Darden Smith Wraps Inaugural Year of UT Songwriter Residency

In September 2023, President Jay Hartzell announced the creation of a new position: songwriter in residence. To fill the it, Hartzell personally selected Darden Smith, a UT alumnus with a nearly 40-year history of songwriting, recording and performing.

"I know that among our 52,000 students, we have people with stories to tell," Hartzell said in his State of the University Address. "How can we support them and help them get encouraged so that they perhaps have a chance to be the next Darden Smith and find a way to make a living out of this great thing."

Now, Smith is finishing up his year in residence, though he will continue to be available in a advisory role as the program continues to develop. He is capping the inaugural year with a multimedia performance called "Western Skies," on Saturday, May 4, at 7:30 p.m. in the McCullough Theatre on the UT campus. The show is described as a "new performance of songs, stories, and photographs to get lost and find the way home through the landscape and mythologies of Texas and the American West."

Earlier this month, Hartzell joined Smith on stage at the Cactus Cafe in the Texas Union to write a song together. The video below documents the one-hour session in front of a live audience.