A Musical Entrepreneur -- In Seven Short Years, Darin Isaacs Has Gone From Aspiring Young Musician To A Self-Made Star

Seven years ago, Darin Isaacs didn't know how to play the piano, how to read music, how to compose music, how to produce a record, or how to market it.

Now he knows.

The 22-year-old Woodinville man not only learned how to play the piano on his own, he learned enough about the music business to produce three of his own albums and sell them.

And he's sold a lot of them. So far, this self-made musical entrepreneur has sold more than 50,000 copies of his albums.

Isaacs has been selling his albums at fairs and festivals up and down the West Coast for the last four years, building up a loyal following in the process. For the last two weeks, for example, he was at the Western Washington Fair in Puyallup where he set up two booths to handle the sales with his brother, Eric, 21.

At one of the booths, he set up a grand piano and every once in a while would play some of his own compositions. Isaacs said he expected to sell about 2,000 albums at the fair.

"I come here every year and buy a new tape every year," said Linda Warmenhoven, a school counselor in Federal Way. "I play them for the students and we play them at our stress-management classes."

Isaacs describes his music as a cross between jazz and classical. "Most people call it New-Age music. I don't. I call it inspirational."

People would stop in the middle of the swirling fair crowd to listen to the sweeping piano music coming from the canvas-covered booth. Then they would take a look at the guy playing the piano and stare some more.

Darin Isaacs doesn't look like a person who would be playing this type of music. He is usually dressed in a pair of faded blue jeans, T-shirt and tennis shoes. He has a baseball cap pushed to the back of his head. When people ask him who wrote that particular piece of music and he tells them he did, they are amazed. "You?" they usually ask.

Isaacs' musical career started when he was 15 and his parents, Dale and Addie Isaacs of Woodinville, purchased a grand piano. "When the piano was delivered, it was there all the time and I could concentrate on playing it," Isaacs said.

Although he had never played before, he said he "hears" music in his head. The way he composes a piece of music is to sit down at the piano and play a few notes. Then either the notes go into the piece, or he files them away in the back of his mind for some other tune. Sometimes he is able to sit down and crank out a tune. Other times it takes several months to put it together.

Isaacs did his first album, called "Rain," while still a student at Woodinville High. He said he wanted to record some of his songs, and "I found out it wasn't too expensive to rent a studio. I rented a studio for four hours and it costs about $400."

He managed to keep the costs even lower by designing the album cover in his school art class. He formed his own record company and named it Platypus Records. Isaacs says he went on to sell about 20,000 copies of "Rain" at $10 each - "not bad for a $400 investment."

It was at the Moss Bay Festival in Kirkland that the budding young pianist found his marketing niche. He had 700 copies of "Rain" and put up a card table at the festival. He wound up selling 70 of them. Now there isn't a fair or festival around that people won't find him.

His music appeals to all ages. Lisa Lees is a 16-year-old Tacoma student and she buys each of Isaacs' tapes as they come out (he stopped making long-playing record albums because people don't buy them anymore; now he makes compact discs). "His tapes are really good to put you to sleep," she said with a laugh. "Not because they are bad, but because they are so relaxing."

As for his future, Isaacs said he wants to put together some kind of musical show, do concerts and move out of his parents' home.

"It's about time," he said.

"But what I really want to do is be myself. I want to be a positive role model."