Born and raised in Selma, Kevin Derryberry and two older brothers were raised by hard-working, knee-praying Christians.

From his earliest recollections, all Derryberry wanted was to be in a band. At his job at a glass factory he would daydream of being discovered, finding the right combination in his music and his playing partners.

His first experience was with a small band in Mobile. Six or seven months of this and all Derryberry wanted was to go home.

In 1980, Derryberry began with the well-known band Telluride as the lead singer and keyboard player.

This band spent years opening for such artists as Charlie Daniels, Blues Travelers, both Allmans’ bands and the Rolling Stones.

For the 18 years he was with Telluride, Derryberry was on a lost road to nowhere. Too much nightlife, booze and other vices pulled at him constantly.

In 1994, Derryberry produced his last secular CD, “Forbidden Fruit.”

If you have not had the opportunity to hear Derryberry’s testimony, you have missed a joyful and tearful insight into God reaching to a man who was on his knees throwing up the previous night’s “fun.” He was so sick he just kept calling on God to end his misery and show him the salvation and peace that his parents had always told him about. “Never judgmental,” Derryberry said. “Always praying for me.”

“My Dad is my hero,” Derryberry said. He and his father sometimes share their story together at churches, concerts and conferences.

When God turned Derryberry around in 1996 it was just the beginning of a beautiful contemporary gospel career.

Derryberry wears the hats of Christian singer, songwriter, producer, engineer, artist, speaker and keyboardist. His wife Connie manages his bookings and their children, Cassy, 23, Marky, 15, and Cameron, 8.

“She is perfect for me and meeting her at the dentist’s office was God-induced,” he said.

He wants to use his music (contemporary or gospel rock) to point to Jesus and his salvation and love for all humanity.

“God keeps me grounded and focused and my family is my gift,” he said. “I deeply desire for others to know Jesus as their personal savior.”

Derryberry visits the lowly prisons, halfway houses and county jails as well as the largest churches, conferences, conventions, Bible schools and motivational events.