From Boy Band to Country

THERE is a huge musical gulf between the sounds produced by boy bands and Country artists, but young Irish singer Derek Ryan has made the leap across the divide, and with two Country albums now under his belt, he has also received rave reviews for his current Country-Trad single It's Friday. Derek was a member of the boy band D-Side when they had three Top 10 singles in the UK Pop charts plus a best-selling album Real World. But as fame on the boy band scene can be a fleeting thing, unless one is a member of Boyzone or Westlife, Derek decided to call it a day and seek more longevity on the Country scene. His first album, A Mother's Prayer, did reasonably well, over a year and a half ago, and the most recent album, Made of Gold, has also been a steady seller during the past few months. But most of the attention in recent weeks has been focused on the single It's Friday, and the feel-good factor about the video for the song, which has become popular with people of all ages. Derek writes most of the songs that he records and he seems to have hit a chord with the younger audience with this one. Words such as, 'The band plays on and the beer it flows' or 'tonight â€Ëœaint Monday, it's Friday', performed in a pub setting, with banjo, accordion and bodhrán in the backing, all add up to some nice toe-tapping sounds. The young Carlow singer, who also trained as an accountant, is concentrating on his Country music career now and he is obviously influenced by the success of other young vocalists such as Mike Denver, Nathan Carter and Patrick Feeney who have all made it big on the Country scene in recent years. The current album Made of Gold, features songs that Derek has written for the most part plus one from his all-time favourite singer Buddy Holly titled Early in the Morning. But it is the interest in the single It's Friday that may be the catalyst for future success on the Country scene for this former boy band singer.