The Music

“From the moment I heard the opening notes of the hauntingly beautiful ballad “stranger”, I was hooked. Derek McGrath is a storyteller, reminiscent of Harry Chapin or john Hiatt. He populates his songs with characters we might see every day but have never really taken a closer look at.”

- Ron Lea

People will often ask me what kind of music I play. It’s been called “roots music” whatever that means. Pretty much all of my songs begin on an acoustic guitar, most of them on my old Taylor. They’re songs about longing, dreaming, disappointment, solitude, loves won and loves lost. In short, they’re songs about the journey.

My music has been influenced by the beautiful pain I’ve found in the songs of Jackson Browne, the raw poetry of Bob Dylan, the soaring passion of Van Morrison, the rustic sophistication of The Eagles and the brilliant melodies of Crosby Stills Nash and Young.

I try to tell the truth, or at least a truth. I try to express my truth in away that makes the listener feel it more than conceive it.

Where do my songs come from? I’m not sure… But I love going there.