22 Years after forming The Mustangs with Adam, Derek has decided to step away from the band. In tribute, Adam writes: 

"One dark, wet Autumn evening back in 2001, on the invitation of my cousin, I drove down to a quiet village in Hampshire called Rowland’s Castle, where I was told there was a great Saturday night blues jam, and that I might enjoy joining in.

I walked into the Fountain with my guitar and sure enough, there was a lively jam going on in the corner, in front of a packed pub full of great characters and much bonhomie. The good vibes were instant and ran deep. All overseen by the bright, wide beaming smile of Herbie Armstrong.

I managed to blag a spot with the house band, which consisted of Keith Newman on bass, the late Brian Iredale on drums, and Derek Kingaby on blues harp. I warmed to them all instantly but there was a special connection between Derek and me that was immediate and hard to pin down. Was it that he sounded like Roger Moore? Was it that he looked like Richard Gere? He was considerably older than me, but he had a glint of mischief in his eye and, as I was to learn, no little sauce in his sense of humour, and that night was the start of a 22 year friendship we couldn’t have possibly imagined.

Sometimes two completely different people just connect, and that’s what happened with me and Derek, as we carried on playing together and that house band morphed quickly into the Mustangs. Somehow my gung-ho energy and enthusiasm, combined with Derek’s wise counsel and mature perspective created a partnership that saw the band play every corner of the UK, Northern Europe and - rather wonderfully – the Glastonbury Festival in 2017.

We have driven 100s of thousands of miles together discussing and debating music, football, politics, history, culture, literature, the cosmos and beyond…..we have slept in every possible hovel (often together) and played every kind of venue from Hyde Park to a nuclear battleship. We have written scores of good, great - and ghastly - songs together and made 12 albums with each other, all of which I am very proud.

I’d have to write a book to give you the full picture, but suffice to say I have loved every second of my time with Derek. His intelligence, wisdom, sensibility and sense of fairness have so often been a timely, and necessary, foil to my rather more spontaneous and (potentially) counter-productive streak. I know I speak for Ben & Jon when I say his presence will be profoundly missed both on stage and off. His warm stage personality and unique harp-playing saw him soon become the band’s most popular member and its true heart and soul. A role that, despite being the lead singer, I was not only happy to defer to him, but even delighted in seeing.

We once sat down as a band and wrote a list of aims and ambitions and I’m happy to say that, to one degree or another, we achieved every single one. But I’d have enjoyed my ride with Derek just as much even if we had not been so lucky. He’s that kind of company.

We will miss playing with you King Bee, but we look forward to catching up soon and sharing memories deep into the night.

“One more, then bed?”