Join us for Sunday Patio Music with Just For Play!
Just For Play consists of Carol Taylor (lead vocals, flute) and John Derk ( lead vocals, guitar, piano).
Carol Taylor of West Chester, PA began singing as a typical little girl in her room with a hairbrush “microphone” in her hand to her 45 rpm records on her stereo. Although her musical “training” was actually from 9 years of playing flute and piccolo, singing was always her real passion. Although she didn’t perform vocally in front of a large audience until her 8th grade talent show, in the tenth grade she got her first paid singing “gig” as the soloist at her friend’s older sister’s wedding. It wasn’t until high school that Carol got a tiny taste of being the lead singer in a “garage” band,…. that never played outside the garage! During High School Carol also toured Europe with “American Music Abroad” playing patriot American music on flute and piccolo.
John has been part of the Pennsylvania music scene for many years. Growing up in the Susquehanna Valley, he had the opportunity to play in many of the areas local bands. He has played keyboards for local favorites, Jaysenn Grand, Jesse, Full Circle, Topaz, Bryce Canyon, Haphazard, the McKabes and the Jesse Wade Gang. John has shared the stage with national acts such as Lee Greenwood, Tracy Byrd, Jerry Reed, Ricochet, Jason Michael Carroll, and Montgomery Gentry. He has also played keyboards for Marie Levin, a national touring Reba McEntire impersonator, and has had the privilege to play keyboards with Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert.
After working with Carol in Haphazard, John and Carol decided they wanted to form the acoustic duo “For Play”. In addition to keyboards, John also plays guitar, mandolin, flute, harmonica, bass, and drums. John plays all the instruments that Just For Play uses for their backing tracks.
