On The Verge

Zach Deputy

Bluffton, S.C.
New-Age Soul
www.zachdeputy.com

“Imagine Ray Charles, James Brown and Michael Jackson all having an illegitimate child and it growing up in the Virgin Islands,” Zach Deputy says of his sound. And it’s precisely this sound of new-age soul that’s garnering national attention for the South Carolinian. His debut album, Out of the Water (2008), utilized the talents of bassist Sam Sims (Michael Jackson) and drummer Sonny Emory (Earth, Wind & Fire); and more recently, the calypso-kissed funk and beatboxing improv of 2009’s Sunshine won him the Home Grown Music Network’s Studio Album of the Year award. But its Deputy’s live performances that truly earn the 27-year-old his keep. Accompanied only by percussionist and life-long friend Paul Kearns, Deputy charms audiences with the soulful dexterity of an R&B crooner while live-looping his acrobatic rhythms and fiery guitar leads to deliver full, band-like sounds. Even with 300 yearly performances, the aspirations remain simple: “I just hope the music helps restore balance in people’s lives.” He quietly adds, “That’s why I do it, to hopefully change people’s lives for the better.”