Interview: Trevor Darden (Street Sinatra)
The streets of downtown Asheville have been good to Trevor Darden. And he’s been more than good to them.
Soon after landing here a little over three years ago, the Savannah, Ga. native became a fixture in the local busking community with a stop-you-in-your-tracks voice and dapper fashion sense. He’d post up daily in front of the flat iron sculpture on the corner of Battery Park Avenue and Wall Street, strumming an acoustic guitar and belting out a blend of originals and covers for passers-by.
Darden soon met drummer Will Carr, and the two cleaned up as a duo, pulling in up to $700 in just a few hours. They then formed a Southern rock/soul band called The Buffalo Kings, playing the local brewery circuit and hitting the road for weekend runs up to Virginia or down to Georgia.
Between playing the streets by day and gigging with the band by night, Darden was soon making enough money to quit his job washing dishes.
“Busking was my bread and butter,” he says.
Earlier this year, Darden hatched a plan to neutralize some of the negativity he was picking up on by creating an alter-ego, Street Sinatra.
“I created the persona in response to the everyday triumphs and struggles I faced as a street musician,” he explains. “I did it mainly to make it more fun for me, but also to hopefully bring joy to others. Everyone out here is going through something, and that reality is why I’ve always loved playing on the street. You can feel the heaviness of the world. Some people just need a reason to celebrate, and music can be just what the doctor ordered.”
Sporting throwback threads — fedoras, suspenders, three-piece suits, and tuxedos — and clutching a silver-plated ribbon microphone, he started popping up downtown for guerilla performances and capturing content for his social media handles.
Buzz built during the late-winter months, landing Darden a standing Friday night gig at The Asheville Club, just a few steps away from the flat iron. Now you can catch him just about every night of the week in restaurants, bars, and hotel lounges across Western North Carolina. He performs solo, laying his Otis Redding-esque vocals over instrumental backing tracks of jazz standards and big band classics.
Darden calls Street Sinatra an extension of his personality. “I haven’t finished exploring the character because I started getting booked for gigs once people saw what I was doing,” he says. “I now perform as Trevor Darden because this is all me.”
Asheville Stages spoke with Darden after his Father’s Day brunch set at Sovereign Remedies, sharing stories over shrimp and grits and mimosas.
JM: Tell me about your musical upbringing.
TD: I developed a love of music under the tutelage of my father, who was an aspiring singer and entertainer before he became a preacher. I have videotapes of him singing The Spinners to me in my mother's womb…[Singing] “I never knew love before, then came you”… over and over again before I even came out into the world.
JM: After high school, you moved to New York City to live with and learn from your grandfather’s brother, a classically trained musician and conductor. You busked for the first time in the East Village. What did that experience teach you?
TD: It taught me to be fearless. It was an adrenaline rush. It’s kind of scary thinking back on it now because I was so young and naive and didn't know the ways of the world. New York just seemed like a big neighborhood to me as a 20-year-old kid. .
JM: Then you traveled overseas to Turkey and parts of Europe, singing with a Motown cover band six nights a week in five-star hotels. How’d that happen?
TD: I was back home at my parents’ house in Georgia after leaving New York and met a guy on the internet from London who wanted me to write songs for him. At that same time, he was getting offers to go overseas and do these gigs. He was busy, so he passed them on to me.
That’s how I got this whole idea of what I’m doing now. Because nobody’s really doing it here in the States. Singing to backing tracks is looked down upon here, but in Europe and all over the world it’s a known and respected form of entertainment.
JM: How’d you land on big band music as your niche?
TD: I've always loved Frank Sinatra, who I consider one of the greatest entertainers of all time. He’s a big inspiration, and over time I’ve developed a passion for big band arrangements thanks in part to my grandfather’s brother. I also love Sammy Davis, Jr., who was inspired by Sinatra and will surprise you with his arrangements and choices in vocal lines. My vibe is a mix of Sinatra and James Brown.
JM: How big is your repertoire, currently?
TD: I probably can do about 200 songs, confidently. And I’m always trying to learn as many new songs as I can, because that’s what keeps it fun for me.
JM: You’ve curated a look that’s as much a part of your art as your singing and dancing. Where do you get your clothes, and what or who inspires your style?
TD: I thrift for vintage clothes from 1900 to 1965, or stuff that replicates those times. Golden-era Hollywood and the Harlem Renaissance are big style inspirations. Old black-and-white movies. The 1967 film Bonnie and Clyde, starring Warren Beatty.
JM: You’re now playing just about every day of the week, with two gigs on some days. Where do you see this going?
TD: I'm just having fun. I like the way it’s sounding and feeling. I haven’t really thought about it further than that. But, ultimately, I want to record music.
JM: What do you hope people get out of seeing you perform?
TD: I'm just being myself. I love when people are waiting for an excuse to let go and have a good time. And when they stumble upon me singing, there it is.
(Photo: Anthony Bellemare Photography)
