Article Contributed by Gratefulweb
Published on 2026-06-10
Singer-songwriter, lifelong surfer, and holistic practitioner Derek Thomas is very pleased to announce that he will release a new EP, *Derek Thomas Live At The Laguna Beach Cultural Arts Center*, on August 14, 2026. The first single from the record, “Running Fast Ain’t Free,” is now available everywhere.
“In the spirit of Townes Van Zandt’s *Live at the Old Quarter, Houston, Texas*, and The Velvet Underground’s *Live at Max’s Kansas City*, it captures the atmosphere that is normally edited out of the final cut.” — *Rock and Roll Globe*
What began as a one-off performance in an intimate listening room was captured almost incidentally. With no expectation of release, the performance unfolded freely: musicians responding to one another in real time, arrangements shifting on instinct, moments stretching and resolving without calculation.
“The EP was never meant to be, it just happened,” Thomas says. “And that’s exactly why it works.”
Only afterward, through salvaged board recordings and careful, patient mixing, did the project reveal its potential. What emerged is not a traditional live album, but something far more immediate. It is a document of presence, retaining the imperfections, the subtle shifts, and the human interplay that are often polished out of studio releases. The result is a record that feels less like a performance and more like an experience, placing the listener inside the room as it unfolds.
Thomas’ website is available at derekthomasmusic.com.
Derek Thomas is a singer-songwriter, lifelong surfer, and holistic practitioner whose work lives at the intersection of sound, movement, and presence. Splitting his time between Laguna Beach and Nicaragua, Thomas has built a life shaped by music, surfing, and spiritual practice. Across his catalog, Thomas resists easy categorization, as his sound moves fluidly between Americana, indie folk, and fingerstyle-driven songwriting. Yet, regardless of the form his creativity takes at a given moment, there is a throughline to all he does: a quiet commitment to authenticity.
With his psychedelic project 60 Watt Kid and later his Americana-leaning work as Derek Thomas and Skyline Drive, he built a strong critical foundation, earning recognition from *Rolling Stone*, multiple “Best of Los Angeles Americana” honors, and placements in film and television. But even as momentum grew, Thomas felt pulled elsewhere.
Rather than doubling down on industry expectations, he stepped away. What followed was nearly a decade spent living and working across Indonesia, the Maldives, and Central America. Eventually, that path led to the founding of Soul Water Surf in Nicaragua, a holistic retreat space where music, meditation, and ocean-based practices intersect.
Whether leading a breathwork session or shaping a song, Thomas approaches each experience as something alive and unrepeatable. As he steps into this next chapter, Thomas isn’t chasing momentum or reacting to industry cycles. Instead, he’s focused on something more fundamental: creating work that reflects a life fully lived, where music, movement, and mindfulness are not separate pursuits, but different expressions of the same idea.
