Darrin was born in Athens and grew up in Madison County. He was an avid BMXer and raced in the 1982 Team Murray World Cup of BMX at the 1982 World’s Fair in Tennessee. Darrin graduated from Madison County High School, and then attended the Musicians Institute, in Hollywood, California. After graduating, he spent some time in Huntington Beach checking out the surfing and skateboarding scene there before moving back to Athens and has been here ever since. Darrin has worked at the UGA Facilities Management Division for over 27 years but is most passionate about his work as a musician. He was the Principal Double Bassist with the Athens Symphony for many years, and plays bass with Athens A Train Band, the Tiny Jazz Arkestra and Pocketfull of Claptonite. He was an original member of the band Efren. Darrin is an avid slingshot enthusiast and along with his wife, Sarah, shot for Team USA at the first ever World Slingshot Cup in Italy in 2018. Darrin and Sarah teach slingshot making and shooting classes through Georgia Bushcraft and he has a popular Youtube channel about slingshots called Cook’s Catapults and Miscellaneous Debris. Darrin lives in Madison County with his wife Sarah, and their kitties Yoshi and Molli. They have two grown children, Bea and Ellijah.
What do you love most about the work you do?
Work? It’s not work, it’s an adventure every day! But love? I love all of the people I get to meet every day, all kinds of different people from all over the world. Some of these people have become good friends. It is cool to meet other people that come from different backgrounds and that are into different things, and who maybe turn you on to something new and exciting, like me with slingshots. They always see my tiny slingshot that I wear on my hat and it opens up some conversations. So, every day I look forward to coming in and doing what I do.
When you are not working, what are some of your favorite things to do in Athens?
Meeting up with friends old and new. Going to hear some live music and shows. Checking out some new restaurants and shops. The way things have been since the COVID pandemic, it has been kind of hectic getting together, so going to a quaint little place like Little Kings and hanging out and shooting the shit with friends is awesome. It’s the simple things.
If you could see any band, musician act or show, dead or alive, who would it be and where?
Early Pink Floyd, the time period when David Gilmore joined and took Syd’s place. That would be awesome! I would love to see that at The Morton Theater. It is a very iconic and beautiful theater that holds some important local history.
What advice would you give to your younger self?
Well, I don’t know about putting certain words in print, but basically: Don’t Be a (let’s just say) Jerk. And: Be True to Yourself. So, don’t be a jerk and be true to yourself.
Do you have a favorite book, or a book you find yourself rereading, referencing or gifting most often?
It is called Blues Odyssey by Bill Wyman, the original bass player for The Rolling Stones. He wrote this great book. I guess any time The Rolling Stones would come to the States they were always looking up these old Black blues players and getting them to come on stage and turning people on to them, so he wrote this book Blues Odyssey. Every time I come across that book, I buy it and give it to somebody because it has a lot of the blues history in and around the United States, the East coast, Mississippi and Chicago. It is a great book. If you want to know the history of American blues, that is the book I would recommend.
Do you have a favorite movie or remember the first movie you saw in a movie theater?
Probably Spielberg stuff. The feeling of going to a big movie theater when you were young and seeing George Lucas’ Star Wars and all of those movies. I could watch any of those today and it just makes me feel nostalgic, all of those adventures possess such creative magic.
If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?
Well, up on deck next is England next year where we will spend our thirtieth wedding anniversary and meet up with some of our slingshot friends. Can’t wait to hang out with our friends there and their locals, checking out that country and all it has to offer.
What is something interesting about you that most people might not know?
Maybe that my wife Sarah and myself and both of our children were all born at the same hospital, St. Mary’s, and we all four had the same nurse, Joanne; and Sarah and I also had the same doctor.
If you could have lunch with anyone, dead or alive, who would it be and where?
Dexter Gordon, tenor saxophone player, at Flicker Theater.
What three words or phrases come to mind when you think of the word “home?”
Sarah Rochelle Cook. Any time I traveled with Efren or any late night driving, she was the beacon that I could see to get me home safely. She is home to me.
