During his musical career, former 1st Cavalry Division Band member Derrick Gilbert has rubbed elbows with such luminaries as legendary artist Prince and his one-time collaborator, Sheila E. Next month, the Copperas Cove gospel singer is scheduled to perform as part of the renowned South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin.
âIâm excited,â the 47-year-old father of four said last week. âRight now, Iâm waiting to hear back (on a specific date and venue), but Iâm trying to do it (his gig) at Huston-Tillotson University in Austin.â
Gilbert, an Arkansas native who served in the U.S. Army Reserve from 1996 to 2003 and then six years on active duty, started performing as a kid singing with family members in church. He wrote his first gospel tune when he was 12 years old and recorded his first demo at age 15. After graduating from North Little Rock High School in 1995, he headed to St. Cloud State University in Minnesota to study music business and audio engineering.
In January 2001, he moved to New York to pursue his dreams, and entered Amateur Night at the famed Apollo Theater, where he won the competition for his rendition of a Brian McKnight song, âOne Last Cry.â He also started an independent record label and recorded his first album.
Then came Sept. 11. Gilbert said he lost his record deal after the attack on the World Trade Center. He said he also lost his passion for music briefly.
âMy attention shifted. Being in New York on that particular day was such a scary moment,â he said.
The day before, on Sept. 10, 2001, Gilbert said he was in Walden, New York, about 70 miles north of Manhattan and had plans to go to the city, but a friend advised him against it.
Gilbert spent the next year working on music and also received an invitation from one of his musical idols that proved a turning point in his life and his career.
âI was invited by Prince to come to (his home and studio) Paisley Park for an event called a celebration, because of an album I recorded in New York,â Gilbert said.
At the time, Gilbert said Prince was a devout Jehovahâs Witness and he had written a song about religion that had an expletive in the title.
Somewhat apprehensive about having Prince listen to the song, Gilbert said he had his defenses up, assuming the star musician would question how he could be a gospel singer with a song of such a title.
He told the singer that the song was about how because the word gospel means the good news of Jesus Christ, he was talking about the way to capitalize off of organized religion.
âI thought I was done with music after meeting Prince. I met so many producers, but something just didnât sit right. You know, the lifestyle they were living … I knew it wasnât my lifestyle. I almost got a deal with Capitol Records, and when that didnât work out, my recruiter told me that my contract with the Army Reserve was almost up, so I could go active duty.
âSo I re-classed to be air defense artillery and I was stationed in Korea. I was there maybe four months, and then I auditioned for the Army band and the music just came back alive.â
Gilbert, who also was a vocalist in the 2nd Infantry Division Band, left the Army in 2009. When he is not writing and recording songs and videos, he teaches music at New Horizon School of the Arts in Killeen. He is on Instagram at @adage3000, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/derrick.a.gilbert. For information on South by Southwest Music Festival, go to https://www.sxsw.com.
