Artist Biography
Though best known as the drummer/harmonizer for beloved piano-rockers Ben Folds Five, Darren Jessee makes more subdued, textured singer/songwriter fare both as leader of Hotel Lights and as a solo artist. After releasing three albums with "the Five" in the mid- to late '90s, he made five Hotel Lights records between 2004 and 2016, a period that also saw a fourth LP from a reunited Ben Folds Five (2012's The Sound of the Life of the Mind, their debut in the U.S. Top Ten). In 2018, Jessee issued the more delicate -- and often drums-free -- The Jane Room 217, his first official solo album, with which he continued to prove himself an evocative, timeless lyricist. The similarly intimate and expressive Remover and Central Bridge followed in 2020 and 2023, respectively, both featuring production by Hotel Lights bandmate Alan Weatherhead.
Hometown
Houston, TX, United States
Genre
Indie Rock