Anyone remember when Jack Johnson started out? He had so much to say musically that it was really inspiring. Hey, speaking of which; do you remember Dave Matthew’s first couple albums? Now those were some great tunes. So what have Jack and Dave been up to lately? Oh, that’s right. They’ve been pandering to the MTV crowd of frat boys and girls too lazy to form their own musical tastes. Well, if you dig early Dave Matthews and just about any Jack Johnson, then I think I might have a special treat for you - a young man named Derek James.

With Derek James’s deubut album, we have a musician at an interesting point in his career. He’s got the fire and intensity that most musicians do as they step into the wonderful world of recording. But thankfully, there’s also some great talent present. Some of his songs are almost impossible to classify because of their vast amount of influences. I suppose out of all the songs on this album, I’m the most smitten with One More Day. The only bad thing that I can say about the track is that with the right promotion…it could wind up being played repeatedly on MTV. It’s not only a good song, but it really does have mass appeal.

At times it seems that Derek really wants to join the ranks of Jack Johnson and Dave Matthews by being a folky, grooving type of songwriter. But just when you think you’ve easily got him pegged as a one trick act, he goes and does a complete musical 180. I’m really impressed with the versatility shown on this album, and it’s making me wonder where he’ll go from here.

MP3: One More Day
Go to Derek’s site to stream half the album and learn more about this cool guy from Brooklyn, NY (is everyone from BK these days?)

Note: First one to post a Derek James/Rick James joke gets blog-slapped.