Darren Jackson aka Kid Dakota

Kid Dakota is the musical moniker of Darren Jackson. A fixture on the Minneapolis music scene for more than two decades, Darren founded two critically-acclaimed bands (Kid Dakota and The Hopefuls, aka The Olympic Hopefuls), released ten albums, and won three Minnesota Music Awards, including “Artist of the Year.” He has headlined nearly every venue in the Twin Cities metro area, including First Avenue, the Fitzgerald Theater, and Orchestra Hall, and has toured extensively in the United States and Europe, sharing stages with rock and roll icons such as Soul Asylum and The Cars as well as indie rock stalwarts like LOW and Trampled by Turtles. He has also scored a film starring Mickey Rourke and Frieda Pinto and had songs placed in television shows such as Num3ers and The O.C.

In addition to crafting some of the most unique music to come out of the Midwest in recent decades, Darren also performs a carefully curated selection of covers that pay homage to the best in classic country (i.e., Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, George Strait, etc.), classic rock (The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Eagles, Creedence Clearwater Revival, etc.), 80’s college rock (R.E.M., The Replacements, Violent Femmes, The Cure, etc.), and modern indie/alternative (Wilco, The Shins, Nirvana, Weezer, etc.).