The End of An Era

We just received word that TWO of our songs from Born In The Heartland, Gravity and A Place In The Sun, are licensed for use on the one hour series ending episode of the long running NBC hit, The Office! Co-written with Brett Ratner, these blue collar working man’s tunes should fit right in with [...]

Use What You Got

Use What U Got To Do What U Can Use What U Got To Do What U Can As we move from the recently celebrated Thanksgiving holiday weekend… and shouldn’t EVERY weekend be a thanksgiving opportunity… we now find ourselves in the mad crush of the Holiday Season! Parties, open houses, dinners, any reason to [...]

On Wisconsin!

  Yeah… I know. I’m not supposed to be political. But it IS a song after all. In fact, I believe Paul McCartney owns that one!   However, I’m compelled to write in the aftermath of the recent historic recall election in my former home state. Governor Scott Walker is no friend of mine, nor [...]

One Thing Leads To Another

Sometime in mid February I came across an ad in the sports section of the Chicago Tribune about a song contest sponsored by WGN radio, the broadcast home of the Chicago Cubs, looking for a new song to promote the Cubs games this baseball season. I thought about if for a second and decided I [...]

What’s In a Name ?

What does it mean to be an American? By calling myself Derrick An American I realize that I am possibly setting myself up for all kinds of interpretations…and misinterpretations. After all, in this world of instant communication and feedback, blogs, youtube and social media driven change, a name like that could lead anyone to believe [...]