Derrick Harris
For decades, the American South has been the cradle of creative, alternative roots-rock. Everyone from Elvis and the Jordanaires to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers have put a Southern twist on music charts worldwide, proving there's more to the region than sour mash , sweet magnolia trees and kudzu vines. Now, with the release of his Silent Planet Records debut, I'm Not Leaving, Southerner Derrick Harris is poised to make his own distinct mark on the charts.
Produced and engineered by Grammy Award winner Rob Burrell (Michael W. Smith, Phil Keaggy, Montgomery Gentry), I'm Not Leaving is marked by the poignant, impassioned lyrics, intimate melodies and raggedly-honest vocals of the Birmingham, Alabama native. For Derrick Harris is a singer of songs, a teller of tales, a soothsayer of sorts. Armed with an acoustic guitar, a collection of self-penned self-revelatory songs, and a passion for spreading hope to a sometimes hopeless world, Derrick finds himself playing to the dichotomous audiences of both churches and bars.
“My vision is to play positive music that delivers a great message in a creative way,” he explains. “There are so many people searching for answers and - for some reason - if you can play the guitar, they want to talk to you. They latch on to something in the music that is different from what they are used to hearing – something that they do not understand. Usually they just want someone to listen to them. So I listen. And I encourage them. It gives me the opportunity to share with them what we all have the potential to become."
Like its author, the album is not easily pigeonholed. Alternately joyful and somber, relentlessly hopeful while maintaining an uncanny ability to see life as it is, I'm Not Leaving tackles such issues as disregard for the homeless (Ignorance), personal brokeness (Pigeon Song), and the sacrifice of love (I’m Not Leaving). Musically, I'm Not Leaving is just as diverse, showcasing elements of rock and folk skillfully interwoven with just a hint of southern flare.
Derrick knew music was to be a major part of his life from an early age. “I wanted to play the guitar ever since I saw “Back To The Future,” he laughs. “At the very beginning of the movie when Michael J. Fox plugged in – that was it. Rock ‘n’ roll! I was hooked.”
The inevitable high school garage bands followed with predictable results. High school bands gave way to college bands and growing notoriety. But even as Derrick found his music gaining wider acceptance, the cruel taskmaster known as the 9 to 5 reared its ugly head.
“I worked at a bank right after college,” he says. “I was miserable. It seemed that music might never work out. My sanity would be going to the park for lunch – just getting away. There were always a lot of homeless people that hung out at the park. I would talk to them; share my lunch with them. Remarkably, they became my sanity.”
Derrick recounts the impact of those power lunches in his semi-autobiographical song, Ignorance. He does not discount the hurt and pain he saw in the homeless; rather he embraces mankind’s responsibility to overcome ignorance with love. “There’s a growing need to help the friends that we don’t know. You’ve got green in your pocket,” he sings. “Won’t you give it away?”
While not afraid to confront the weighty issues of the day, I'm Not Leaving remains an upbeat, positive album that strolls just as comfortably through tender love songs and just-for-fun rockers. Drawing on personal experience, Derrick wears his songs on his sleeve, instinctively capturing the inherent tension of each song on the project. Deftly mixing metaphor with real life, Derrick Harris manages the formidable task of enlightening while entertaining, leaving you with more than you came with.
“I think that I should strive to be leading the way, making the most creative music possible,” he says. “I should be setting my own musical standard and letting the world follow. It’s a God-sized task, but that’s my dream.” |
