Every Tuesday night for more than a decade, a group of Del Ray dads have gotten together in James Crowe’s basement to rock out.
Last Tuesday, the five-member band officially known as The Derds practiced the lineup for their upcoming annual St. Patrick’s Day show at Evening Star Cafe’s No. 9 Lounge in Del Ray at 2000 Mount Vernon Avenue. The show is from 7:30-10 p.m. Friday, March 13, featuring performers from the Del Ray Strings and the Boyle School of Irish Dance.
Crowe, a self-taught guitarist and singer, started the band in 2013 after a neighbor reached out on a Del Ray Dads listserv about playing music together. Within a year, the group was playing gigs at Evening Star and St. Elmo’s Coffee Pub.
“We’re definitely Del Ray’s house band,” Crowe said. “We’re pretty happy at the No. 9 Lounge and at festivals here in Alexandria, or if we’re invited to play in D.C. or at a fundraiser in Arlington.”
The Derds play some originals, but a vast majority of the band’s repertoire are covers of rock hits. Sometimes, like with their Allman Brothers-styled rendition of Madonna’s “Borderline,” the band will play classic songs with a twist.
None of the players are full-time musicians, and only their bassist, Alan Paez, is classically trained. By day, Paez is an administrative law judge for the federal government.
“This is really a lot of fun,” Paez said. “I’m somebody who feeds off of other people and get my energy from that. Usually before a show, I’m kind of calm, but by the end of the night, I am so pumped. It’s a great feeling. It really is.”
Crowe, a real estate agent, started playing guitar at the age of 15. When he’s strumming, he plays by ear and lists Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, The Beatles and The Who as his greatest musical influences.
There have been 11 band members over the years. Crowe and guitarist Brian Siebenlist are the only remaining original members. A band of dads, the current roster of Derds members have a total of nine kids.
Drummer Dan Wolf is an independent film and TV writer, guitarist Greg Sullivan is a financial accountant and Siebenlist, a grant program office director for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, took up guitar while he was in the Peace Corps in Guatemala.
“Even if we never played out, we would still play here in the basement every week,” Wolf said. “It’s that much fun. But when we play out and I see people bopping to the beat or singing along, that is the reward.”
