Derek St. Holmes

Derek St. Holmes (born February 1953) is an American musician best known as the vocalist and rhythm guitar player for Ted Nugent's successful early solo career.

Early years

In Riverview, Michigan Derek received his first guitar for his eleventh birthday. Allowed to practice in his basement, he played and learned everything he could from all the rock and roll idols of the era. He started his own neighborhood band, played for all the high school dances and perfected his craft.

In 1974, Ted Nugent first became aware of Derek's band, "Scott", as he opened for an Amboy Dukes show at the Lincoln Park Theater. The Amboy Dukes had already recorded several albums and were a staple of the Midwest rock scene at the time. When the Amboy Dukes broke up, Nugent's road manager (Phil Nicholson) contacted St. Holmes about auditioning for Nugent's project. Nugent was looking for a lead singer to give his band the sound that would catapult him to stardom.

St. Holmes was hired and the band of Ted Nugent with Derek St. Holmes, former Amboy Dukes bassist Rob Grange and Cliff Davies, later changed to be known as The Ted Nugent Band was launched and started immediately on an extensive U.S. tour. Traveling and performing nearly 300 days a year, they played with other popular bands, such as Aerosmith, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Bob Seger, Van Halen and Black Sabbath among other greats. In 1975, at only 22 years of age, St. Holmes found himself traveling the world and playing to sold out audiences in U.S. and European cities. He remained in Nugent's band until 1978.

Reunited with Ted Nugent

Although St. Holmes returned to Nugent's band to record numerous albums, it was not until 1995 that St. Holmes and Nugent would co-write another project. This was the first Nugent / St. Holmes writing collaboration in nearly fifteen years, Atlantic Records' Spirit of the Wild.

2000s

In 2000, St. Holmes released Then and Now, a collection of many St. Holmes' rock material. Bassist Chase Chitty (Pat Travers Band), drummer Steve Pace (Hydra, Krokus, Whitford/St. Holmes) and keyboardist Russ Still accompany St. Holmes with songs such as "Dr. Love" and "Surrounded", and the energy rocker "In Too Deep".

On July 4, 2008 St. Holmes made a guest appearance at Ted Nugent's 6000th concert in Detroit, MI. He jammed on "Hey Baby", "Cat Scratch Fever", and "Stranglehold" with Ted.

On August 24, 2008 he joined Ted Nugent on stage at Capital One Bank Theatre at Westbury in Westbury, New York. He sang and played guitar with Ted Nugent on "Hey Baby", "Just What The Doctor Ordered", "Dog Eat Dog", "Stormtroopers", "Cat Scratch Fever" and "Stranglehold".

The latest album from Derek features: "Standing in the Rain", "Dr. Love" and "Surrounded".

Derek has re-recorded some famous Aerosmith songs for a special promotion, and is making them available in MP3 format. Derek's versions are available online on his website.

Derek is singing in guitar maker Paul Reed Smith's band. Derek has co-written many of the tunes for a new CD including "One In the Same" and "Ice Cold Kisses". The CD is in the vein of 70's rock with some more modern elements. The "Paul Reed Smith Band" CD was released in June 2010 and is available at http://www.paulreedsmithmusic.com/.

On 27 December 2008, Derek was a special guest at a Get The Led Out concert at Ram's Head Live in Baltimore, MD. He played guitar for "Rock and Roll", then sang and played "Stranglehold", by Ted Nugent. St. Holmes is actually the voice heard in the track recording. He also performed "Stranglehold" with Get the Led Out at the Nokia in New York City on March 7, 2009 and again in Baltimore on May 15th, 2010.

In 2010, Derek participated in a tribute album titled Mister Bolin’s Late Night Revival, a compilation of 17 previously unreleased tracks written by guitar legend Tommy Bolin prior to his death in 1976. The CD includes other artists such as HiFi Superstar, Doogie White, Eric Martin, Troy Luccketta, Jeff Pilson, Randy Jackson, Rachel Barton, Rex Carroll, Kimberley Dahme, and The 77’s. A percentage of the proceeds from this project will benefit the Jackson Recovery Centers.^[1]

In April 2011, Ted Nugent announced that Derek would be joining his band for Nugent's 2011 I Still Believe Tour. ^[2]

Discography

1975 Ted Nugent Ted Nugent (Epic Records)*

1976 Ted Nugent Free-for-All (Epic Records)*

1977 Ted Nugent Cat Scratch Fever (Epic Records)*

1978 Ted Nugent Double Live Gonzo! (Epic Records)*

1979 St. Paradise St. Paradise (Warner Bros. Records)

1980 & 1995 Whitford/St. Holmes Whitford/St. Holmes (CBS Records)

1981 Ted Nugent Great Gonzos (Epic Records)**

1982 Ted Nugent Nugent

1984 & 1985 Michael Schenker Built to Destroy (Chrysalis Records)

1990 & 1993 Vanilla Fudge Live (Rhino Records)

1993 Ted Nugent Out of Control (Epic Records)

1994 Dazed and Confused Movie Soundtrack (MCA Pictures)

1995 Ted Nugent Spirit of the Wild (Atlantic Records)

1997 Private Parts Movie Soundtrack (Paramount/WB)

1999 That 70's Show/Rockin TV Sitcom Soundtrack (Volcano Records)

References

1. ^ Mister Bolin's Late Night Revival, 2010
2. ^ Gibson Lifestyle, 2011

External links

• Derek St. Holmes' MySpace page
• Derek St. Holmes' VH1 page

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Name	St. Holmes, Derek
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Date of birth	1953
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