Today we’d like to introduce you to Derek Drye.
Hi Derek, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Katelyn and I (Derek) are both from North Carolina, and started dating 18 years ago through mutual friends. We eventually started doing music together and our duo name is The Dryes, singing country music in local bars, clubs, etc. along the East coast. Once we started writing music more, Nashville kept coming up and we packed everything into a Jeep Cherokee (including our cat), and moved to Nashville in 2014. We released music in 2018, with our first single “Amen” gaining attention on Rolling Stone’s “Top 5 Country Songs Of The Week. Since then, we’ve been releasing music and touring together, made Top 30 on The Voice (season 22), and are enjoying the process of making our next releases!
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
There’s nothing linear about the path per se, other than working out the “muscle” of songwriting. Music itself is generative in that way – the more that you do creatively, the more you “can” do. That’s been the best part about this journey, because it’s felt therapeutic and also like we are honing a better skill each time. Outside of that creative process, it’s not linear at all – One season your streams/numbers/socials are “up,” another they’re stagnant, or down, but we (like many artists) just work towards how a song connects with us and people. People are the goal, and at the same time I sometimes have to write without them in mind..to get out the truth in my heart. What I mean is, songwriting rarely works well when you start with “what’s a great song? What do people want to hear?” You’ve already lost the plot and joined in the chorus of writing something everyone has heard before. Ironically when you start elsewhere, what you’re personally feeling and just stop seeing the goalpost/outcome of “a hit,” you write something real. I think that is a great analogy for the overall arch of our career – while we work hard and strategize daily, it has to feel natural. When we stop trying so hard, we see other ideas and opportunities and lose the tunnel vision that so many people get caught up in.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I think I’ve answered this in the past questions. I’ll add that we specialize in storytelling and love the challenge of writing something real that is also easy to listen to and has a wide audience. I’m most proud of that.
What do you like and dislike about the city?
Best: Just the proximity effect of being here is inspiring. There’s still magic to this city and plenty of pockets of community to jump into. We have found lifelong friends, and lifelong creative partners (co-writers, etc.) here.
Least: At times, it is a little hard to lock into community in a city where people (like ourselves) tour/travel a lot. There are so many relationships that some of us want to have, but there’s just not enough time in the day to steward all of them. That’s a problem still rooted in blessing, I believe. When we are home, I’ll be honest and say that we aren’t the most accessible because Katelyn and I need our time to recoup and just be a normal couple. That does include us being very intentional with reaching out to friends and letting them know that we are around. These are things most people in other cities don’t think about, because of their built-in routine. Even though I’ve listed this in the “least liked” category, finding ways to keep our people close has taught us to be more intentional with friends and family, and follow through in that area.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.TheDryes.com
- Other: https://thedryes.komi.io/
