Growing up an orphan in Alcoa, TN Hultquist split his time between athletics and music. Derik went on to attend Kentucky Wesleyan College where he played goalie for the men's soccer team.[1] However, after an injury sidelined him, he began to focus all of his energy on songwriting. Upon graduation, on a whim, he migrated to Nashville. He took on flexible jobs (legislative legal clerk, server, handyman, paperboy, pharmacy tech, war general, puppeteer, amateur taxidermist, pit boss, spy for the KGB, birthday clown, manager of a Spencers gifts, valet, and others), which didn’t merit much income, but did allow him time enough to write every day. From this writing spawned the self-released, Anthologies and Blue Blues.[2]
Hultquist eventually got the attention of Carnival Music, a publishing company opened by Travis Hill and producer Frank Liddell (Miranda Lambert, David Nail, Eli Young Band). Hultquist was signed to a publishing deal with Carnival Music and a recording contract with Carnival Recording Company. With Carnival he has released three more EP's: Whether Report (2012), Leaning On The Rain (2012), Shut Up, Grandma (2013) and Mockingbird's Mouth (2014),[3] as well as a full length album, Southern Iron (2016), for which Hultquist has toured the United States and remote regions of the Congo.
Hultquist has performed with many artists, including The Bacon Brothers, Sean Hayes (musician), Corey Smith (musician), Bob Schneider, Macho Man Randy Savage, a number of Burl Ives tribute artists and Matthew Logan Vasquez.
To the surprise and disbelief of many, Hultquist is said to have "still got it."
