Derek St. Holmes - Early Years

Early Years

In Riverview, Michigan Derek received his first guitar for his eleventh birthday. Allowed to practice in his basement, he played and learned everything he could from all the rock and roll idols of the era. He started his own neighborhood band, played for all the high school dances.

In 1974, Ted Nugent first became aware of Derek's band, "Scott", as he opened for an Amboy Dukes show at the Lincoln Park Theater. The Amboy Dukes had already recorded several albums and were a staple of the Midwest rock scene at the time. When the Amboy Dukes broke up, Nugent's road manager (Phil Nicholson) contacted St. Holmes about auditioning for Nugent's project. Nugent was looking for a lead singer to give his band the sound that would catapult him to stardom (citation needed).

St. Holmes was hired and the band of Ted Nugent with Derek St. Holmes, former Amboy Dukes bassist Rob Grange and Cliff Davies, later changed to be known as The Ted Nugent Band was launched and started immediately on an extensive U.S. tour. Traveling and performing nearly 300 days a year, they played with other popular bands, such as Aerosmith, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Bob Seger, Van Halen and Black Sabbath. In 1975, at only 22 years of age, St. Holmes found himself traveling the world and playing to sold out audiences in U.S. and European cities. He remained in Nugent's band until 1978.

In 1979 Derek joined up with Ted Nugent's bass player Rob Grange, Montrose Ex-drummer Denny Carmassi to form ST. PARADISE. They released 1 album for Warner Bros before moving on to other musical careers.

The 1984 documentary This Is Spinal Tap features lead vocalist David St. Hubbins, whose name was influenced by St. Holmes.