Derek Jones released his latest Last Of A Dying Breed EP recently. Four of the five tracks are already listed among his most popular tracks on Spotify. “Nature Of The Beast” has been streamed over 4,000 times, “Last Of A Dying Breed” has been played over 5,000 times and “Everybody’s Somebody” has been played over 9,000 times.
This isn’t the first time he’s seen success with his music. The Pray EP, which was released in 2018, was #1 on Amazon and # 7 on iTunes. The most popular song from that EP was “Cold As A Stone,” which was played on Spotify more than 526,000 times.
Jones said that you have to build up a fan base, adding that you have to be personable and likeable for people to like your music. He said that has played a ton of shows and he has been super lucky. Over the years, he has had the opportunity to open for artists such as Charlie Daniels, Ted Nugent and Alabama. “These guys have all been true to themselves and they are honest in their music. That’s exactly what I wanted to be,” he said.
Jones said that artists like Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings wrote and sang about their experiences. “…I don’t think they cared whether you liked them or not or whether you liked their songs or not,” he said, adding that he doesn’t write about things he doesn’t know about or things that he hasn’t done.
One of Jones’ biggest shows was playing at one of the Charlie Daniels Volunteer Jam shows at the Bridgestone Arena. “I’ll never forget walking in and taking the stage. It was sold out. There were thousands and thousands and thousands. I was absolutely scared to death,” he said. Jones said Daniels came up to him and thanked him because Jones is a veteran. Three days later, Jones said he played on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry and debuted a song there.
Jones said he wanted to either be a professional football player or a rock star. He said he played drums, but he didn’t really take music seriously until he picked up a guitar around age 24. Jones joined a band, but he said music was more of a hobby to most people. He knew he would need to move in order to give his music a fair shot. When he made that decision, Jones said it was between Austin, Texas and Nashville, Tennessee. “I legit just flipped a coin and it landed on Nashville,” he said, adding that he packed bags and moved to Nashville with no job and nothing in mind whatsoever. He lived in a hotel for a few months until he got on his feet.
For more information about Jones, people can visit his website at www.derekjoneslive.com. His music is available on Spotify and he has a YouTube channel. Jones is also on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at derekjoneslive on all three platforms.