zach deputy joshua tree california music festival

In his early 20s, Deputy experienced a major turning point that would take his music in an entirely new direction. “I was playing in a band but I wasn’t inspired—music wasn’t bringing me the joy that it used to, and I felt like I might be done with it altogether,” he says.

Along with quitting the band mid-tour, Deputy traded in his electric guitar and amp for a nylon-string acoustic and moved back home to work construction with his dad. “At work all day I’d have this music in my head, and as soon as I got home I’d go straight to the guitar,” he says. Serendipitously landing a solo gig by walking into a bar just after that night’s featured artist had bailed, Deputy soon introduced the world to the sound he’d eventually dub“island-infused, drum ‘n’ bass, gospel-ninja-soul.” By 2008 he’d released his debut album Out of the Water and—thanks to his ingenuity in looping—made his name as an unforgettable one-man-band live act.

Band Website: https://www.zachdeputy.com/