Today we’d like to introduce you to Casey Derhak.
Hi Casey, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I moved to Nashville in 2010. Originally from New Hampshire but lived in Florida for many years. I was playing music all over Florida when I met a songwriter who brought me to Nashville. About a year later I made the move to pursue songwriting. I got a job at a gym in Belle Meade as a personal trainer to help pay the bills. I played as many songwriter nights as I could and wrote songs with as many people that would say yes to write. The talent in Nashville helped push me to get better. I started finding people I liked working with and artists I believed in that I could write with. I eventually even started to write songs with people in LA and NYC. While I was trying to get cuts with other artists I started working on who I was as an artist. I felt like I had a number of good songs that other artists didn’t cut so I raised $10k on a kickstarter to do my first EP ever. That EP was called Deep South Sweet Sound. 2 of the 6 songs ended up getting over a million streams and my video for a song called Road Trippin went viral on Facebook and got me a little fan base. I toured and opened up for acts like Riley Green, Frankie Ballard, Michael Ray, Corey Smith, Florida Georgia Line and others. During that time a song I was a part of writing called “Hey Whiskey” by the duo Smithfield went to #2 on XM radio and charted on the billboard charts. 2020 shut down the music business which took me to Maine that summer to be with family. My wife and I fell in love with a small town in the mnts and now we spend half the year there. This move has inspired me to re-connect with my New England roots and write songs about my life in the Maine woods. This new music adventure and song writing project has led to Bear & The North Star. I have been releasing music the last year under this name and started my own publishing company Moosehead Music Publishing.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The old saying “it’s not what you know its who you know” can ring true in the music business. I found it very challenging to get in the room with publishers or record labels and many people on the business end of music. You really have to get out there and hustle and bang on doors and try not to take peoples opinions to heart. Music is very subjective. Even if you have a had some success doesn’t guarantee anything in the music business. I try my best to keep my head down and stay working.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I really want people to go listen to my new music under my artist name Bear & The North Star. I think it is my best music I have been doing. All of my years of grinding in Nashville has got me to this point and I am writing some of my most meaningful songs to date.
Any big plans?
I just want to spend time with my wife and kids and write songs about my life. I am just gonna keep putting new music out and enjoy the ride.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.submithub.com/link/bear-and-the-north-star-travelin-man
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bearandthenorthstarmusic
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/bearandthenorthstar
- Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/@Bearandthenorthstar
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@bearandthenorthstar
