It’s bare feet around a bonfire that makes you feel good. It’s not ‘bro-country,’ it’s ‘flow-country,’ as up-and-coming star Casey Derhak describes.
Casey Derhak was born in Portsmouth, NH at the Pease Air Force Base before moving to South Florida with his family as a kid. Like most young boys in this country, his first love was baseball. He even received a baseball scholarship in college to the Unviersity of South Carolina-Aiken as a middle infielder and even some independent pro ball in the midwest. His dream was to play in the major leagues, and for the Boston Red Sox. However, his second love was music, and all kinds of music. From writing songs and raps in his desk in second and third grade to the school chorus to his high school band, named Friends with Benefits, Casey simply loves music and loves being part of the music industry. His musical influences growing up, and still today, were anything from Johnny Cash to Weezer and Outkast.
It was never about the genre for Casey, it was about the songs. He is a lover of good songs and that is what he has always listened to and still does today. His iPhone is full of a variety of music of anything and everything from Hank Williams Jr., George Strait, and Jason Aldean, to Ray Lamontagne, Outkast, Frank Sinatra and even Iggy Azalea. Although he has this wide variety of music he enjoys, he chose country music because of the story telling. He says, “there’s not a line in the songs that are missing, and you make it make sense for the audience. People can relate.” Being a Florida guy, he loves the music of Jake Owen (he actually works out at the same gym as Jake) but reiterates that he does not try to emulate Jake or anyone else. He wants to be his own thing, his own voice, his own sound.
Listening to some of Casey’s music, I got a bit of a reggae vibe. And Casey agrees that his music does have that vibe but says that it was not intended. He said, “it really took me a long time to figure out who I was as an artist. I was not going for an island feel, but that’s how it happened. Living in South Florida, it has that vibe.”
Last year, Casey attended the Martha’s Vineyard Songwriters Series and met a local artist named Kiley Evans and he really liked what he heard from her. After leaving the vineyard, Casey and Kiley collaborated on a song called ‘Sandcastles.’ We reached out to Kiley regarding their collaboration on ‘Sandcastles.’ She tells us the story behind the song:
“I just moved to Nashville from the Boston area (hometown – Marshfield, MA) back in October of last year. I had a steady boyfriend back home, but when I moved to Nashville, naturally things between us didn’t work out. I was on the phone with him having “the conversation” and he expressed that to him, it felt like deep down I may have known that it wasn’t going to work out all along, and that I kept building the relationship with him anyways. He was willing to make the move to Nashville, but for many reasons, I was not ready to have him do that. I guess I had some inkling of hope that it might work out, but to him it felt like we were just – and I quote – “building sandcastles” all along. I thought, “Sandcastles”….what a great freakin’ song title!”
She also says, “I really love the line, “lined up in pretty frames, we got promises to change but we know all too well that we won’t.” I think that line perfectly reinforces the push/pull concept and the mood of the song, and if I remember correctly, it was also a fusion of a lyric I had, and a lyric Casey had. That concoction of two ideas is what I love so much about collaboration.” Kiley says that Casey’s energy is always a ’10’ and after they work together she needs to take a nap.
Being from South Florida and listening to Casey’s music, some may call him ‘bro-country.’ Casey’s response? “To each his own. I do what I do best. I focus on my fans and not worry about others. If I sounded like George Strait, I would be George Strait. But I’m not. You got to be yourself and play to your strengths.” He accounts his work ethic and social media for his success so far. In today’s world, he says that social media has been the biggest thing for him. Social media gives exposure to his music and he has formed a fan base through social media. And in today’s industry, that fan base will bring an artist exposure to the record labels.
His advice to aspiring musicians? “Get a little better everyday, even if it is one percent better. Whether that’s vocal exercises, or writing, or whatever. Never settle, don’t be content.”
So what lies in the future for Casey? Writing, and lots of it. He recently released his single, ‘We Danced,’ on August 1st on iTunes and will also be getting married in October.
My take from my interview with Casey is that he is a very humble and appreciative musician who absolutely loves what he does. When you’re talking to Casey, you can see in his eyes how appreciative he is when he reflects on his favorite memories as a musician- like his first time on Music Row in Nashville or going up the elevators to meet with the people at Universal Music Group. He works hard, has goals for himself, and is a genuinely good person. He appreciates each and every person that listens to his music, or comments on his music, or sends him messages, and he tries to interact with his fans as much as possible. So if you want some great music from a great person and great musician, check out Casey Derhak.
You can follow Casey on Twitter and also on Facebook.
You can purchase Casey’s music on iTunes here.