THE "TEXAS TUMBLEWEED"

I was born in the back-woods in a one room cabin on the banks of Caddo Lake.....
Just kiddin' ! Although I am a full blood, born-n-bred, true-blue, dyed-in-the-wool TEXAN , my parents had the luxury of a fully appointed hospital in which to bring me into this world. The only one of their off-spring to be born in what can only be described as GOD'S COUNTRY . I wear the banner proudly.

My name is Derek Anderson Duncan, born August 19, 1963. The middle child of James and Lynn Duncan. Raised on a farm in East Texas, I enjoyed the country life. Horseshoe Creek was the property line on three sides of the one hundred and twenty acres that I called home as a young-un. Early on my dad instilled values that hold true even today. Momma, or Mother, as I most often call her, was always there trying to keep me straight, whoopin' me when I stepped outta' line and patchin' me up when I fell plumb off that line.

Daddy was, and still is, on KWKH Radio in Shreveport, Louisiana. I was often at the station with him early in the morning, reading the news as it came over the teletype, while he was doing his farm show. My older brother, Daren, my little sister, Deegie K. and I did the Christmas show, and it was always a lot of fun.

Livestock was a part of growing up in rural East Texas, and I had my hand in raisin' all kinds of projects. As a kid, chores were a part of life, if we wanted to show a steer, heifer, bull, hog or anything else, for that matter. Momma and Daddy both believed that if I was gonna' take credit for the success at the show, I was gonna' do the work at home. Active involvement in 4-H at first, then the F.F.A. later on, was an education that would play a big part in my adult life.

I started showin' cattle professionally fresh outta' high school, after graduating in 1981. It was my first experience with the Brahman breed, and it would prove fateful. I traveled with a number of custom fitters and ranches throughout Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana. In 1986, I met a man by the name of Joe Butt . He would become one of my oldest friends. The first circuit out on the road with Valley "B" enterprises was a good run. The cattle were good, Joe always has good stock. I won the herdsman award at every show we went to that fall except one, where I came in second. Memphis, Nashville and Knoxville, just to name a few, were some pretty big shows at the time. I also won The North American International Livestock Exposition in Louisville, Kentucky. It is one of the biggest shows in the country.

While on the road with Valley "B" in 1987 at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, I saw Gene McCarter for the first time. He was the ramrod for Santa Service, the premier custom fitter in the Santa Gertrudis breed at the time. Gene had dang near one hundred head on the road. He seemed, at first, to be a hard case, and I swore I'd never work for him. Well, a couple of years later, I went back to Tennessee. This time I was showing "Gerts" for Gene. Well, I swapped back and forth between east Tennessee with Joe and west Tennessee with Gene for the next few years. Gene is also a man I consider a true friend.

Around 1994 I quit showing cattle and started doing construction work . I've done just about everything there is to do on a construction site - cleaning up after the craftsmen, digging ditches, totin' bricks or lumber and driving a forklift , among other things. Eventually, I became a journeyman carpenter, journeyman millwright and a class "A" boilermaker. After working shut-downs in gas and chemical plants, paper mills and automobile plants such as General Motors and Nissan, I got back on the show road - and I brought my guitar.

I started playing the guitar about the same time that I quit showing back in '94. Raised on country music as a kid, I also listened to blues and rock-n-roll. My family was good friends with the Watson clan over in Jonesville, Texas, and we would gather at George and Mary's house for some good old fashioned gospel or blue-grass pickin' an' singin'. George had a beautiful voice, and I loved to hear him sing "Ashes of Love". George has gone to be with the good Lord now , but I can still hear that tenor voice wafting through the pine trees. The Watson clan is full of talented singers and musicians. Larry , one of George and Mary's sons, is no exception. He has been an influence on me for as long as I can remember. Going up to the Watson camp on Bear Creek to go hunting or fishing, playing Forty-Two with my dad and the Watson's are some of my fondest memories.

Playing the guitar has been a part of my life since I first picked one up, a great way to pass the time. It was, and still is, an outlet for some creativity. I've always had an active imagination. Although I don't sing that well, just a little "off-key", and my guitar may get out of tune, 'cause I 'm "tone-deaf ", I started to write songs. The first song I wrote was called "Friendship Inn". I was living at a Jackson, Mississippi hotel, doing construction work, and this guy that lived a few doors down played the guitar. Well, we were sitting around one day after work and my room-mate at the time, a fella' by the name of Ed Aimey and myself started coming up with different lines to go along with the guitar pickin', and I wrote it down. That was in 1997. I soon left Jackson - pretty much forgot about the song. I haven't seen Ed since.

Lets jump to 2001. The next song I wrote,"Room to Grow", came after a New Years Eve party, and I was a little "hung-over". I just had a big fight with my dad, because of my drinking, and was playing my guitar. It was gonna' be a "I'm mad at the world and you can all kiss my......" song, but even then the good Lord wouldn't let me write a song that was angry. It turned out to be a tribute to my folks and the way they raised me. Although I had strayed from my country Christian roots, my family stuck by me, and the good Lord kept me alive until I found my way back. My last drink was February 16, 2006. I am very proud of that and thank God every day.

........COWBOY POET........

Never thought those words would be used to describe me, but here we are in 2010, and I'm known as "The Texas Tumbleweed ". After numerous complaints about my singin' and playin' from Glen Cox, who was a consultant for Pat Cone's "Bennett Farms" at the time, I thought I might try my hand at story-telling with a country twist. My first venture into this medium resulted in a poem called "The Brahman Breed ". It was a huge success on the show road especially with Brahman breeders, as you can imagine. The Brahman Journal published it in the issue prior to the Houston Livestock show, which is the largest Brahman show in the world. Well, that issue came out while I was at the Dixie National Livestock Show in Jackson, Mississippi showing "Gerts" for Gene McCarter. The response was overwhelming. I had people wanting me to autograph the Brahman Journal and recite the poem. One person in particular was Sam Duplantis owner of D-Bar ranch in Erath, Louisiana. Sam's appreciation of my work on the "Brahman Breed ", and all the bragging he did is one main factor in my decision to take it to the next level and see if I could get some of my work out to the public. After performing a song called "The Kings of the Ring", a tribute to Gene, Joe and Clyde Goudeau, a Mississippi Cajun, who has been fitting cattle forever, along with the third poem I had written called "A Man Named Gene", at a party celebrating Genes retirement after thirty years as a custom fitter, I knew at that time I had to do something with this talent that God gave me. When the Dixie National was over I came straight back home to Elysian Fields, Texas and started to figure out what to do. Well it pays to have your dad in the radio business. I recorded my first album(or C.D. if you will) at KMHT radio in Marshall, Texas. The packaging and labeling was all home made, with the majority of the work done by my mother, as I was working in Choudrant, Louisiana for Bennett Farms. With a finished product two days before leaving to go to Houston,I was elated.

With my first C.D. packed in my bags and thoughts of success packed in my head, I went to Houston with one hundred copies of "Talkin' an' Singin' " hoping to run out. Well I didn't sell 'em all at Houston but I was out of the first run within two months. I am now working on a second C.D. titled "Just Taklin'". I have published The Texas Tumbleweed, a book of cowboy poetry with LillyCreek Publishing.

A story of my life would not be complete without mentioning a few of my friends. I've known Kenny Hayes for almost thirty years now, and we've had some good times . He has always been there with advice or a well placed "what the hell were you thinkin' ". My buddy "Robo" whose done gone on, and "almost cousin-n-law " Mark Taylor have kept me in line one way or the other. Last, but certainly not least is my very oldest friend . Although we're not related by blood, I consider Doodle Coleman to be a brother. We've been "padnuhs " since first grade. We fought, as kids will do, but as I say in a new poem that I 'm working on "from the hardest fought fights, come yer life long friends". Doodle is a very talented artist, especially with cartoons, and his hand graces the cover of my book, The Texas Tumbleweed.

I would also like to say a big thanks a bunch to Jack Dillard for all his encouragement. Jack will tell it like it is and whether you want to listen or not, it's usually what you need to hear.