Dexter Romweber
Encyclopedia
John Michael Dexter Romweber (born 1966 in Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...

) is an American rockabilly
Rockabilly
Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music, dating to the early 1950s.The term rockabilly is a portmanteau of rock and hillbilly, the latter a reference to the country music that contributed strongly to the style's development...

/roots rock
Roots rock
Roots rock is a term now used to describe rock music that looks back to rock's origins in folk, blues and country music. It is particularly associated with the creation of hybrid sub-genres from the later 1960s including country rock and Southern rock, which have been seen as responses to the...

 musician (primarily playing electric guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...

) from Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Chapel Hill is a town in Orange County, North Carolina, United States and the home of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and UNC Health Care...

. Dex is best known as one-half of the seminal two-piece Flat Duo Jets
Flat Duo Jets
Flat Duo Jets was a rockabilly band from Chapel Hill, North Carolina and Athens, Georgia. They were a major influence on several bands of the 1990s and 2000s, including The White Stripes. In interviews, Jack White has often acknowledged Dexter Romweber's influence...

. He currently fronts the Dex Romweber Duo with his older sister Sara Romweber.

Biography

John Michael Dexter Romweber was born in Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...

 in 1966, the youngest of seven children. His older brother Joe Romweber was the lead singer for UV Prom, while his sister Sara Romweber was a member of Let's Active
Let's Active
Let's Active was an American rock musical group formed in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in 1981.-History:The principal songwriter and sole continuous member of Let's Active was Mitch Easter, who kept the band active through most of the 1980s. The band's musical style is sometimes referred to as...

 and a founding member of Snatches of Pink
Snatches of Pink
Snatches of Pink is a rock band based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Current members are Michael Rank , Marc E. Smith , Nikos Chremos and John Howie Jr , with Michael Rank as the chief songwriter.The band was formed in 1985 by Rank with original bassist / lead vocalist Andy McMillan, and Sarah...

. Romweber's first band, Crash Landon and The Kamikazes, was started at the age of 11 while attending Culbreth Junior High, with stand-up bassist Tony Mayer (since of the Good Old Chicken Wire Gang Boys Band) and drummer Hunter Landon (now of the Bad Checks).

Dexter began playing with Chris "Crow" Smith, with material culled mainly from his family's record collection. They called themselves The Flat Duo Jets, after hearing Gene Vincent refer to his Gretsch
Gretsch
The Gretsch Company was founded in 1883 by Friedrich Gretsch, a twenty-seven year old German immigrant recently arrived in the US. Friedrich Gretsch manufactured banjos, tambourines, and drums, until his death in 1895. His son, Fred, moved operations to Brooklyn, New York in 1916...

 Duo Jet guitar.

The Flat Duo Jets' first release, In Stereo, was recorded live in the studio in 1985 and originally released on cassette by Dolphin Records. The band was also featured around this time on MTV's The Cutting Edge directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris
Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris
Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris are a team of American music video directors, also husband and wife, that received critical acclaim for their feature film directorial debut, Little Miss Sunshine....

 (who later went on to direct Little Miss Sunshine). Relocating shortly to Athens, Georgia
Athens, Georgia
Athens-Clarke County is a consolidated city–county in U.S. state of Georgia, in the northeastern part of the state, comprising the former City of Athens proper and Clarke County. The University of Georgia is located in this college town and is responsible for the initial growth of the city...

, the band made an appearance in the film Athens, GA: Inside Out
Athens, GA: Inside Out
Athens, GA: Inside/Out is a documentary film about the mid-1980s music scene in Athens, Georgia, USA.The film features interviews and concert footage of local bands who were a part of the scene at the time of the documentation as well as local legends R.E.M., Pylon, and The B-52's. It also features...

, alongside other well-known Athens bands such as R.E.M.
R.E.M.
R.E.M. was an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. One of the first popular alternative rock bands, R.E.M. gained early attention due to Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's...

 and The B-52's
The B-52's
The B-52's are an American rock band, formed in Athens, Georgia in 1976. The original line-up consisted of Fred Schneider , Kate Pierson , Cindy Wilson , Ricky Wilson , and Keith Strickland . Following Ricky Wilson's death in 1985 Strickland switched to guitar...

. Though recorded live to two tracks in a garage in the late 80s, the band's full-length debut LP, the self-titled Flat Duo Jets, was not released until 1990. In support of the album, the Flat Duo Jets went on a national tour opening for The Cramps
The Cramps
The Cramps were an American rock band, formed in 1976 and active until 2009. The band split after the death of lead singer Lux Interior. Their line-up rotated much over their existence, with the husband and wife duo of Interior and lead guitarist Poison Ivy the only permanent members...

, whom Dexter has cited as an early influence. 1990 also saw the band make an appearance on Late Night with David Letterman
Late Night with David Letterman
Late Night with David Letterman is a nightly hour-long comedy talk show on NBC that was created and hosted by David Letterman. It premiered in 1982 as the first incarnation of the Late Night franchise and went off the air in 1993, after Letterman left NBC and moved to Late Show on CBS. Late Night...

, where they performed a high-energy cover of Benny Joy's "Wild Wild Lover". Their second LP, Go Go Harlem Baby, was produced by Jim Dickinson
Jim Dickinson
James Luther "Jim" Dickinson was an American record producer, pianist, and singer who fronted, among others, the Memphis based band, Mudboy & The Neutrons.- Biography :...

 in 1992, and has been acknowledged as a huge influence on Jack White
Jack White (musician)
Jack White , often credited as Jack White III, is an American musician, songwriter, record producer and occasional actor...

 of The White Stripes
The White Stripes
The White Stripes was an American rock band, formed in 1997 in Detroit, Michigan. The group consisted of the songwriter Jack White and drummer Meg White . Jack and Meg White were previously married to each other, but are now divorced...

, not least in the Davis Guggenheim
Davis Guggenheim
Philip Davis Guggenheim is an Academy Award-winning American film director and producer. His credits as a producer and director include Training Day, The Shield, Alias, 24, NYPD Blue, ER, Deadwood, and Party of Five and the documentaries An Inconvenient Truth and Waiting for 'Superman...

 documentary It Might Get Loud
It Might Get Loud
It Might Get Loud is a documentary by filmmaker Davis Guggenheim. It explores the history of the electric guitar, focusing on the careers and styles of Jimmy Page, The Edge, and Jack White. The film received a wide release on August 14, 2009 in the U.S...

. In the film, White plays the record for Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...

's Jimmy Page
Jimmy Page
James Patrick "Jimmy" Page, OBE is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as a studio session guitarist in London and was subsequently a member of The Yardbirds from 1966 to 1968, after which he founded the English rock band Led Zeppelin.Jimmy Page...

 and U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...

's The Edge
The Edge
David Howell Evans , more widely known by his stage name The Edge , is a musician best known as the guitarist, backing vocalist, and keyboardist of the Irish rock band U2. A member of the group since its inception, he has recorded 12 studio albums with the band and has released one solo record...

, playing their version of the traditional Froggie Went A-Courtin' and discussing the impact that the band had on him. The film also features footage from their appearance in Athens, GA: Inside/Out.

In the late 1990s, The Flat Duo Jets signed a major label contract with Outpost Records, a now defunct imprint of Geffen Records. The result was 1998's Lucky Eye, produced by Scott Litt
Scott Litt
Scott Litt is an American record producer who mostly works with artists in the alternative rock genre and is best known for producing six R.E.M. albums.-Biography:...

 and Chris Stamey
Chris Stamey
Chris Stamey is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. After a stint playing with Alex Chilton, and a brief partnering with Mitch Easter under the name Sneakers, he formed The dB's, whose stewardship he would share with Peter Holsapple.In 1977 in New York, Chris founded the...

, which demonstrated a markedly different approach from their previous lo-fi efforts. The album featured a more polished sound for the band, accompanied by horn and string arrangements. Poor album sales were met with disappointment by the band, and it was shortly after the release that, after nearly 15 years as a band, Dexter and Crow went separate ways. Dexter maintains that the primary reason for the split was embezzlement of the band's proceeds on the part of Crow, though Crow disputes this.

In 2001, Dexter finally resurfaced with a new solo album, Chased By Martians, followed by Blues That Defy My Soul in 2004. Around this time, Dexter's influence was beginning to surface in interviews with artists like Neko Case
Neko Case
Neko Case is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her solo career and her contributions as a member of the Canadian indie rock group The New Pornographers....

, Cat Power
Cat Power
Charlyn Marie Marshall , also known as Chan Marshall or by her stage name Cat Power, is an American singer/songwriter and occasional actress and model. Cat Power was originally the name of Marshall's first band, but has come to refer to her musical projects with various backing bands...

 and Jack White
Jack White (musician)
Jack White , often credited as Jack White III, is an American musician, songwriter, record producer and occasional actor...

 of The White Stripes
The White Stripes
The White Stripes was an American rock band, formed in 1997 in Detroit, Michigan. The group consisted of the songwriter Jack White and drummer Meg White . Jack and Meg White were previously married to each other, but are now divorced...

. Dexter has described his reaction to this influence as like being "locked away in a Gothic castle for many years" and "living in such isolation that I haven't even noticed." In 2006, Dexter released the album Piano, which consisted of 13 original classical piano compositions in the style of Chopin.

Also in 2006, a documentary about Dex and The Flat Duo Jets began playing at film festivals. Upon completion of Athens, GA: Inside/Out in 1987, director Tony Gayton began filming an untitled documentary of the Flat Duo Jets' national tour. After funding for the film fell through, production ceased and the film was forgotten. Funding the rest of the film himself, Gayton met up with Dexter in Los Angeles 16 years later and filmed new interviews with the intention of completing the film. The film, entitled Two Headed Cow, was eventually completed using a recovered VHS version of the original 16mm black and white footage, edited together with new interviews with Dexter, detailing his life and career, as well as performances in and around Los Angeles and interviews with Jack White, Exene Cervenka
Exene Cervenka
Exene Cervenka is an American writer, musician and artist, most famous as the co-lead vocalist of the Los Angeles punk rock band X.-Career:...

 of X, Cat Power and Neko Case. As of 2009, the film has yet to be picked up for distribution, though it had a brief run on DOC: The Documentary Channel
DOC: The Documentary Channel
Documentary Channel is a specialty channel that features documentary programming. It airs independent documentary films from around the world, including those never-before-seen in the United States....

.

Dexter's current band, The Dex Romweber Duo, began as Dexter and drummer Crash LaResh, who performed with Dexter from 1995-2007. The original Duo toured extensively and recorded several 7 inch releases and recorded two full length Albums ("Chased By Martians" and "Blues That Defy My Soul"). Crash LaResh left the band in 2007 and was replaced by Dexter's sister, Sara Romweber. In 2009, the pair released their debut album, titled Ruins of Berlin, on Bloodshot Records. The album featured guest appearances from Exene Cervenka of X, Cat Power, Neko Case, and longtime friend Rick Miller of Southern Culture on the Skids
Southern Culture on the Skids
Southern Culture on the Skids, also sometimes known as SCOTS, is an American rock band that was formed in 1983 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina...

. The band toured the U.S. twice in support of the record, playing support for The Detroit Cobras
The Detroit Cobras
The Detroit Cobras are an American garage rock cover band from Detroit, Michigan, formed in 1994.-History:The Detroit Cobras signed with Sympathy for the Record Industry and released their first full-length album, Mink Rat or Rabbit, in 1998...

 on the second tour.

On the 29th and 30 April 2009, Dex and Sara were invited to record at Jack White's Third Man Records
Third Man Records
Third Man Records is an independent record label founded by Jack White in Detroit, Michigan, in 2001. Third Man established its first physical location — a combination record store, performance venue, and headquarters for the label — in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2009.-History:Jack White founded...

 in Nashville, TN and they put out a 7" vinyl as part of Third Man Records' new "Blue Series". The sessions resulted in the Romweber original "The Wind Did Move", featuring Jack White on bass, background vocals and the saw, while the record's b-side was a cover of 1930s blues woman Geeshie Wiley's "Last Kind Word Blues", on which Dex and Jack share guitar and vocal duties. It was released on vinyl on June 9, 2009, and on iTunes shortly after. Dexter and Sara also returned to Nashville in 2010 to play a show at Jack White's live venue. The show was recorded onto 8-track reel-to-reel analog tape and is available on vinyl from Third Man Records.

In 2011 the Dex Romweber Duo released their second album on Bloodshot Records, titled "Is That You In The Blue?"

Dexter also fronts Dexter Romweber and The New Romans, an ensemble of 7 musicians and 3 female backing vocalists that began in 2006. They have released one limited CD called "Night Tide" and mainly play shows in their home state of North Carolina, more specifically in The Research Triangle area of Chapel Hill, Raleigh, and Durham. The music is diverse, drawing influences from jazz, surf, early instrumentals, Bill Haley
Bill Haley
Bill Haley was one of the first American rock and roll musicians. He is credited by many with first popularizing this form of music in the early 1950s with his group Bill Haley & His Comets and their hit song "Rock Around the Clock".-Early life and career:...

, Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...

, and even Chopin. The band continues to rehearse and experiment every Thursday night in Romweber's garage.

Discography

With the Flat Duo Jets
  • In Stereo (1985)
  • Flat Duo Jets (1990)
  • Go Go Harlem Baby (1992)
  • Safari (1993)
  • White Trees (1993)
  • Introducing the Flat Duo Jets (1995)
  • Red Tango (1996)
  • Wild Blue Yonder (1998)
  • Lucky Eye (1998)
  • Two Headed Cow (2008)


Dex Romweber Duo
  • Ruins of Berlin (2009)
  • Live At Third Man (2010)
  • Is That You In The Blue? (Bloodshot Records/2011)


Solo discography
  • Folk Songs: Solo Collection (1996)
  • Chased by Martians (2001)w/ Crash LaResh on Drums
  • Dexter Romweber Duo [Norton 9644]"Rolling Stones Tribute" The Dex Romweber Duo (7 inch) w/ Crash LaResh on Drums
  • Blues That Defy My Soul (2004)w/ Crash LaResh on Drums
  • Dexter Romweber Duo and Throw Rag - Twelve Bad Studs: A 12" Split w/ Crash LaResh on Drums(Demonbeach, released 2004?)
  • Piano (2006)

Commentary

From Jeff Arndt's 2001 interview with Romweber

Much has been said about rockabilly roots-rocker Dexter Romweber over the years, both positive and negative, and sorting fact from fiction is no easy undertaking. Words like "crazy," "possessed," "frenzied," and "demented" get thrown around quite a bit. But so do words like "authentic," "visionary," "genuine," and "genius." Which of these terms most accurately describes the man is up for debate. While that last g-word is thrown around way too often these days, don't be too quick to dismiss this description of Dexter. As for the man himself, Romweber seems to shrug off the attention responding simply by saying, "You tend to get a reputation traveling around, playing rock-n-roll." Indeed. And Dexter's credentials precede him in this department.



Romweber has been "travelling around, playing rock-n-roll" since the mid-1980s. He and drummer Crow made up the seminal roots outfit Flat Duo Jets that hailed from Chapel Hill, NC and, for a short time, Athens, GA. Often pegged by critics and casual fans as simply rockabilly, the Duo Jets were adept at playing in a multitude of styles. Their music stemmed from a love of 1950s rock-n-roll artists like Eddie Cochran, Buddy Holly, Little Richard, Elvis, et al., and they played it with passion and abandon-exactly what rock-n-roll is all about.



From the start, Flat Duo Jets shows became legendary for the fierce drumming of Crow and the blazing guitar work of Romweber. The image of Crow lanky and hovering over his tiny kit, staring through his stringy black mane of hair toward Dex as he looks to the ceiling, briefly, before ripping into the opening riffs of a tune etched into the setlist inside his head is indelible. This WAS the Flat Duo Jets.



What distinguished this band from other retro outfits is that the Duo Jets were not really retro at all. While their music was certainly inspired by the rock-n-roll of the 1950s, one got the feeling that nothing was calculated. There was no marketing ploy on anyone's part to capitalize on a trend or movement at the time. Dex and Crow brought the music to life with such vitality and passion that the styles did not seem antiquated in their hands. This was the genuine article. This music was alive and well.



While much of the band's recorded output has a ragged, rushed feel to it, the Duo Jets were able to record some fine discs. Standouts are the Jim Dickinson-produced Go Go Harlem Baby, White Trees, and their last record, Lucky Eye, co-produced by Scott Litt and Chris Stamey. Dickinson played to the band's proven strengths on Harlem- deep grooves and rhythms, driving guitar, the interplay between Dex and Crow. The record has a spontaneous, kinetic feel to it that really captures the spirit of the band. White Trees sees the Duo Jets stretching a bit toward musical territories not previously explored by the two. The band flirts with more conventional rock song structures and a somewhat adventurous use of the recording studio, courtesy of producer Caleb Southern, with varying degrees of success.



External links

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