Today we’d like to introduce you to Henry Darragh.
Hi Henry, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I heard vibrations in the womb from my mother who sang, and played guitar and piano. She also wrote songs and has recorded 5 projects. I say I’m the secular musician in the family because Mom’s music is all for God.
I began formal music instruction at the age of 11 on the trombone. I was self-taught on piano until age 18, when I made it to San Jacinto College. There is studied voice, percussion, composition and played or sang in every ensemble they had. I began playing professionally in 1994 on trombone, playing big band high society jobs and traditional jazz at Astroworld. In 1998 I was busted for selling LSD in Pasadena, TX, was married and became a father. I’d stopped being hired as a musician at that point. After two DWIs, my probation was revoked in 2001, and I was sentenced to 10 years TDC.
I was paroled the week of Thanksgiving in 2002. I was accepted to the University of Houston in the fall of 2003 and then the Moores School of Music in 2004. I received my Bachelor of Arts in Music in 2008, my Master’s in Music in 2010, and my Doctor of Musical Arts in 2015. I just began my 7th year as adjunct faculty at the University of Houston-Clear Lake.
Sobriety and education have transformed a life from one without hope to one in w new dreams need be created new from time to time.
As a recording artist, I have released three jazz projects as a leader. In 2018, I released Doc Loc and the Swangers, my big band that plays iconic Houston rap. Paul Wall, Big Pokey, ESG, Bushwick, Bun B and K-Rino have collaborated with the Swangers. I am currently writing arrangements for the sophomore release, For the Culture, that will feature Genesis Blu, Lo Trillinger, Sean Dirty, Puntin and other features and instrumental classics of fallen soldiers of the Houston rap scene.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I went to prison as a result of my alcohol and drug addiction that began in junior high.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I teach piano, am an adjunct college professor, working pianist, and singer, I arrange and transcribe music for clients, and am a part-time barista.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
Calling Houston rappers that I admire and have looked up to for years has been a rewarding risk. Big Pokey, who was in DJ Screw’s original Screwed Up Click, was my first call. I negotiated with him about his verse on my big band version of “Sittin’ Sidewayz.” Asking Bushwick Bill about collaborating was perhaps the most fearful in that I’ve been a fan of his since 1991.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://doclocandtheswangers.com
- Instagram: http://instagram.com/doclocandtheswangers
- Facebook: http://facebook.com/doclocandtheswangers
- Youtube: http://youtube.com/doclocandtheswangers
- Other: http://henrydarragh.com
Image Credits
Trombone pic and Bun B pic was by Marco from Houston for the Houston Press.
Headshot by Trish Badger.
