Bio
Derek Wayne Brown is an American singer-songwriter from California, Missouri. Derek began performing as a teen at his local church, where he played drums and sang throughout high school. In 2010 he began posting acoustic covers on YouTube with a friend from high school. A few years later, Derek formed his first band, Brush Creek Outlaws, with his high school friend and neighbor, Wyatt Martensen. After a few YouTube videos, the group began performing locally and quickly developed a strong following. In their first year, they released an EP, which was produced and engineered by Derek. In 2012 they won an online contest for the best cover of Jason Aldean's song "Take A Little Ride." Unfortunately, the band was forced to part ways after just two years despite playing notable local venues, such as The Blue Note in Columbia, Missouri, where they performed twice.
After this, Derek began focusing on his solo career and developing his songwriting skills. He began posting his original songs on YouTube in 2015. Derek made his solo performance debut just a year later, opening for Texas country artist William Clark Green at Rose Music Hall in Columbia, Missouri. In 2016 he was a founding member of Between Elsewhere, a Columbia, Missouri-based band that won "Best New Rock Band" at the 2017 Mid-Mo Rock Awards. Unfortunately, the band parted ways shortly after this, but Derek continued working on his original music and performing acoustic shows locally. In 2017 he was featured on Clear 99's Homegrown Country Show, and his song "Pretty Little Thing" continues to be featured on the show regularly.
Derek took a break from performing in 2019 but continued writing and posting original music online. In 2020 Derek had begun booking shows again and was ready to start touring, but these plans were put on hold when the pandemic hit. Derek began performing again in 2022. Derek recently signed with Better Man records and is planning on releasing his debut single sometime in August of 2022.