TheKnockturnal sat down with supermodel and country music star Kerry Degman to talk his new album “Red Light,” modeling, his charity initiatives, and his upcoming tour. Read our exclusive interview below:
You got your start in the entertainment industry modeling. Tell us about that.
In 2007, I shot for Abercrombie. I was in college and bummed I had to miss my black and white film development class only to show up and find that Bruce Weber shoots only with black and white film. I probably learned more that week than I did the whole semester.
Why did you want to model?
I just sort of fell into it. Wasn’t something I had really aspired to do but very grateful nonetheless.
As a model, what do you think is one of your biggest achievements?
My greatest achievement was accepting the offer to do it in the first place. I was very young and it was the opposite of the whole “go to college and get a real job,” that my parents preached. A scary decision that has opened up so many opportunities that I couldn’t have ever dreamed of.
What inspired you to become a musician?
My folks made me join band in middle school where I learned to play trombone and I liked it. After that came piano and much later guitar.
Who are the musicians you look up to?
Pretty much all if the 90’s country artists I grew up on like Alan Jackson, Garth Brooks, Travis Tritt, and Tim McGraw.
Tell us about your debut album?
Yes the album, Red Light, is done and for sale so go buy it! But to back track a little, I was in a band called Gator Park first. We put out an album last summer that found its way on the radio around the country. We had a blast touring together but I have always wanted to do a solo album that I had complete artistic control of. It took three years to write the album. In terms of inspiration: lots of fishing and sitting in a deer stand with my notepad.
What is your favorite song on the album and why?
They’re all great stories with a lot of meaning to me but probably “Come Friday” takes my heart as the favorite. It was influenced by my grandfather who worked as a longshoreman to provide for a large family and I really admired the way he appreciated my grandmother who raised their kids full time.
Tell us some the meaning behind “Red Light”?
Red Light is the title track and it’s about a relationship between two young people who aren’t mature enough yet to have a serious relationship. It plays on the children’s game, Red Light – Green Light, where one person calls out the color of the traffic signal and if it’s green you move freely and red you have to freeze. Basically calling the person a control freak.
Tell us about your upcoming charity event and how we can all support it?
I was approached recently by a nonprofit with some interesting facts about how 22 veterans commit suicide every day. And that we lose more soldiers here at home than we do to the war overseas. I was asked to write a song for them (“Pray For A Soldier In Pain”) and after doing so felt so strongly for the cause that we have started our own nonprofit to help other charities raise awareness and resources to prevent suicides and support families dealing with mental health issues like PTSD. Our organization is called Force Network Fund and you can find us and more information about how to get involved on all of the social networking platforms.
Tell us about your tour.
We start June 5 with a private event in New York City and take off from there. I’ll have dates posted on Facebook.com/KerryDegmanMusic.
– Sherrie Johnston
