DERICA: Medicate

Derica

Medicate

© 2007 Derek DePrator Music, BMI. (783707914626)

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On his first full-length album, Derica reinvents folk and blues like only a lonely raspy-voiced twentysomething crossdressing guitar hero from Cle-burgh could possibly do.

tracks

1 Medicate
2 Spiral
3 These Things I Have Come to Fear
4 Ain't No Tellin'
5 Exit 2-3-1
6 The Plan
7 Can't U See That I'm Falling?
8 Coal Creek March
9 I Got a Girl Way 'cross Town (she Brings Me Food)
10 What a Pretty Something or Other God Has Made of Me
11 (i Am The) One Percent
12 Won't U Follow Me Down?
13 Continental Divide in a Boxcar
14 Answering Machine Message
15 On the Death of Skip James

notes

With rust in his veins and whiskey in his voice, Derica sings you his own personal tales of love, anguish, adventure and redemption on his second full-length album release, MEDICATE. Derek, or Derica, or just plain "D”? He doesn't care what you call him as long as you're polite, or at least interesting. D is a child of the new millennium; a boi who speaks softly and wears a demure dress, yet plays the blues like the great great grandson of Robert Johnson and that devil woman he met at the crossroads blasting Wolfman Jack on her car radio. Have no fear; Derek is kind enough not to steal your soul. But he might well steal your breath away with his impressive mastery of folk and blues guitar techniques.

Born near Pittsburgh, now living near Cleveland, D has been recording and playing out for many years despite being only in his mid-twenties. He did his time as a teen in coffeehouses, where you still might find him late on some rainy nights, and in the obligatory emo-punk bands before "graduating" to record and tour with Cobra Verde at age 21, supporting the legendary Mike Watt, The Breeders, and J. Mascis. Since leaving Cobra Verde, D has also been the bassist for Cleveland 80’s metal act Breaker which has a huge following overseas and has opened for the likes of UFO, and Uli Roth (ex-Scorpions). He's also appeared many times with his own projects, The Atomic Crash and his most recent ex-band, The Square Casanovas as well as playing regular solo gigs. In addition to appearing on Cobra Verde's album "Easy Listening", Derica released a slew of limited EPs before his vinyl only mini-LP, "When the Train Left the Station,” came out jointly on Dhyana Records (Germany) and Handsome Productions in 2003.

Two years in the making, the sequel, MEDICATE, released on England's ACOSM Records, contains some of Derek's most mature and developed work to date, including the title track, the folk-tinged, Howe Gelb-influenced lament of "a lonely tranny in a motel room", and "These Things I Have Come to Fear," a collaboration with noted Ohio poet C. Allen Rearick. MEDICATE's themes range from the political in "(I Am the) One Percent," to the romantic in the love ballad "Can't U See That I'm Falling," to the deeply personal in the banjo-driven highway song, "Exit 2-3-1" (which, should anyone wonder, concerns real fears, real dreamings, and a real exit). D also includes his own arrangements of traditional songs such as "Ain't No Tellin' " and "Coal Creek March" that showcase his instrumental skills and provide a pause for reflection.

Alone, navigating urban seascapes with the world on his shoulders and his hair in his eyes, Derica hangs on tight to his guitar, because sometimes it's all he's got. If you've ever felt the same way, listen to MEDICATE. You'll feel like you finally found a friend; and who knows, maybe you just did.

reviews

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  • this is all code for, i really dig it.
    author: neb

    “exit 2-3-1”reminds me of a dark lonely night on the highway driving in a downpour. you're lonely and sad, you have to pee really bad. but you're still far away from the comfort of your own bathroom and lonely for the past. then you see the exit that you need. You know that soon you'll be home and you can pee in your own bathroom with your sad memories of people that have gone away in one form or another. “can’t u see that I’m falling” sounds to me like it could be an outtake from a j. mascis album. a song that he could of played on "martin + me" with girls on backing vocals. Derek’s voice sounds to me a bit like craig finns’ voice of “the hold steady“. but more melodic and minus the stories of minneapolis/ st. paul. This is all code for, I really dig it.

  • roots music like you don't hear often enough these days
    author: cleveland paul

    this is great stuff and definitely not the kind of music you hear from the typical twenty-something. it's essentially delta and country blues, but highly, highly personalized. great slide playing is sprinkled through the disc and the range of instruments this guy plays will really tickle the purist. i'd like to hear some electric stuff by deprator. i imagine it would be very unique.

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