Friends pay tribute to Peasant’s Damien DeRose at a musical celebration of life

Following his sudden passing last month, Damien DeRose’s friends and family celebrated the Bucks County musician’s life with a gathering in his hometown. In a moving tribute to DeRose’s passion, friends played a selection of songs from his Peasant discography on DeRose’s own guitar.

As The Key’s John Vettese wrote last month:

DeRose first began performing on the Doylestown scene as a teenager with an acoustic guitar in the mid-thousands. His self-released debut, Fear Not Distant Lover, came out in 2005. DeRose garnered national and international acclaim following Peasant’s 2008 sophomore record On the Ground, released on Paper Garden Records and distributed through Conor Oberst’s Team Love label.

His music struck an emotional chord with listeners: beautiful melodies set to affecting arrangements, lyrics of personal introspection, and a voice that was delicate and captivating. It channeled Sufjan Stevens, Jackson Browne, Elliott Smith and Simon & Garfunkel, putting DeRose on the radar of All Songs Considered, Paste, Daytrotter and many others; several songs like “Fine is Fine” were licensed for use in TV shows.

Included in the celebration video below are Kaki Burns, Bruno Catrambone, James Harvey, Chris Archibald and Joe Ujj. Learn more about DeRose’s life here and listen to his music here.