Hello,
My name is Kenny Derr
Born to Denny and Ruth Derr May 26th 1965
I am now 42 and getting back into the music business after an extended stay away racing Karts and Cars. I look forward to playing again as I have some pretty nice equipment. I started playing Drums when I was 16 and quit them as I got smarter and moved to Bass in my dads band "Wild Country" in 1983.
Also in the Band was my Uncle Butch and Drummer Pounding Paul Palmer. We stayed together for a few years until Butch decided to venture out on his own and start a new band named "The Silver Eagle Band". Meanwhile I ventured out and joined a band called "Dealers Choice" with Norm Bell on Bass and Joe Stanton on drums, Gordie Buckley on lead guitar and I moved to rhythm guitar. We stayed together for about a year when things just didn't work out between all of us, but we still remained friends. Somewhere around 1985 I joined The Silver Eagle Band as the lead singer and rhythm player, and that was a fun ride. This is when I was reacquainted with My Uncle Butch and drummer Paul Palmer with Jimmy Osborn on Bass. We played for several years and Jimmy left to join another group and we hired Mike Burns to play bass and what a great move that was. That move would build a relationship that would last for 4 great years but there were some changes coming for the Silver Eagle Band. There were some issues and the band broke up. That is when Paul Palmer, Mike Burns and Myself started Kenny Derr & First Take with new member on lead guitar Chris Grace (size 15 SHOE!!) This Band would play for the remainder of the 80s and into 1990 when we broke up. Things changed again but during all this time the music never stopped, we kept on playing and refining the sound. One thing I can honestly say is I never called anyone for a booking for Kenny Derr & First Take. I always got the calls from the club owners. I know this sounds conceited but I in no way mean to sound that way. When you have musicians like Paul Palmer and Mike Burns and Chris Grace, Butch Derr you just have a quality sound that carried itself and I am honored to say I played music with these great musicians. In 1994 My Uncle Butch, Paul Palmer and I played our last gig together after picking music for over 11 years. It was a night that I will never forget and it was one of the best nights we ever had playing together, everything was tight and everthing just seemed to click. Then I moved to NC and that is where I still am to this day. 14 years later I am in a band called "Dented Fenders". We are new and are practicing weekly and learning each other. I will be playing Bass and Rythm Guitar as one of the lead players also plays Bass and Sax. Thanks for reading this and I look forward to see you out in the clubs soon.
Kenny "The Show" Derr
