California native Derek James was a finalist in the 2023 American Songwriter Song Contest . He reached the final round of the competition with his song "Walking Through Your Memory," a co-write with Carin Fradin. Since getting the attention of the Song Contest judges, James has continued to hone his craft as a performer and songwriter in Nashville.
Recently, James sat down with American Songwriter to discuss his budding career as a singer/songwriter, his plans for the future, and more.
James has also been putting in some time on the stage. "I've been playing lots of writers' rounds and gigs here in Nashville," he said. Earlier this year, some buddies and I played The Listening Room and sold it out. It was cool to play at a legendary writer's venue like that and have people show up. That was definitely a highlight of this year," James added.
"I've been pitching songs since then, too. I had a couple of songs picked up on single-song contracts to get pitched out there which is great. I've been putting out my own music, too, kind of doing the artist/writer thing. I released my own music this year and did my first collaboration with a friend of mine named Haley Mae Campbell. I'm really proud of that song. She's a great artist."
"When I got into the writers' room with the two folks I wrote it with Kelly McKay and Thomas Pino—both just such good writers. Kelly brought in this idea called can't judge a bar by its cover. That just spoke to me and my experience as a tour guide, going into these bars," he said. "I can't give them credit enough for the help they gave me on writing that song. Now, I get to go play it in those dive bars. So it's like a full-circle moment."
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