Come on in ….and listen to a recent live gig by the Dex Romweber Duo.

While the new album is great, with a primal mix of rockers, rave ups & ballads and the added bonus of duets with Neko Case, Exene Cervenka and Cat Power, the truth is …Dex & Sara don’t need the help….their performance is telepathic, powerful and maybe even a bit dangerous. They are a must-see when they hit your town….

It was my pal, Gretchen, who told me I had better crawl outta whatever rock I’d been living under and go see Dex play; they were heading to Portland that month to tour behind the new album, Ruins Of Berlin.  It was blasphemy that I had yet to hear of him and his earlier band, Flat Duo Jets, and how he reaches deep into the Southern songbook of rockabilly, country and R&B, stirring in surf, punk and garage rock to make a heady, psychotic brew of his own.  And so I head down to Slabtown, a dive lounge bar near the 405 freeway, to see for myself . When he hits the stage, he’s a man possessed, a guitar sound barreling down on you like a locomotive fueled by demon wine, steam coming out of his ears. His sister, Sara (who drummed in Let’s Active and Snatches Of Pink) is in the engine room, keeping the music gliding along the rails. I’d have to say that Sara, along with Linda Pitman of the Steve Wynn 4, are hands down my favorite drummers playing the traps.

While the new album is great, with a primal mix of rockers, rave ups & ballads and the added bonus of duets with Neko Case, Exene Cervenka and Cat Power, the truth is Dex & Sara don’t need the help….their performance is telepathic, powerful and maybe even a bit dangerous: a fight briefly broke out during the set, rattling Sara and Randy the roadie, but Dex just told a dirty joke to clear the air before slamming into a deranged instrumental on his Silvertone guitar.   “People keep talking about that fight” he told me at a gig 2 months later, “It was nothing”.  That 2^nd gig at Barbati Pan was that much further into the tour. If anything, it was even better than the earlier show I’d seen; Dex & Sara more confident, and Randy the roadie no longer worried that something might go wrong.  A lot of the audience were there to see the Detroit Cobras, with gals even dressed up like Rachel & Mary, but to me Dex & Sara owned the stage.

It was a helluva concert, probably my fav of the year. And now its MY turn to tell you to go see the show….

This 20 minute excerpt from the Slabtown show ought to get you hopping:

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Before he headed to San Antonio for the 1^st show of a 3 week tour sharing the stage with Exene Cervenka, Dex kindly answered a few of my questions:

EA: last year saw you working with your long-time fan Jack White, producing the great single The Wind Did Move/Last Kind Word Blues on his label Third Man Records. How did the sessions feel to you, and what was it like working with Jack?

Dex: Yes, working with Jack was very nice. He was very giving. His obsession with recording is something I’ve shared.

EA: You’ve been touring hard behind the new album during the past year; how’s life on the road been treating you?

Dex: Well, the road is the road; .both good and bad .I’m not a fan of real long drives. One night we had to do 1000 miles; .it started feeling horrible! But its amazing to transverse such distances. Its a raw form of life: just passing through, no place is home,  rhythms echo out through America .But I remember all those cities.

EA: What was it like doing the recent tour with Charlie Louvin?

Dex: Charlie played real honky tonk music, something I’m a fan of. He was there in the beginning. Not many people like him around anymore. Very interesting to see it up close.

EA: In recent years you been exploring projects such Dexter Romweber and the New Romans as well as the earlier instrumental classical album “Piano”.   What are your plans for the next album?

Dex: No record plans. Lordy i have to put something together! hopefully this year I’ll have something worthwhile.

EA: What shows do you have lined up for the coming months?

Dex: We’re supposed to go overseas to Spain and Ireland for about two weeks, but that’s not until May. For now, its touring with Exene; 1st gig is 3 days away in San Antoine.  Then we head East to play some dates with Southern Culture and maybe Los Straightjackets. I’ll be gone maybe more then a month, then its home to try to put my life together.

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I owe my pal, Gretchen, for telling me to go see Dex & Sara…so here is a link to what is probably the best article ever written about them, penned by her here

check out their music at these sites:
their myspace page
http://www.bloodshotrecords.com/album/ruins-berlin“>”>new album: Ruins Of Berlin
new single with Jack White producing

Dex Romweber Duo’s new video: “People, Places and Things”

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