Deric Dickens is a Brooklyn-based percussionist and composer. After growing up in Southern Georgia, Deric worked as a band director, taught drum and bugle corps, and played as a principal timpanist with local orchestras and symphonies. But it was the ride cymbal, a friend had asked him to play at a session, that changed everything. Since, Dickens has toured and recorded with Robinella (Columbia Records) and JaLaLa (Janis Siegel Manhattan Transfer). Deric has performed numerous times with Donald Brown, Jerry Coker, Kirk Knuffke, and Jeff Lederer at various clubs and festivals including Birdland, 55 Bar, Bonnaroo, Bristol Rhythm and Roots, Knoxville Jazz Festival, Litchfield Jazz Festival, and The Muroran Jazz Festival Japan. He currently leads his groups Speed Date, Rocket #9, and the KJ-D3.