D. Train Perspective on It's a Damn Shame

It is a most lonely journey.  Expression can be lonely.  We are ever struggling to be heard and understood.  

Sam Cooke, Kenneth "BabyFace" Edmonds, Stevie Wonder.

To be ever evolving.

To be remembered.

I am most passionate about music.  If I aspire to be in the game, and stand along side of all who have come before me, I have to prove myself worth.  That thought drives me like non other.  

We as human beings, will always be my favorite creation.  The initial process could never be duplicated.  

Real music from real artists.

The scariest thing to any artist, is whether or not your message will be heard, accepted, and supported.  

To inspire, and to document the times. 

I would like to get back to real music, with life messages.  We are still listening to music from the 60's and 70's for a reason.  

If I can touch people with my words and songs, and be remembered for such, that would be the greatest success I could wish for.  

I had an older gentleman request a Sam Cooke song, "Basin Street".  It was a wedding that my band was performing, and he wanted to hear this song for a dance with his granddaughter. After the song, he has tears in his eyes, as he explained that Sam Cooke was his all time favorite artist.  He first heard the song at a live performance from Sam Cooke, in New Orleans.  At this performance, he proposed to his wife.  Well, he said he has never heard another artist stir that emotion in him, and he could only compare me to Sam Cooke.  Then, we both were crying.  I will never forget that.  

All day, everyone day.  Life is practicing.  

Soulful, sincere, and authentic.

All social media platforms.  But if you really want to know who I am as an artist, nothing compares to my live performances.  

Sincerity.

Kenneth "BabyFace" Edmonds, Kevon Edmonds, Stokely, Quincy Jones, Teddy Riley, 

That would be any and every performance I have and will ever do.  I cherish the time in which I have been blessed to be on stage, or of someone takes the time to explore my songs.  I never take those opportunities for granted.  

I was in a little side street restaurant in Mexico City.  I heard this shaking top side rhythm, along with what sounded like a kazoo.  I could not stop my head from rocking back and forth, uncontrollably. Lol.  The name of song was, "The Hold Up", by Ikebe Shakedown.  That is one of the most perfect pieces of musical composition I had ever heard.  

Sam Cooke, Donnie Hathaway, and Darren "D. TRAIN" Leslie.

I have made a bunch.  But this song, "It's a Damn Shame", is certainly at the very top of my personal favorites. The message is paired with the current times.  I love people, all people.  I only wish that we all loved each other. 

Soulful, and inspiring. 

Sam Cooke, the greatest vocalist who ever lived.  He had a soulful delivery that will never be equated.  Sam Cooke could sing his abc's and make it as to where it pierce your soul to the core. 

Joe, Eric Benet, Rascal Flatts, Brian McKnight, Boyz II Men, etc. 

Inspiration, and recognition of the current climate in which we exist.  We need each other. 

Music and style will always evolved, as we are always evolving.  

Soul, R&B, with a fill of pop.

As long as I can remember, a singer and musician is all I have ever wanted to be.  

Gospel music was the 1st memory of music.  It was always playing in my house hold.  

This song was inspired by the current times in which we are witnessing. Songs of all were mostly coupled with some type of message. This song was meant to follow those patterns.  

A student of and avid lover of music.  Darren was molded and heavily inspired by soul singers, with singers such as Sam Cooke, Donnie Hathaway, and Otis Redding being his favorites.