Possessed of a stunning voice and an engaging, endearing stage presence, Darcia is a compelling performer among prairie singers and songwriters. Each polished word, each arched phrase, is a captivating message from one heart straight to another as she reaches out and holds an audience in an intimate musical conversation.

Darcia's songs are drawn from the stories between the seasons, as lives flow from planting through harvest then onward again. The images and characters that inhabit her songs spring from the same soil as the wheat fields and wild flowers, are fed by the same sun and rain, and move to the same rhythms of life. These are real lives portrayed in vivid colours and profound emotions.

Born into a family steeped in the rich traditions of Ukrainian culture, Darcia grew up with a passion for music and words. Music was shared by family and community for praise, joy, sorrow, celebration, passage, and for recreation. There was singing and dancing and, of course, accordion playing (that's her playing on the CDs). The sharing of music and words was inextricably woven into the lives of the family like patches of life's simple truths.

Darcia’s singing has enraptured audiences at festivals, in coffee houses, on theatre and concert stages, and through recordings.  In September of 2001, she teamed up with veteran Winnipeg acoustic guitarist, James Hickerson to focus on performing and recording her own songs.  Her debut CD, Take Time, showcased her expressive range as both writer and vocalist.

Following the release of Take Time, Darcia and James began co-writing.  She launched, with James, her follow up CD, Dirt Floor House, on December 5, 2004.  Musical influences range from roots ballads to traditional dirt floor country to blues and blue grass.  In describing their first two cds, a reporter said they were “as charming as acoustic folk gets.”

For Darcia’s next recording project, Storms in the Cellar - launched in November 2008 - she again teamed up with James to record her most contemplative tracks to date.  Not wanting to be hemmed-in by traditional labels, Darcia chooses to experiment with different song writing forms and genres.  She has been described by the Winnipeg Free Press as a “thoughtful, honey-voiced singer-songwriter” and this shines through on her latest recording, a project that was born of many winds, some tears, broken miles and years.  As Darcia puts it: “Everyone knows how unsettling a storm can be and what it’s like to have something rattling down below.” 

Darcia’s music is at once fresh and familiar.  We know these roads and fields.  We have lived these days and paused these moments.  She gives voice to the rough edges and to the precious stones.