Every musical jouney has to start somewhere. In Derrick's case, it stems all the way back to high school. A founding member of one of the premeir hard rock bands to come out of Michigan, Knickleshot, Derrick began playing bass and developing his musical abilities. A decision to join the Air Force led to Derrick's departure from the band, and took Derrick out of Michigan for quite some time.
In the years that followed, Derrick began to transition from a bass player to a guitar player. Acoustic guitars and vocals could be heard every night from his apartment in Panama City, Florida and it wasn't long before he was back in Michigan and lining up shows.
Shortly after returning to Michigan, Derrick joined 2nd Monday. What began as an acoustic trio project, quickly developed into a couple shows a month; and then it turned into 2nd Monday becoming the premier acoustic band in Michigan, and gave him the opportunity to play the most sought after venues in Michigan.
While still playing with 2nd Monday, Derrick began focusing on his Solo Acoustic Shows, and after playing nearly 100 shows in 2005, Derrick once again left his Mid-Michigan roots to further his musical career in Tampa, FL. With a Solo Acoustic show that has enough energy to compete with the area top rock acts, he is surely a performer that stands out above the rest.
Derrick's experience and diversity give him that extra edge needed to perform and entertain. And it's that experience that he is most proud of. Derrick was part of a hard rock band, an acoustic trio, an acoustic duo, and even a house/techno project, before branching out into the solo artist he is today. During the last two years alone, Derrick has played to crowds of 50 to 5,000, and most recently was selected by Tampa Bay 10 as one of Tampa's top 40 performers for the last season of ROCKSTAR:Supernova on CBS. Whether it be restaurants, bars, night clubs, festivals, or tourist destinations, Derrick has played them in the past year. Catering to people of all ages is his specialty, and he does it well.
While Derrick maintains a steady schedule of solo acoustic shows, Derrick also fronts Seven2Seven, the Tampa Bay area's premeir modern rock band. Along with Bobby Hatchell on Backing Vocals and Guitar, Shawn Lowery on drums, and Paul J. Nagy on Bass, Seven2seven features standout original material coupled with modern rock covers. Seven2Seven and has built a large and loyal following from Sarasota to Tampa playing constantly in most of the areas top venues.
