I think it’s pretty common to think that the artists on shows like The Voice, America’s Got Talent, or American Idol are just getting their start. However, that’s not always the case. For groups like The Dryes, those competition shows are just another step on their road to success.
By the time, Derek and Katelyn Drye stepped onto the stage on The Voice, they had been making music together for over a decade. In fact, the husband and wife duo had already released a handful of singles to streaming platforms by then. Even before they were a duo, both Derek and Katelyn were skilled musicians. It’s like their shared music career was meant to be.
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Recently, I sat down with The Dryes to talk about their lives, careers, and plans for the future. During our chat, the couple shared how things started for them.
The Dryes Have the Sweetest Origin Story in Country Music
I had to know, “What came first, the music or the relationship?”
“The relationship came first,” Derek said. “I think we were attracted to each other because of music and other things we had in common. We didn’t really didn’t think about doing music together until about three to six months in,” he added.
Katelyn revealed that they met on a blind date orchestrated by mutual friends. However, she had been hearing about Derek for quite some time. “They told me about him for a couple of years before we actually met. But, he was dating somebody else and they weren’t going to tell him about me while he was with someone else. But, they would always say, like, ‘he’s such a great guitar player’ and ‘I could see y’all doing music together.’ She would say stuff like that all the time. I was like, ‘You’re so crazy. What if I meet him and don’t even like him at all?’”
As a result, Katelyn had music in the back of her mind from day one. However, there were more important things to focus on when they finally met. “We were so excited about each other that we didn’t talk about music for a few months,” she explained.
The Most Wholesome Debut Performance
As a guy, I can only imagine how nervous Derek was the first time the duo that would become The Dryes made music together.
“He was at my parents’ house meeting them,” Katelyn recalled. Before he came over, she told Derek to bring his guitar. “I was like ‘Just play something and let me, like harmonize with you.’ That was the first time we started singing together, I guess.”
Not long after that, they were asked to sing for a memorial service for someone in Derek’s family. That was the first time they performed together in front of people. “It was weird because we knew where each other was going without really talking about it,” Katelyn recalled. “Even in rehearsal.” She added that it has been that way, “Ever since then. That was 16 years ago. We’ve been together a long time.”