While you may not know the name, Justin Derrico has a CV to rival some of the biggest stars. The guitarist has played with the likes of The Calling, Tina Turner, The Pussycat Dolls and Beyonce. Most recently, he’s served as Grammy Award winner Pink’s guitarist for four years, touring the world including multiple trips down under.
Now with Pink taking time off coupled with a break in his other commitments, Derrico has launched his first solo album, Boldly Going Nowhere, which he describes as, “a pretty cool instrumental guitar record with a bit of a musical journey going on.”
Derrico first picked up a guitar when he was 15, having hung around a lot of friends who were musicians.
“It looked like so much fun! And the more I played the more I fell in love with it and I couldn’t really put it down,” he says.
And as they say, the rest is history, with Derrico playing with a whole host of artists, and ultimately joining Pink’s band. He’s toured most of the world, but counts his recent Pink tour to Australia as a highlight.
“We actually broke all sorts of records. It was a lot of fun to travel around Australia and be there for that long and actually get a chance to see what it’s like to live there for a little while,” he says. “It was a pretty amazing experience!”
Having been well and truly won over, the first stop on his inaugural solo tour will be Australia, with plans for a European tour later this year.
And for Aussie fans who would have last seen Derrico hanging upside down playing guitar at the Pink concert, he says to prepare for an entirely different experience.
“That’s not in the budget! There will be no trapeze guitar playing,” he laughs.
Justin Derrico plays at ANU Bar on Saturday 13 August 2011. Click Here for tickets.
