Born in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, Harvey Derrick lived and worked most of his youth on a Texas ranch. He was an all-star athlete in high school and joined the U.S. Army when he graduated from Edmond High School. After his first army tour, he received a football scholarship at Missouri Southern State College in Joplin, Missouri, and became the most prolific scorer in the school’s history.
In addition to his sports career, Derrick has always had a passion for music. Harvey sang in churches all over Oklahoma as a child and has performed at state fairs, clubs, showcases, restaurants, concerts, and charity events from coast to coast. He has appeared on the Louisiana Hayride as well as live radio and television shows. Furthermore, Harvey was the president of the Songwriters of Oklahoma for nine consecutive terms, a member of the Midwestern Country Entertainers Association, and is the owner of Gusher Records, Furrow Music (BMI), and Planter Music (ASCAP).
Harvey recorded his first record in 1983. His first album, “Dreams On The Line,” which contained his nationally acclaimed patriotic song “Butterfield’s Taps,” was recorded in 1984. Since his musical debut, he has had more than forty of his original songs published and recorded. In 1992, Derrick recorded and released a limited edition of cowboy recitation songs that he co-wrote, entitled “Tales of the Western Trail,” which was placed in the archives of the Dickinson Research Center of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum (formerly the Cowboy Hall of Fame). He also narrated James Rice’s children’s cowboy books for Pelican Publishing Company’s audiocassettes.
His ambition to be a successful songwriter stems from his desire to help young, talented artists and writers as a promoter, producer, and publisher in the music industry. He currently resides in Edmond, Oklahoma.
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