Olympia’s Derik Nelson connects online with songwriters across the globe during pandemic

At a time when many people are more isolated than ever — staying home more and keeping physical distance when around others — singer/songwriter Derik Nelson of Olympia has been building a global community.

“Dancing in the Living Room,” Nelson’s new video, celebrates both the pleasures of staying home and the joys of finding friends beyond geographic boundaries.

“As difficult as it has been and as much change as it has brought, this quarantine period has been one of the most creative times for me,” Nelson told The Olympian. “I’ve connected with people around the world online.”

The performer, who grew up in Olympia and is best known as the guitarist on TV’s “Glee,” was to have spent the past four months performing and touring with his siblings in the folk-pop trio Derik Nelson & Family, including a planned trip to Egypt and Eritrea to perform as U.S. cultural ambassadors.

With all plans canceled into next year, Nelson is spending his newfound free time working with budding songwriters through The Writing Tank, a private Facebook group that anyone is welcome to join.

“It’s an outlet for me to be able to share my songwriting strategies and methods,” he said. “I’m looking to build and expand this group to help others expand their creativity and build a network of writers all over the world.”

“Dancing” is the group’s first collaboration, with lyrics including: “There’s no one on the freeways/Livin’ in our PJs/We could stay up all night.”

Nelson and his fiancée, Camille Moore, dance in matching striped pajamas in the video, which also features about 100 other guest stars, including sibling bandmates Dalten and Riana Nelson; professional musicians such as Craig Pilo, who played drums for Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons; and Brian “Theory” Hargrove, who recently toured with Solange. A diverse array of singers and dancers also show up with babies or pets from countries as far flung as Poland and Argentina.

The Nelsons and their mom, Marit, are far from the only Olympia residents who make appearances. There’s a clip from “Dance O’ Dance,” the venerable Thurston Community Media show that’s currently filming Friday nights on Zoom.

Many of those featured in the video are highlighted during the lengthy credit sequence: The song itself is 3 minutes and 21 seconds long, but the video is more than twice that, with more singing, more playing and more dancing happening all the way until the end.

The “Living Room” project is all about unity, Derik Nelson said. All proceeds from sales of the song will be split between MusiCares, which supports musicians affected by COVID-19, and Crossroads Antiracism, which provides training on dismantling racism.

In addition to continuing to work with songwriters, he’s working as a producer and a mentor for other musicians as well as working on his own music — and, of course, hanging out with Moore.

The couple was to be married in October, but like so many other plans, that was postponed by the pandemic.

“Our date nights at home in the living room have shown us we’re stronger than ever, together,” Nelson said.