Skip to main content

Maverick Ad

Home

Main navigation

  • Home
  • Cover Stories
  • Features
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Cashbox Legacy Awards
  • Past Covers
  • Weekly Archive
Singer/Songwriter Derek Helm Laments Lost Love & Times Gone By with “Gone to the Sea”

Breadcrumb

  • Home
  • Singer/Songwriter Derek Helm Laments Lost Love & Times Gone By with “Gone to the Sea”
Derek Helm
Fri Jan 21, 2022
Cashbox Canada

Universally, lost love is a difficult thing to come to terms with, but singer/songwriter Derek Helm is making it a little bit easier with the release of his beachy, sun-soaked new single, “Gone to the Sea”.

Starring a plugged-in acoustic guitar, ukulele, and some very smooth saxophone, “Gone to the Sea” tells the wistful story of taking beachside vacations with a lover — only for that love to have slipped away.

Gone to the SeaWe used to go out every Saturday night
Mix margaritas and sway in the moonlight
Man, I miss that blue agave gaze
I wish I could go back and re-live those days

With its easy beats, languid pace, and seamless vocal harmonies, there’s a Beach Boys’ “Kokomo” vibe to the song; however, it was Bruce Springsteen’s “Hungry Heart” that originally served as inspiration. Helm and his band had wanted to record a cover of The Boss’s 1980 hit, though they never ended up getting around to it. “But I had already come up with some of the music and arrangement for it, and using that as the foundation, I started to write the lyrics to ‘Gone to the Sea’ over the music,” Helm shares. “So, thank you, Bruce!”

“Gone to the Sea” isn’t based on Helm’s personal experience of a breakup, but rather on some of his memories of beach vacations with his then-girlfriend, now wife, when they used to go out and drink margaritas and sing karaoke together. “The song Is mostly rooted in fond memories despite its lost-love story,” he says.

Watch “Gone to the Sea” here on YouTube:

The beachy sound of the song, however, is a natural offshoot of Helm’s usual songwriting process. “Often when I’m writing, depending on the song, I’m imagining an alternate tropical, magical, enchanted world,” he continues. “I think it's sort of an extension of how I romanticize Florida a little bit — more specifically South Florida. This was the case for ‘Gone to the Sea.’”

The song features Helm on lead vocals/acoustic guitar; Sam King on drums/backing vocals; Adam Haupt on bass/saxophone; Easton Summas on Electric Guitar; and Jesse Gelndinning on ukulele/backing vocals.

Derek Helm is a South Florida native. He was born in Miami and grew up in a small but growing town called Jupiter in Palm Beach County, Florida. After college, he worked for a year as a touring sound engineer and hired musician based out of Pennsylvania. The stint was formative for him as an artist, though it spurred in him a longing to be back in the tropical South Florida climate. During this time, Helm would listen to Jimmy Buffett as a warm remedy for being homesick. He then moved back to Florida, formed a band with his best friend from first grade, and established a studio and rehearsal space. He eventually began performing solo gigs at a beachside resort, which further helped him develop his own sound.

For more on Derek Helm check out:
instagram.com/derekhelmmusic/
facebook.com/DerekHelmMusic
twitter.com/DerekHelmMusic
music.apple.com/us/artist/derek-helm/1584021034
open.spotify.com/artist/3pyu2qzib9wTcLIX5eH7ct?si=iDwHYu4DTwOruUNdnzD4fg

Reviews
Album
Derek Helm
Month: Feb 2025
Tim Steinruck Coquitlam Alt-Rocker Tim Steinruck Confronts His Past Self in Soulful New…
Aliza Hava Folk Roots Powerhouse Aliza Hava Shines on ‘Into the Light,’ a Transformative…
Empaths in Retrograde Winnipeg Rockers Empaths in Retrograde Unveil Debut Album The Great and…
gRaHaM mUrRaY sEaRs gRaHaM mUrRaY sEaRs Blazes a Trail with Title Single “Snow Machine” Ahead…
CEGIE, TrizO, and G Loc CEGIE, TrizO, and G Loc Deliver Smooth, Reggae-Tinged Perfection with “Touch Me”
Mickey Moone Mickey Moone Channels 1950s Rock & Roll on New Single "Take It Easy…
Louis Emory Louis Emory and The Reckless Few Deliver Anthemic Americana Rock with “…
Month: Mar 2025
 Tobacco & Rose Victoria, BC Folk Artist Tobacco & Rose Explores Love and Spirituality in…
Danny Marks Danny Marks Returns With Soul-Stirring New Single ‘I’m Ready’
Gerry Jack Macks Gerry Jack Macks Reimagines a Neil Diamond Classic with Genre-Blending…
Erika Kulnys Erika Kulnys Unveils Double A-Side Single “Montreal” / “Streets of Montreal…
The James Clark Institute The James Clark Institute Release New Single "Hit Hollywood"
Odario, Mad Professor & Yolanda Sargeant Odario, Mad Professor & Yolanda Sargeant Deliver A Hip-Hop Meets Dub…
Cold Fame Victoria/Vernon, Bc-Based Cold Fame’s ‘Jawbreaker’ Hits Like A Sucker Punch—…
HemlockHotel HemlockHotel Revives ‘America,” A Folk Rock Anthem That Speaks to Right Now 

Pagination

  • First page « First
  • Previous page ‹ Previous
  • …
  • Page 139
  • Page 140
  • Page 141
  • Page 142
  • Current page 143
  • Page 144
  • Page 145
  • Page 146
  • Page 147
  • Next page Next ›
  • Last page Last »

CEO/PUBLISHER/EDITOR IN CHIEF
SANDY GRAHAM

email:sandygrahamemg@gmail.com 

Canadian Journalists:

Contributing Journalist - Canada and Global
Don Graham
email: dongrahamwriter@gmail.com

Contributing Journalist - Canada and Global
Lisa Hartt
email: lisahartt87@hotmail.com

Contributing Journalist - Canada 
Michael Williams
email: greydread@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

International Journalists:

Contributing Journalist - Sweden
Malin Osth
email: malin@musicdays.se

Contributing Journalist - Sweden
Jonas Tancred
email: jonas@musicdays.se

Contributing Journalist - USA
Rob Durkee 
email: rockster2746@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

Web Developer/Technical Support
Chris Wardman

email: info@chriswardman.com
website: chriswardman.com

Cashbox Cover Design and Graphic Artist
Jain McMillan

email: jainmcmillan@gmail.com

Contributing Photographer 
Tracey Savein - South Paw Productions
southpawproductions@rogers.com

 

 

 

Footer menu

  • Home
  • Features
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Cashbox Archive
  • Issue Archive
  • Past Covers