Kid Dakota is the musical moniker of Darren Jackson. Darren is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, engineer, teacher, and producer, and although he grew up in a small town in Western South Dakota, he cut his musical teeth in Minneapolis.

A fixture on the scene there for 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. 

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.).