* En anglais uniquement
Derek Smalls is the bassist for
Spinal Tap, the mock metal group created by
Harry Shearer,
Christopher Guest,
Michael McKean, and Rob Reiner in 1979. The quartet later expanded their joke into the 1984 film This Is Spinal Tap, which attracted such a cult following that the group was able to "reunite" for an album called
Break Like the Wind in 1992, which was followed by a tour.
After
Break Like the Wind,
Shearer -- who portrayed Derek Smalls --
Guest and
McKean put
Tap on ice. They reunited in 2003 to play the Folksmen -- a parody of
the Kingston Trio -- for
Guest's comedy A Mighty Wind, but didn't do anything else until 2007, when the group played the climate change concert Live Earth. In 2009, the trio celebrated the 25th anniversary of
This Is Spinal Tap with the Unwigged & Unplugged tour, which was documented on a home video and a tour in 1992.
Shearer launched a solo career for
Derek Smalls with
Smalls Change (Meditations Upon Ageing) in 2018. Featuring a bevy of guests including
Steve Lukather,
Donald Fagen,
Waddy Wachtel,
Richard Thompson,
Paul Shaffer,
Steve Vai, and
Joe Satriani -- Smalls Change appeared in April 2018. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine