DROP_D

WE ARE VACCINATED. And we are willing to practice social distancing and wear face masks.
We are a prompt, sharp dressed, polite group of individuals who are thrilled to be here. We are quietly setting up while everyone is running around getting things ready. Derek, the band leader is your point man. There are always logistics that need to be communicated and often we must all improvise. Derek will see to it that the band is up and running despite the rain or snow or giant alligators swimming around the stage. Dinner music is light. Might just be Derek or Derek with his sax. As the event progresses the band will gradually populate the stage and a transition from dinner to First Dance, or Mitzvah or sacred ceremony. By the end of the event we will have the dance floor creaking and shaking with great old songs that are exactly what everyone wanted to hear. When all is said and done, we've hopefully made some new friends in the service industry, we pack up and say our goodbyes.

Attending high school in the Haight Ashbury district of San Francisco, Derek Fairchild studied the blues way more than algebra. Robert Johnson, John Lee Hooker, B.B King, and Albert King were his favorites. As his playing evolved he gravitated towards a Psychedelic Blues sound that is unique to San Francisco and the Haight.

Derek got started in Rio de Janeiro as a founding member of Blues Etilicos, now considered to be Brazil’s premier blues band, then it was Manhattan touring, doing shows, sessions, musicals etc with some of the world’s finest musicians.

He eventually made his way home to San Francisco. He has made a name for himself playing Steel Guitar with slide and plays for some of San Francisco’s finest performers as well as working with his own band, Drop_D.

Derek is renowned in San Francisco as one of it’s finest and most versatile soul and blues guitarists. “He doesn’t play guitar, he sings it.”  He is able to play with great digital dexterity on his Telecaster with bright, crisp tonalities that would make Keith Richards proud. The very next song he might slip on his ancient National Steel guitar and instantly transport the crowd to the Mississippi Delta. He’s a natural lead singer and effortlessly harmonizes background vocals. His knowledge of music theory and site reading along with his already vast repertoire of popular songs make him an asset in just about any ensemble.

We have gear to play on a mountaintop in a blizzard with no electricity [we are very expensive in this situation]. And we have everything we need for indoor events except an electrical outlet. Self sufficient to the core.