Nationally Know Musician
Vernon Derrick Dies at 74

Vernon Derrick during his 2007 Poke Salat Festival performance
File Photo by: Dwight Hayes

January 4, 2008
Vernon Derrick, a nationally know fiddle player and backup musician died Friday morning at Marshall Medical Center North.

Derrick was born November 7, 1933, in Grant, Ala., the youngest of Elbert and Alice Kirkland Derrick’s five children. He moved to the Eddy community at age 8 and he attended school at Arab.  Surrounded by a family of musicians, Derrick began to play at the age of 5.  He was 14 when he began to play the fiddle, the signature instrument that would launch his musical career.  He played with a variety of groups over the years, including Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, The Stanley Brothers, Jimmy Martin and the Sunny Mountain Boys, Hank Williams, Jr and Hank Williams, III.  He also backed such artists as Lefty Frizell, Stonewall Jackson, George Morgan and Merle Travis.  For more on his life, read this feature story written by long time friend Steve Maze.

Derrick is survived by his wife Joy Sutton Derrick, a son Charles Hyatt of North Carolinea and a daughter Janene Hyatt of Birmingham.  The funeral was held Sunday, January 6 at 2 pm at the Arab Heritage Memorial Chapel.  Burial followed in the Mount Oak Cemetery.