New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Pop-rock singer-songwriter Mike Derrick had been in bands throughout his life, gigging in pubs and small venues in the UK - where he was born - and in and around the Bay Area - where he now resides. Despite being a lifelong musician, interestingly enough, Mike never considered himself a songwriter until he addressed his pandemic drinking. He discovered when he stopped pouring the booze, songs miraculously began to flow.
Mike's sensibility lives in that sweet spot between folk and classic rock, his sound harkens back to the harmony-lavished songs of Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, and the intimately elegant recordings of classic Nick Drake. Yet, Mike also exhibits a song-centric rock side that recalls the catchy but sophisticated pop-rock of
Queen and Crowded House.
New single, Keighley Heights, which we are pleased to premiere today, is emotional and evocative soulful pop-rock that captures coming-of-age anxiety. It's a portal back to a time when Mike was in his early-20s in college in Manchester, and he and his buddies went on a weekend trip to a quaint little English town in Yorkshire called Keighley. It was a magical getaway where the guys enjoyed hikes, rope swings, and breathtaking nature. These were moments of carefree young adultness, but, at the same time, they were haunted by fears of the future. "I wasn't putting in the work with my studies, and I was worried about flunking out of the university. There was this joy of being with my friends, and this pit in my stomach because I worried I was going to be a failure in life," Mike recalls. He frames this time with poetic insightfulness, especially when he sings: It didn't help much, superior education/We misunderstood reality/The stakes were higher for that special creation/That was the heights of Keighley.
About the song, he comments "With Keighley Heights, I wanted to put to bed a particular form of anxiousness that still haunts me many years since my university days. We constantly attempted to mask the guilt over the lack of preparedness for our future lives. Obsessive guitar/vocal practice over endless cups of tea, limitless conversations in the pub about the meaning of inane sayings, idyllic trips to the country, basically anything that would put off our academic studies. It ultimately worked out just fine but the song has proven to be quite therapeutic in curbing the night sweats!"
