derek brown

Due to the more recent busy-ness in my schedule (That's a good thing!), I have taken a break from blogging regularly. However, feel free to scroll down to read past posts, and be sure to check out the rest of…Read more

As some of you may know, I do a fair amount of commuting throughout the week.  I've already spoken here of my many "L" rides to gigs throughout the city, and the small books I like to carry in my…Read more

From time to time people ask me where they can catch my upcoming performances.  My response in the past was typically something like this:

"Hmmm....Well, I sometimes mention upcoming gigs on my Facebook page or website, but other than that…Read more

Yesterday I performed again at what I'm calling the Acoustic Jam Session, at the Preston Bradley Center, truly one of Uptown Chicago's best kept secrets (the building, that is).  If you don't know of this place and you're a musician…Read more

As many of you know, I traveled with the Legere Reeds team to Anaheim California a couple weeks ago to be a part of the NAMM Show (see posts below if you missed them).  In one of the posts I…Read more

Coming off of a really big, exciting weekend for me at NAMM (as well as a secret audition that I'm actually legally not allowed to mention right now.  Sorry!), I thought I'd take a moment to talk about the more…Read more

Anybody remember the ShamWow? Well, nevermind...

Wow. NAMM.  Pretty great experience.  

I just got home from Anaheim late last night, and it’s pretty hard to describe everything that happened at NAMM (read my previous posts if you’re still thinking I’m…Read more

Ok. No more NAMM puns (at least for now).  So yesterday was the official beginning of the NAMM Show and yeah, the atmosphere was a bit different from our set up day on Wed.  Compare these pics:
ah...peaceful Anaheim...

...and…Read more

So after a REALLY great "Space Jam" on Tuesday night at North Bar (someone counted at least 23 musicians!) I got about 4 hours of sleep before my wife Rachel took me to O'Hare to fly out to Los Angeles…Read more

In case you haven't noticed the little gold and black icon a little ways down on my website, as of maybe a month and a half ago, I am officially a Legere Reeds artist (Here's the proof, if you need…Read more

It's that time of year, folks: Another update on my ever evolving practice room!  And believe me, this update is actually worth mentioning.

Four months ago, when Rachel and I first moved to our apartment in Chicago, I wrote about…Read more

If you know me well, I'm definitely not one for wasting time.  And yeah, if I'm new to a big city and want to actually survive as a full-time musician, there's not necessarily a ton of time to be wasted…Read more