Derrick’s Big News!

I am SO proud of my husband! I mean, I’m proud of him for lots of reasons, lots of days, but today is a BIG, red-letter day for him. A day he’s been working so hard to get to, for so long. A day he’s literally put hours and hours and hours into making a reality.

Today, Derrick released his first CD: Pathfinder. And it’s official, you guys! It’s on iTunes and Spotify! It’s legit!

Derrick has been writing music since before I knew him – since before it was a requirement for his college degree (he has a bachelors in music). He’s been singing & playing piano since he was a little boy (and if you know the Abbey’s – that only makes sense – they are a very musical family). When we were dating, he would send me pieces of music that he was working on. One day, he mailed me a copy of his “demo CD” (a college project) & I listened to it over and over again.

After college, he has continued playing piano & singing at church, but didn’t really have any other avenues for his music.

That is, until his other great passion, roller coasters, collided with his music & suddenly the two simply made sense, together.

Derrick has been designing completely unique roller coasters since he was a little guy. His roller coaster passion runs just as deep as his music passion. So, when he finally began to publish his roller coaster creations online, on his YouTube channel, and he needed to find music to run as a soundtrack behind his coasters, it only made sense that he compose his own.

For the last 3 years, Derrick has been designing roller coasters for his YouTube channel – creating unique terrain & stories behind each & every one. No two creations are alike. And alongside those coasters, he has composed one-of-a-kind musical themes to go along with each & every one.

His YouTube channel now has over 1,100 followers and he’s gathered a quite the following of dedicated fans. They love his coaster creations, but further, they love his music. More often then not, in the comments on his videos, people ask how they can listen to just the music. And up until today, the only way to listen to his music, was to watch his YouTube videos.

But today! That all changes!

You can now hop onto Spotify & stream 18 of Derrick’s songs! If you’ve followed along with his YouTube channel, even a little bit, you’ll probably recognize some of the tunes.

Derrick is a perfectionist when it comes to roller coasters & music. He hears things that I simply cannot (which, to be fair, I see things that he cannot, so I’d say that makes us even). He refused to simply take the songs he had published on his YouTube videos & slap them quickly into a CD. Over the summer, he painstakingly went back & re-mastered each & every song so that it’s perfect.

And finally, today! After so many dedicated hours (probably more like days) of work, it’s all come together in his first ever CD.

I am so so proud of this huge accomplishment & the finish line he has finally crossed. It’s seriously so cool to pull up Spotify & iTunes and see his name & his music there!

So, do Derrick a favor & go listen!

You can find his album on Spotify here.
You can find his album on iTunes here.
And if you don’t yet follow him on YouTube, you can do that here!

And when you love what you hear, leave him some encouragement! Let him know what your favorite song is (mine is Oasis Adventure – it’s track 13)! And then share it with your friends (because, like ice cream, music is better when shared).

I’d be remiss if I also didn’t give a shoutout to my sister, Emma, who did the artwork for Derrick’s album cover! I have the most talented family ever!