital. In the other, I’m a bard – which in my case means a Celtic harper, singer, poet and storyteller.
The effect that the spoken word, delivered verbatim and combined with the power of the Celtic harp, had upon ancient audiences was so powerful that the bardic profession was considered to be sacred. I holds that it still is - not to any single religion but sacred to humanity as a whole, because it touches our common connection to each other and to nature. While I hope that my performances will entertain and educate, their real purpose is to inspire.
I’ve given bardic performances as part of a lecture series on Celtic mysticism at the Philosophical Research Society in Los Angeles and as a guest at the Western Gateway medicine gathering in Santa Monica. I’ve played weddings and once I performed and delivered the eulogy at a wake for a friend. I’ve also played various Renaissance fairs around the country – something I still like to do pretty much every chance I get. |
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AVAILABLE ALBUMS:
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Silverwheel
Darren Raleigh
2007
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