2020 Tour Dates Coming Soon
Derek Buckley Bio
Born in a small town on the east coast of Florida, Derek grew up next to an alligator farm just a few miles from NASA and Cocoa Beach’s world class surf. As a kid he was heavily into sports and fishing. In 1980 he bought his first album, AC/DC's Back in Black. He recalls that he could only play it after school while his mother worked and he played it until the needle broke. As he got older, his tastes changed and musical influences grew, from classic rock bands like Aerosmith to Hank Jr. to Jimmy Buffett to Run DMC. In high school, he joined a student group and performed for the first time in front of an audience. It was short-lived and in the early 90’s he enrolled at the University of Central Florida and dropped music. Then at a party one night, his roommate picked up an old, used Ovation guitar while Derek sang along. This sparked something in him and he asked his roommate to teach him a few chords…the first song he learned on guitar was Hells Bells, of course! Derek began playing at local open mic nights around Orlando while he worked on his guitar skills until he was able to manage a few short sets on his own. He eventually left college and played at local bars until moving to South Florida with his family. It was there he partnered with an accomplished guitarist and performed as a duo in the Boca Raton\Ft. Lauderdale area until deciding to form a band, Jack Lord's Hair (a nod to the man of Hawaii 5-0!). As lead singer, Derek and the band enjoyed moderate local success playing mostly new and alternative rock such as STP, Green Day, and Nine Inch Nails. The band had its last performance on the beaches of Boca Raton in 1998 and once again, Derek had to hang up his mic. Years later, deciding it was never too late to chase his dreams, in 2016 Derek decided it was time to give it another go and he had his first solo gig at a Ladies Night in Wisconsin Dells. Shortly thereafter, he joined the band Country Wide and they quickly gained popularity in Madison and surrounding counties. At the end of 2019, he decided to focus on his solo career and parted ways with the band. Now with a renewed enthusiasm for his country roots, he plays a variety of genres and regularly performs for small and large venues throughout the midwest.
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