A few months ago I “introduced” you to singer/songwriter Bruce W. Derr, who, as apposed to what this picture suggests, does not have 2 heads. Derr is a resident of Central Pennsylvania with a knack for churning out a handful of pretty rad homemade albums per year. The 10 songs on his The Time Of Day, from this past January, were recorded, mixed, and mastered alone by Derr in one dizzying 24-hour burst of creativity, and houses a handful of my favorite folk-rock songs of the year.Derr wasn’t quite so ambitious with the schedule for his follow up, which comes a mere 5 months later. Mr. Personality took a whopping 3 weeks to record, and this time features a crew of friends helping out with the playing, singing, and recording. In fact, of the 6 LPs and 2 EPs to his credit, this is the first time Derr has used ANY outside help from fellow musicians.
From what I’ve heard of the new songs over at his myspace, the extra hands allow Derr to take more chances with his arrangements - surprising time changes, some nice harmonies from Jessis Yamas and PHW favorite Earl Pickens, and programmed drums. I’m really liking “Tinges Of Blue” - a spacey country waltz with some pretty sharp lyrics. Here’s the title track:
MP3 :: Mr. Personality
(from Mr. Personality. Buy here)
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You may remember that Derr’s “Banker Alcoholics” was one of my favorite songs back in January. Check it out if you missed it the first time around:
MP3 :: Banker Alcoholics
(from The Time Of Day. Buy here)
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