Derek Sholl

"(I'll Be) Here" Debuts On Jones Satellite Radio
POSTED ON JUL 10 2008
From Grass Roots Promotion:

Rising country star Derek Sholl made his first appearance on Jones Satellite Radio on July 10th as his new single, "(I'll Be) Here," was slated to be featured on the network's "The Delivery Room" segment, hosted by Dakota.

The song was called to the attention of Dakota and Jones Radio by KDKD program director Ken Dillon, who was impressed by Sholl when the artist visited his Clinton, Missouri station to perform.

"We were a part of the radio tour for Derek Sholl and he simply blew me away," said Dillon. "I immediately moved the song to a heavy rotation and contacted Dakota to tell her about the response we are getting here in West-Central Missouri on the project."

"The Delivery Room" spotlights new country radio singles, typically from established artists, and airs from 2:00-4:00 p.m. central time. The Jones Network's broadcast of "(I'll Be) Here" is the latest chapter in Derek Sholl's growing radio story, which already includes 100+ secondary stations, 32 Music Row reporters and a #59 spot on the Country Breakout chart. - Grass Roots Promotion

Robert K. Oermann Reviews "(I'll Be) Here"
POSTED ON JUL 07 2008
Robert K. Oermann, "the dean of Nashville's entertainment journalists," recently reviewed Derek's new single "(I'll Be) Here" in Music Row magazine. Here's what he had to say:

"We have a winning newcomer, Derek Sholl. He’s a former minor-league baseball player who turned to country music after an injury ended his sports career. Judging by his single, it was a good decision. It also earns him a DisCovery Award...

...the song is nicely crafted, contrasting the many places he’s wandered to with the "Here" in her arms. “I’ll kick off these restless boots/Set down and sink some roots,” he sings in a believable, comfy baritone. Highly listenable."

Congrats to Derek for this week's Music Row Award. This DisCovery Award is an honor given to Nashville's most noteworthy up-and-coming artist from Robert K. Oermann, in his DISClaimer sec - Music Row Magazine

Derek Sholl has quite the story. Raised in the California area on baseball diamonds and in dugouts, he spent a lot of his life on the back roads and in the small towns as a member of the Kansas City Royals farm team. Baseball was his dream, but country music was his inspiration. Two major injuries ended his career right as the front wheel was lifting off the runway. "One minute I was standing in the halo of stadium lights, the next sleeping on the roof of my truck in a restaurant parking lot. I was gut kicked and gun shot, and I did the one thing I thought might save me from a lifetime of bitterness. I picked up a guitar and started writing my way out of a deep dark hole", says Sholl who knows all about the ups and downs of a career. Ten years of driving a bread truck, writing singing nights & weekends, raising his son DJ and never giving up led Derek to a brand new set of lights, a record deal, a cult following and a second chance at a dream. Now he's got that chance to turn it all around and this time is he ever ready. All of us at NMW are hoping that this time around he gets the break that he so truly deserves. With the team he has in place, you can expect some big moves ahead on the charts at New Music Weekly. - New Music Weekly

As a prep sports star at South High School, Torrance native Derek Sholl dreamed of playing baseball in the Major Leagues.
That dream almost came true when in 1987 he was drafted by the Kansas City Royals. But after toiling for more than two injury-filled seasons in the Royals organization, Sholl traded in his baseball glove for a thrift-store guitar.
Now, nearly two decades later, the athlete-turned-musician seems destined for the big leagues of country music.
With a newly released album, a country single, "Pray for Me," climbing the charts and a high-profile gig opening for Jay Leno at the Mirage in Las Vegas, Sholl seems poised for something big.
"I always thought athletics was my gift," the 39-year-old said. "But now that I see the connection I have with an audience, I believe the sports were just a stepping stone, preparation that gave me the attitude and fortitude to be the best I can be at whatever I do."
That kind of Monday morning quarterbacking is easy. But the road leading up to this point, he says, was long and lonely, filled with the poignant and painful moments that make for a good country-western song.
Back in 1989, after he was suddenly and unceremoniously cut from the Royals during spring training in Florida, Sholl and a friend headed to spring break in Daytona. They spent most of their money and began the long, cross-country drive home to Southern California with $50 between them.
They swung through Las Vegas hoping, like so many do, to parlay what little they had into a little more. But they ended up losing every dime.
"We were feeling low pulling into Vegas," Sholl said. "But leaving the casino, we were even lower. We sat on the curb outside the casino and cried. The security guard told us we had to leave, so we got in the truck and headed home, with half a tank of gas."
Realizing that they had a water jug full of pennies packed in the truck, they used them for gas to get home.
"All the gas stations on the way home had a policy," he said. "They would only take $5 in rolled pennies. It took us a long time to get home."
Back in the South Bay, Sholl worked various jobs. He spent a year cleaning carpets and did a brief stint as a fashion model. He got another shot at sports about a year later when he was recruited to play football at Bethany College in West Virginia. It was one of three sports, including basketball, at which the one-time center fielder -- who had also played a year of football and baseball at Los Angeles Harbor College -- excelled.
But by that point, Sholl was a newly married father. The emotional cost of being away from his family was too high, so he came home again. Finally, he settled into a job as a bread delivery man.
He spent 10 years driving a bread truck, and during that time started developing his musical talents in earnest. Working on an old guitar he picked up in his baseball days, he started booking gigs at South Bay clubs -- Sully's Restaurant and Tavern, Keegan's Pub, wherever they'd let him perform. Applying the same discipline and tenacity that made him a stand-out athlete, Sholl started to attract a following.
"When people who knew me from sports first learned I was a country singer, they were shocked," he said. "But then they heard the music and were really supportive. I've converted a lot of local people to country music."
Growing up in the South Bay, Sholl hadn't been exposed to country music himself. He learned to like it during his time with the Royals, when teammates would play genre classics. After hearing Randy Travis, George Strait, Johnny Cash and others, Sholl was hooked.
"When guys from the South put on country, it was new to me," he said. "But I liked it and thought it was fun to imitate the performers. A lot of the guys saw me doing it and said, 'Hey, you're pretty good.' "
He was good enough that years later he was noticed by country music superstar Garth Brooks, who'd been handed a Sholl demo tape by a mutual friend.
"I was at home one day, looking up the lyrics to a Garth Brooks song, when the phone rang," Sholl said. "It was him, Garth Brooks. My heart just dropped. He told me 'You wouldn't be crazy if you dropped everything and got your butt to Nashville.' "
Though he did spend time in Nashville, Sholl's next big break came in Las Vegas in 2003, where he auditioned to be the in-house act for a big casino chain.
"They flew me in, picked me up in a limousine and gave me the red-carpet treatment," he said. "There I was on a huge stage where the big names perform, getting ready to audition with a full band, lights, a sound crew and stage managers. I'd never done anything like that before. I was used to sitting on a stool with a guitar in clubs so small that didn't have a stage."
The self-taught musician was asked to perform eight songs in the audition. But by the third song, the stage managers started waving their arms and yelling at him to stop.
"I thought it was over before it even began. But then they asked me if I'd co - Daily Breeze/Rave: Kate McLaughlin