Derek "DEE" Calloway II | SoultoneCymbals.com

Derek "DEE" Calloway II

Derek "DEE" Calloway II

Derek "DEE" Calloway II, was born and raised in Southern California, being raised in the Gospel church as a young child, it wasn't until the age of 15 when Dee picked up the sticks and had no choice but step up and carry the load to play for the church, where his mother served as the Minister Of Music at that time when the original drummer left out on tour. During that time he began to develop and learn how to flow, use dynamics and train his ears to know how to follow where the music went. At the age of 17 he was exposed to, as well as started playing at most of the local jam sessions, gigs and any function that involved live music around the LA area where the top professional musicians producers and performers would go and perform. Once he turned 18 and graduated high school in 2003 as an honor roll student, was offered a scholarship to college but didn't go that route, he decided to pursue his career as a professional musician and tour across the country and worldwide. A few months after that Dee auditioned for a band named 4th Avenue Jones, after getting a call back from the band’s leader Ahmad he was offered the opportunity to join the band and that opened the door for him to start his professional career as a musician. In 2004, 4th Avenue Jones released their fourth independent album HipRockSoul and in 2005, they released their first Gotee Records/EMI/virgin-distributed album, titled Stereo: The Evolution of HipRockSoul. Being apart of the band, Dee had the opportunity to tour and perform for fans in Sweden, Denmark, Canada, the UK, Holland, and most of the United States. The band has shared the stage and collaborated with notables such as James Brown, The Roots, Sheryl Crow, Black Eyed Peas and KRS-ONE to name a few. On an independent note outside of 4th Avenue Jones, Dee has had opportunity to work with a few others artists in the industry such as:

Malcolm Jamal-Warner- Live Shows

Robin Thicke- Live Shows & Studio Recordings

Melanie Fiona- Live Shows & TV Performance (Kanye West’s European “Glow In The Dark Tour”), AOL/Black Voices Sessions

DJ Quik- Live Shows

Deitrick Haddon- Live Performance

Currently Dee’s work with 4th Avenue Jones is featured on MTV & VH1 reality shows and he is also working with new and upcoming r&b/pop/rock and gospel artists in the industry performing across the country, and as well at most of Southern California’s live music venues.