Derek served as a Special Forces Green Beret for 20 years. Derek was also deployed to the Middle East 16 times before retiring from the U.S. Army in January 2022. During that time, Derek acquired his first guitar and slowly taught himself to play during downtime while deployed overseas.
Prior to his exit from the Armed Forces, Derek took his first steps in pursuing what would become a lifelong dream of writing and performing music. He later amassed enough material to confidently book several live venues near his home located in western KY where he would sing and play guitar to friends and his fans quite frequently. On July 4, 2024, Derek has plans to release his new album and will be talking about his guitar journey and music, songwriting, and the song recordings along with stories of his work with veteran organizations.
Join G4V Instructor Tom Lamog for his conversation with Derek over Zoom at the G4V Learning Center, CAVARTS.org on Thurs 5/18 at 5:30pm PT / 6:30pm MT / 7:30pm CT / 8:30pm ET.