Derek Spencer

About this event:

From the hills of eastern Kentucky, Beattyville-native and singer-songwriter, Derek Spencer found a passion for songs, like so many other Appalachian youths, in church – at his mother’s side singing from the Sunday hymnal. Embodying the purest form of folk tradition, Spencer is ultimately a storyteller. His songs and stories are filled with the characters and conflicts so familiar to Appalachian culture such as faith, doubt, damnation and redemption – but never without the one element that makes art universal – humanity.

“HE ISN’T CONTENT WITH A SINGLE HEART ON HIS SLEEVE. THERE’S A DOZEN OR MORE, AND HIS SONGS ARE BARELY CONCEALED ANGER, OR HURT, OR AT THEIR BRIGHTEST, LOVE. FORGET THE INSTRUMENTATION, OR THE VERBIAGE – THIS IS DEFIANT MUSIC.”
– Justin Wells

Spencer currently resides in Lexington, Kentucky, where he is writing and recording new material.