Maybe some of this is true but it belies the man of today. 

Derrick has molted the old skin many times. He left construction to become a scientist and beer for whiskey and even chose to take his revered grandfather’s last name - constant birth and rebirth. 

Now a twenty-year resident of the shoals, the singing River is his blood. 

Derrick plays a unique style of Muscle Shoals based Americana and records with a who’s who list of musicians, Clayton Ivy and David Hood to name a couple. The red hair is giving way to gray and the songs flow for Derrick like the River that flows through his adopted hometown. 

What’s left of the Derrick of memory? In some way the shedding of skin has revealed a core, a truer self, and uncovered some things no one knew - the pain of a hard scrabble youth, a sense of loss coupled with hope, and a love for country music. There is still the blue-collar man with rock and roll sensibilities. If you see Derrick at the Tavern buy him a beer and this too may unravel.