The Pearl River County Welcome Center, located on I-59, is a great place for a rest for weary travelers. During their visit, they learn more about the sights and sounds of Mississippi and Pearl River County.
Thursday, visitors were greeted with the musical talents of Mississippi natives Darwin and Dana Nelson or as they are more commonly referred to while on stage, “Double Dee.”
“That’s what people started calling us when we played together,” Darwin Nelson said.
He is a Lucedale native and Dana Nelson is a native of Gulfport. The pair met at the University of Southern Mississippi.
They married in 1983 and sang in their church choir.
In the mid-2000’s, the pair retired from their careers in education.
“We told ourselves we weren’t getting any younger and if you wanted to perform, then we need to do it now,” Darwin Nelson said. “I play guitar and harmonica and Dana plays all kinds of percussion. She’s also pretty good at inviting the kids up to play.”
Soon after, Darwin Nelson said the pair got the songwriting “bug” and have since released six CDs.
Number seven will be released in the near future and marks the first time the duo recorded an album in a Nashville studio.
The Nelsons have performed in venues from New Orleans to Pensacola and Darwin Nelson is a board member for the Mississippi Songwriters Festival held in Ocean Springs every year. They are regular performers at several Margaritaville locations.
Darwin Nelson described their music as American-Gulf Western.
Back in October, the Nelsons performed at the Picayune Writer’s Group Writer’s Symposium and met Pearl River County Welcome Center supervisor Cindy Poland, who invited them to perform at the welcome center.
“Pearl River County is the bridge between Mississippi and Louisiana,” Darwin Nelson said. “We’ve got some friends here and folks have been nothing but nice to us.”
They have received numerous honors for their songwriting skills including an honorable mention in the 2013 “American Songwriters Magazine” and a director’s award in the 2013 Paramount.com Songwriting Contest, their website, www.doubledeemusic.com, states.
Tracks from their upcoming CD will be available on iTunes and previous songs can be heard at www.reverbnation.com/darwindana.
“We spend a lot of time together and if we didn’t get along, it wouldn’t work,” Darwin Nelson said. “I sing lead and she sings harmony and there have been very few times I’ve played without her. I don’t know what I would do without her.”