Williams Riley

For Derek George, the tipping point came as he and the other members of Williams Riley opened for Edwin McCain in Biloxi. If George, after more than a decade as a highly successful songwriter, guitarist, and harmony singer, needed convincing that this new project was worth pursuing, he got it that night. "It was our first weekend out," he says. "I knew we had a talented bunch of guys, but the reaction we got from that crowd told us we also had the right material and the right approach.