A Note from the Author

Mixtape is probably the most autobiographical story I’ve written thus far in my career. Playing in garage bands was a seminal part of my teenage years (yes, we got the cops called on us for a noise complaint), and my biggest goal here was to distill those experiences here in way that felt both unique and familiar. I actually started writing this story nearly twenty years ago, while I was still in high school myself, but I knew that I wasn’t mature enough as a writer or as a human to do it justice. I’m glad I was finally able to get it out in its current form. It’s a story I was meant to tell for a long time.


Music was huge in those formative teenage years. It still is, and I’m always listening to something, either through headphones or on the record player in our living room at home. Learning to play music, though—learning guitar and piano as a fourteen year-old—was something that gave me some of my best friends and some of the most exciting experiences in high school. If anything, I hope that I distilled those experiences in these 60,000+ words.


As always, there’s an entire list of people to thank in these pages.


First and foremost, my wife Jennifer. Thank you for supporting this crazy endeavor. Thank you for coming along to the book signings and the events, always with a smile and a helping hand. And thank you for always letting me choose the soundtrack to our road trips. I love living this life side by side with you.


To the “real” Derrick: When I finally “cracked” this story, I had the realization that I was coming at it from the wrong angle. It wasn’t my story that needed to be told—it was yours. I hope I’ve done it justice. Obviously, I’ve taken a lot of creative license, but at the heart of it, the story of our friendship and playing music together in a garage band was, and remains, my favorite memory of growing up.


Charles D’Amico: Thank you for believing in my ability to write and to tell stories and to want to get those stories to as large an audience as possible. Having your support and the support of Blue Handle Publishing has been incredible.


To everyone else, thank you:

Gabe Morgan

Brandon Biggers

Andrew Monroe

Derek Porterfield

Derek Tessneer

Lance Adkins

Niccole Caan

Kenny Nagunst

Dusty Boyd

Rick Treon

Danielle Girard

Lyssa Kay Adams

Elizabeth Williams

Rodrigo Godoy

Abby Jimenez

Dallas Bell

Burrowing Owl Books

Jim Livingston

Morgan Duerden

The “Smoke Easy” Guys