| Deren Ney | |
| Birth Name: | Deren Michael Ney |
| Birth Place: | Berkeley, California, U.S. |
| Occupation: | Singer-songwriter, guitarist, record producer, filmmaker |
| Instrument: | Vocals, guitar, keys |
| Years Active: | 2008–present |
Deren Michael Ney is an American musician, songwriter and filmmaker from San Francisco, California. He performed with Nicki Bluhm and The Gramblers before making his solo debut in 2019 with "West Coast Mama" on Volplane Records.
A multi-instrumentalist, Guitar World editor and The Allman Brothers Band biographer Alan Paul described him as "a secret weapon of sorts."[1]
In recent years Ney has directed music videos for Amanda Shires, Marcus King, Animal Liberation Orchestra, Jaime Wyatt and Greg Loiacono.
Ney and former classmate Nicki Bluhm[2] formed the band Nicki Bluhm and The Gramblers in San Francisco in 2008. Bluhm told The Mercury News in 2012, “Initially, I was a solo artist. I quickly realized I didn’t like that. It was hard to cut through the noise in clubs all alone. I asked Deren to come with me."[3]
The band's 2012 performance of Hall and Oates' I Can't Go For That (No Can Do) in their tour van amassed over a million views and prompted them to go on a North American tour. National tours, festivals and appearances on late night shows followed. They were featured on New York Magazine's Pop Culture Matrix. The "Van Sessions" have over 10 million views on YouTube to date.
Ney penned the band's highest-charting radio single, "Waiting On Love". The band has been inactive since 2017. Their final performance was at the Stern Grove Festival in their hometown of San Francisco.
On October 18, 2019, Ney released a single "West Coast Mama" on Volplane Records. It was a surprise hit he hasn't matched with his following singles. His stable of musicians includes Tim Lefebvre, Pete Levin, and former Grambler bandmates Steve Adams, Dave Mulligan and Mike Curry.
Ney has also directed and animated music videos for Amanda Shires, Marcus King, Animal Liberation Orchestra, Jaime Wyatt and Greg Loiacono. Ney resides in Oakland, California.
Following the suicide of guitarist Neal Casal in 2019, Ney's widely-shared remembrance of his friend helped inspire the creation of the mental health organization for musicians called Backline (though in a 2019 interview with the Jake Feinberg Show, he called his contribution minimal.)[4] [5]
| Year | Video | Artist | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | "Another Rolling Stone" | Nicki Bluhm and The Gramblers | |
| 2019 | "San Felipe" | Greg Loiacono | |
| 2019 | "Close Your Eyes" | Greg Loiacono | |
| 2019 | "Chamberlain's Trunk" | Greg Loiacono | |
| 2019 | "West Coast Mama" | Deren Ney | |
| 2020 | "Crown Shyness (Stay Home and Get High)" | Deren Ney | |
| 2020 | "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere" | Deren Ney, Greensky Bluegrass, Infamous Stringdusters, Midnight North, Brothers Comatose | |
| 2020 | "That's All" | Amanda Shires | |
| 2020 | "All Come Together" | Leslie Mendelson | |
| 2021 | "The Problem" | Amanda Shires | |
| 2021 | "Drivin' Down to Georgia"" | Tom Petty (FX shots) | |
| 2021 | "Gone For Christmas" | Amanda Shires | |
| 2021 | "Need Shelter" | Jaime Wyatt | |
| 2021 | "No One Above You" | Marcus King featuring Eric Krasno | |
| 2021 | "Bird With No Name" | Jimmy Herring featuring Circles Around The Sun |