Hit the Ground Runnin'

Jacob Deraps' passion for Eddie Van Halen has taken his YouTube channel halfway to 100,000 subs. Might as well jump... to hit Subscribe

- BY ADAM KOVAC

IT'S BEEN MORE than five years since Eddie Van Halen's death left a void in the guitar universe. Like Jimi Hendrix before him, EVH's influence will continue to be felt for decades, possibly centuries after the man himself left this world. For evidence, just head to YouTube and witness the uncountable number of guitarists emulating Eddie. While many are able to hit the notes, only a few can nail the nuances of his feel, not to mention his tone. At the top of that list, from St-Georges de Beuce, Quebec, is one Jacob Deraps.

For more than a decade, Deraps has been making content, much of it based around the music of Van Halen. Alongside the usual playthroughs of hits like “Runnin' with the Devil,” there are reviews of various pieces of EVH branded gear and instructions on how to get Eddie's famed Brown Sound. The son of musicians – his mom studied jazz saxophone and classical piano, while his dad was a weekend warrior in a few bands – he was already playing guitar when he first heard “I'm the One” off Van Halen's debut album. The exposure to Eddie's feel and tone at age 12 would prove to be a defining moment in his life.

“I had to learn that song,” he says. “I had to learn how to get the sound. I was just hooked. There was so much groove and feel, and it sounds like the amp is about to blow up. I love that aggressiveness.”