Deren Ney
Deren Michael Ney is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist from San Francisco, California. He has been lead guitarist for Nicki Bluhm and The Gramblers. He made his solo debut in 2019 with "West Coast Mama" on Volplane Records.
Guitar World editor and The Allman Brothers Band biographer Alan Paul has described Ney as "a secret weapon of sorts".
As lead guitarist he led the Gramblers' bravura live shows, including appearances at Bonnaroo Music Festival, Newport Folk Festival, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass and Red Rocks Amphitheatre with Tedeschi Trucks Band. He was featured in rock photographer Jay Blakesberg's Guitars That Jam book alongside his 1971 Gibson ES-335.
Biography
Ney grew up in Lafayette, California. According to Jay Blakesberg's book "Guitars That Jam", Ney was inspired to play guitar at 6 years old after seeing the movie Back to the Future and wanting to learn Johnny B/ Goode. He performed in local bands in an active youth music scene that included Cass McCombs, Todd Sickafoose, Mike Silverman aka That 1 Guy and Peter Hayes of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.After college he began playing with former classmate Nicki Bluhm in 2006. Bluhm told The Mercury News in 2012:
“Initially, I was a solo artist. I quickly realized I didn’t like that,” she said. “It was hard to cut through the noise in clubs all alone. I asked Deren to come with me.
In 2008 they expanded into a full band, dubbed The Gramblers. With Bluhm the band toured the West Coast for the next few years and had modest success, but it was the band's one-take performance of Hall and Oates' I Can't Go For That, performed live in their moving tour van, that went viral and amassed over a million fews in a week and made NBG a breakout act. Over the next year they made appearances at some of the top festivals in the country and sold out shows across the country. They appeared on late night TV like Conan and were even featured on New York Magazine's Pop Culture Matrix and toured Europe in 2016.
The 30-plus "Van Sessions" have over 10 million views on YouTube to date and include Cameron Crowe among their fans, who told the band after seeing the videos, "Don't sell the van."
Ney wrote some of the Gramblers signature tunes, including their top radio single, "Waiting On Love".
Ney is a cousin of country music legend Tex Ritter, Three's Company actor John Ritter and actors Jason Ritter, Tyler Ritter and singer Carly Ritter.
Solo career
On October 18, 2019, Ney released a single "West Coast Mama" on Volplane Records. The video followed two weeks later. The backing band included Tim Lefebvre, Pete Levin, and Ryan Avellone. Dave Mulligan and Mike Curry of The Gramblers, Los Angeles-based singer Lauren Barth, and The Mother Hips' Greg Loiacono sing harmonies.Discography
Solo
- West Coast Mama, single,
- Crown Shyness , single,
Nicki Bluhm and The Gramblers
- Toby's Song
- Driftwood
- Nicki Bluhm and The Gramblers
- Love Wild Lost
Film
Backline
Following the suicide of his friend, guitarist Neal Casal among others helped launch the effort. Ney significantly downplayed his role, telling radio host Jake Feinberg he "gave it a name and then smarter people did all the work." Backline works in conjunction with some of the top charities in the industry to provide musicians with a case worker to help them navigate the web of resources available to them.As Director
Ney has directed and animated several music videos, including:| 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 " | Deren Ney |