Derek Joseph

Born and raised in the rural farming community of Phelps, New York, DEREK JOSEPH had an 8-track by the time he was four years old. “I've always loved music and was always listening to it! Remembering the lyrics to each song always came easy to me.” His parents encouraged their young son to further his love for music, and he began taking piano lessons at the age of eight. He soon took a liking to drums and started lessons on the instrument until he discovered his voice – and that’s when Derek’s true musical journey began! From there, he moved on to performing with several successful local bands around town.

Music has no doubt been an integral part throughout Derek’s life. In fact, he hails from a musical family. “My mother always played piano when I was growing up; she was very good at it. She was also a good singer. My brother was a drummer and my sister played the flute. My dad didn't play any instruments until he turned 57 when he started playing guitar.”

Growing up, one artist who truly impressed the budding musician was country music superstar, Garth Brooks. “I really loved how Garth took country performance from just standing and singing to running around and being animated on stage. He really gave a show and was entertaining!” Derek is also a self-proclaimed “huge” Brad Paisley fan, and he is equally as much so a fan of Jason Aldean. “The influence of my country style has come from mostly those three artists for sure.” In addition to country music, Derek also loves classic rock and 80s hair band music, and according to him, there might not be as large a gap between those genres as people might think! “I think many of today’s new country listeners who relate to that type of music are switching over to country and finding that it has some undertones of that 70s-80s rock in many of its new artists coming up. This, of course, is growing the country fan base even bigger!”

Given his early appreciation for music, one might have guessed Derek would choose to pursue a career in music. He didn’t, however, actually start thinking about making music a full-time career until a few years ago. “I sang backup for many years, but I didn't have the courage to get out front and be lead singer until about six years ago.” Thankfully, he has emerged from his shell and absolutely enjoys singing and performing these days!

Once Derek made the decision to give it a go as a solo artist, things fell into place very quickly for him! “I was playing locally and it seemed that more and more people were coming up to me after my shows and saying that I belong in Nashville. At first, I took that with a grain of salt. But after a few months, I decided to try and see if maybe I had a chance.” As it turns out, Derek was rewarded with a welcoming reception from Nashville. “It seemed like the stars aligned just right with things happening very fast and then, I had a recording contract!” That contract opportunity came from Nashville-based Little House Records. The label helped Derek record and release his debut single, “No Cool Way,” which quickly found its way up the Music Row Breakout Chart, hitting the Top 75 within a few weeks; the single is still climbing and very seriously eyeing the Top 40! Now in the process of finishing his debut album, Derek has utilized a basic gauge when choosing songs for the project. “I like well-written music with great lyrics that tell some sort of story,” he says, “not just words fit to a melody or some basic melody built around words.” He’ll know he achieved his goal for the album when he has ten solid songs where any one of them could be released as a single. “My whole goal for my album is to not have any ‘filler’ songs. That’s giving people their money’s worth. I don't want to put only two great songs on there that people want to listen to; I want ten solid songs that make people take notice.”

Being that he secured a recording contract pretty quickly and is enjoying success with “No Cool Way” right out of the chute, the fact of realizing how much goes on behind the scenes has been a big learning curve for Derek. He recaps some of the things he’s learned so far. “Once you sign a record deal, the hard work has just begun. You don't simply record a song and send it to radio for them to spin. The promotion of a single as a new artist is never ending. I have five of Nashville’s top promoters promoting my single, plus a friend from New York. In addition, I make calls and follow up calls to thank the ones who are playing it. I've learned that every little bit helps and how valuable airtime is, so I've come to really appreciate every station that takes time in their extremely valuable programming time to play my song. Also, just because you have a song on the radio doesn't mean the gigs are going to roll in or that booking agents are going to be knocking down your door! There's just so much to know and learn about the music business, it's mind boggling!”

Derek is also working on honing his