ALL ABOUT DEREK ON BASS

Derek has been playing aggressive forward-reaching music for 45 years now and he continues to do just that.  Trombone was his first instrument at age 10 quickly followed by bass guitar at 12.  At that point it was all out OBSESSION playing 8 hours a day and learning things that were either socially wrong (a particular Ted Nugent song comes to mind) or technically impossible like Brand X.  He also played trombone, bass, upright bass, drums, and sang his way through High School which was basicly the only reason he went to school everyday.    Along the way he started playing in bands when he was 14 and writing music a year later.  Working his way through a few folk, alt-rock and world music influenced bands (usually with older brother Vince playing guitar) he finally co-founded Man About Town.  MAT's first demo was done at Mau Mau studios in Nixa MO produced by members of the Ozark Mountain Daredevils.  Along the way Derek hung out with and learned from a few pioneers like dUg, Ty and Jerry who were then called The Edge but are now internationally known as Kings-X.  A collection of amazing fans and amazing bandmates made it a wild and wonderful experience.  MAT turned down a record deal with A&M Records, believe it or not, and shortly after were off to LA along with their superhuman and indestructibly optimistic manager Paul "Manager Paul" Petersen.  Paul had previous successes with bands in the 60s and 70s and he was "all in" with Man About Town for their big break... which sadly never came.  Years of varied success (and musicians) playing around the LA area was all good until disenchantment settled in with the increasingly corporate LA music scene and he headed for Portland OR where it was time for a short break playing in bands. However it was in Portland where Derek was eventually brought back to his senses by a gorgeous woman who helped him re-embraced the thing he was born to do and he embarked on an unexpected new adventure... FUNK!  After that ran it's course succeeded by a technical hard rock project, a killer blues band and a super funky Acid Jazz quartet that blew up in a terrible way he gave it all up again.  After a successfull 7 year run as a solo acoustic singer/songwriter playing 50 - 70 shows a year it was time to bring the groove again and he inevitably re-emerged in Bend OR and hit the local scene playing with a country singer/songwriter consistently blurring the bass lines between this genre and his R&B groove ethic.  Now with a relocation to Eugene OR Derek is ready for new sonic adventures yet to be discovered.