THE TIRELESS GEEK

Deke Dickerson is one guy I don't even try to keep up with. His catalog is too vast, talent too tight, and he just doesn't slow down. I don't care how hard working you think you are, he'll make you feel lazy. Really, check the discography on his site. Plus he's a guitar geek extraordinaire, and you know how guitar geeks are, particularly those who can back up the vintage mumbo jumbo with expert picking. Dickerson took it one step further and hosted guitar geek festivals for ten or so years running. Just before you throw in the towel, add record collector and music historian. And he had a record label. And he's a writer. A good writer. Besides liner notes and bios, his blog, though seldom updated, is some good reading. By the time you finish one of his posts, you'll swear that you know him. It's that aw shucks.

His last post, which is over a year old, is titled "Why I Am Not A Punk Rocker" and runs down how he was into punk rock in high school and decided he wasn't cut out for it. The bonus of that post was a twenty minute movie he did while in still in school that is, okay, corny and lame, like most high school films are. But it's Deke Dickerson and he's a guitar geek's guitar geek, and it's him cutting his teeth, so it's worth watching. (The link on his blog is gone, but it's still up at YouTube.) There's a few other things down there too, including a video of his first band, Untamed Youth, on a public access TV show in the eighties, notable because it's got fellow fiend Ron Silva (Crawdaddys, Nashville Ramblers, etc) filling in on drums (Playing standing up. The nut!).

There's a tour diary down there two, in two parts. There are live music sequences and total fiend minutiae. Old sites of record studios, regional tidbits, plus the table that Merle Travis died while seated at, still in use in a guitar shop. Now that I think about it, that might just be why I've yet to fully dive in. Every time I put a toe in this Dickerson pool, I get totally distracted. Before I know it, I'm in amateur geek mode, wandering aimlessly through surf, hillbilly, multi-necked guitars, and aw shucks all over the place. That's why I like this guy. He makes me want to learn.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Untamed Youth - Pabst Blue Ribbon mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Dave and Deke Combo - Deke's Hot Guitar mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Dave and Deke Combo - Chew Tobacco Rag mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Deke Dickerson - Muleskinner Blues mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Deke Dickerson and the Ecco-fonics - Tons of live stuff at Internet Archive
Video:
Deke Dickerson - Rock 'n' Roll High School at YouTube The high school film
Untamed Youth - Hey Elly Mae at YouTube Ron Silva on drums
Deke Dickerson - 2013 Tour Diary, Part 1 at YouTube
Deke Dickerson - 2013 Tour Diary, Part 2 at YouTube
Visit:
Why I'm Not a Punk Rocker - Deke Dickerson at Musings of a Mule Skinner His blog
Deke Dickerson - Official site Don't miss his gallery of bizarre LPs