By FRED KRONER
fred@mahometnews.com
Once upon a time, Derrick Roy had lived his entire life in Mahomet.
Once upon a time, all of Roy’s education was in the Mahomet-Seymour school district.
Like all good fairy tales, this story has a happy ending. Or, in Roy’s case, a happy continuation.
At age 35, Roy is far from nearing the end.
The band leader and drummer for the Feudin’ Hillbillys, Roy retains fond memories of a community where he hasn’t lived now for 29 years.
That is why you will find his group on the playbill for the 2019 Mahomet River Fest, just like it has been 12 of the last 14 years.
“Even though I am technically not from Mahomet, it feels like a home away from home,” Roy said. “My dad (Rick) and daughter (Elizabeth) are buried there (behind the Shiloh United Methodist Church).
“We have a seventh-generation family farm (also north of the Shiloh Church). We’re heavily rooted in the area.”
***
Music has been a passion in the Roy family for decades.
His grandmother (Winnifred Roy) was an organist at the Shiloh United Methodist Church. His dad played the piano at the church and later founded the Nashville Sound Opry, in Mason City, and the McLean County Opry, in Bellflower.
“I’d sit in the front row from the time I was a newborn on,” Derrick Roy said.
His role quickly expanded from spectator to participant.
“At 3 or 4, I was playing (drums) on stage while my dad sang,” Derrick Roy said. “At 11 or 12, he got me playing an entire set.
“Since I was 14, close to every weekend I’ve played somewhere.”
His dad didn’t give him a break for being a teen-ager.
“He held me to the same standards at 14 as anyone else on stage,” Derrick Roy said.
When Rick Roy passed away (in July, 2009), the visitation was held in the former elementary school in Bellflower.
“There were over 1,700 signatures in the guest book,” Derrick Roy said. “That shows you the power of music.”
***
The Feudin’ Hillbillys are not just a small-town band with a regional appeal.
Since 2005, the group has opened for 43 national acts, including Luke Bryan (twice) and Brett Eldredge (twice).
“Our 2019 (schedule) is really strong,” Derrick Roy said. “We open for seven acts which are national headliners.”
Included is a May 31 appearance at the Farmer City Heritage Days, opening for Tyler Rich, and a return to the Mahomet River Fest on Aug. 24, opening for Joe Nichols.
“We have several hundred songs in our master song list,” Derrick Roy said. “About 98 percent of what we do are covers (from other performers), but we will throw in a few originals.”
Sometimes, the Hillbillys are the main attraction and are on the stage for three hours.
Whether they are hired as the opening act or as the headliner, Roy said, ”they both have benefits.
“It’s nice to meet and see some of the bigger artists and talk shop with them and use them as mentors.
“It’s also fun to do a full night. When you open, you feel like you just get going, and you’re done. It takes longer to set up than to play.”
***
Music is best described as a hobby for Roy and his band mates.
“We have full-time day jobs and families,” said Roy, who works in sales at Alexander Lumber.
Their success won’t be defined by whether they become prominent national recording artists.
“Success can be measured in different levels than by packing up, moving to Nashville and chasing a dream,” Roy said. “We would visit and play there, but (moving) would be tough in the position we’re at right now.”
That doesn’t mean he’s not looking to the future.
“When I talk about expectations, I’m not just thinking 2019,” Roy said. “I’m thinking long-term, what we need to do the next 14 years, whether that growth is in new fans, a larger geography or making a bigger difference in local communities.”
The Feudin’ Hillbillys have a steady stream of gigs.
They were in Peoria on Friday, opening for Blackjack Billy. On Saturday, they played at Six Strings Club, in Bloomington.
Those who attended both shows didn’t hear the same lineup of music.
“We cater to what we feel will be most appropriate to the crowd,” Roy said. “A campus-town bar would be a different set list than if we were in Downtown Chicago.”
The Feudin’ Hillbillys have played from Chicago to Cairo in Illinois and from Indiana to Iowa and Missouri.
“I’d never been to Chicago prior to playing with the Hillbillys,” Roy said.
Last year, the group did 93 shows.
“Every weekend, we’re exposed to new communities and new faces,” Roy said.
***
A decade ago, Roy had decisions to make after his father passed away.
The Feudin’ Hillbillys had been formed in 2005, he said, as “a spinoff of the (Bellflower) Opry that Dad and I had.”
The question was whether to divide his time among both ventures or restrict himself to one.
“Instead of splitting my efforts, I decided to focus all my efforts on the Hillbillys,” Derrick Roy said.
“That’s when we saw it take off.”
He’s a man of many hats within the group.
The drummer handles all of the behind-the-scenes details such as social media, booking, hiring new members and making sure a driver is scheduled for Saturday trips.
For the Hillbillys, one day makes a lot of difference.
“Logistically, Fridays can be tough,” Roy said. “We tend to drive individually (to their performances).
“We clock out (at work) and head directly to the show.
“Saturday, we have the entire day to get somewhere. We ride in the motorhome for the camaraderie.”
Roy has found the entertainment industry to be a two-way street.
“The same way fans use music as an outlet, we get a bigger kick out of it in our end providing that for them,” Roy said.
***
Thirty years ago, the young man in the crowd who was paying rapt attention to the music and the musicians was Derrick Roy.
Looking in the audience now is like looking in a mirror.
His 10-year-old son, Kendrick, is the reflection he sees.
“He enjoys singing and dancing,” Derrick Roy said.
That’s one aspect that’s not on Derrick Roy’s job list.
“Not anymore,” he said. “I can do it out of necessity, but everyone else sings and are better singers.
“And it’s hard to entertain behind the drums.”
Roy is a self-taught musician.
“I never had any formal training,” he said. “I’ve learned enough piano to be dangerous and, at times (at Belflower), I had to play bass when we were short a bass player.”
Since he doesn’t read music, Roy has required some assistance.
“In high school (at DeLand-Weldon), I played in the band,” he said. “I had to have someone play it for me first, then I would memorize the piece.”
He has found other ways to compensate.
“I picked up on the theory side of things,” Roy said. “It’s like if you hear Spanish, even if you’re not fluent, in the context you can understand some of what they are saying.”
***
Roy and his girlfriend, Libby Neathery, live in rural Tuscola.
He has learned to deeply appreciate what some would call the little things in life.
At the end of a day, the meaningful moments go beyond whether there was a standing ovation at their show.
“The way I gauge success is there might be someone from a venue who said we were the most polite band they’d had or that we cleaned up the stage cleaner than it was when we got there,” Roy said. “It’s the little things that mean a great deal.
“That’s stuff that doesn’t always make it out to the fans.”
Other current members of the Feudin’ Hillbillys are Wes Sperry (bass and vocals), Rod Evans (lead guitar and vocals), Patrick ‘Zeke’ Sheppard (lead vocals and rhythm electric), Ethan Gorrell (lead vocals and acoustic guitar), Brad Jones (sound engineer), Anthony Mills (lighting director) and Trevor Hendryx (photographer).
Occasionally, they live up to the band’s name.
“We use the hashtag #kinfolkallthetime,” Roy said. “We feud, but we also love each other.
“We’re like a band of brothers.”
Whatever the future holds, the Feudin’ Hillbillys want to keep doing what they have done.
“If we could get a song or two on the radio, that would be wonderful,” Roy said, “but we want to just keep playing.
“Once it gets in your system, there’s no getting away from it.”
