Deke Dickerson

Deke Dickerson ranks among the leading guitarists in the West Coast roots rock community, where he fuses expert technical command with exhaustive familiarity across earlier country, rockabilly, surf, blues, and garage rock idioms, all shaped by his signature wit. Born in Columbia, Missouri, during the summer of 1968 and raised on a farm, he absorbed classic country sounds from an early age; he once informed a journalist that his initial two live shows featured bluegrass pioneer Bill Monroe and blues icon Willie Dixon. He started performing with groups at age 13 and had already accumulated substantial experience by 1987, when he launched the Untamed Youth. That ensemble’s high-energy fusion of surf and garage rock attracted a modest yet devoted following; after moving to the West Coast the group disbanded in 1993 following six years of effort, shortly before the Pulp Fiction soundtrack revived interest in surf music.

While the Untamed Youth were still active, Dickerson partnered with fellow Missouri native Dave Stuckey to create the Dave & Deke Combo, which concentrated on rockabilly and vintage hillbilly material. The unit quickly became a favorite of the Los Angeles retro circuit and built a strong international audience; British label No Hit Records issued their debut recording in 1993, after which the band toured Europe repeatedly to appreciative listeners. Their well-received Hollywood Barn Dance album appeared in 1995, yet the partnership ended amicably the following year so both musicians could explore separate projects. Shortly before that split, Dickerson began performing with the Go-Nuts, a garage-oriented “snak-rock” group in which he performed in disguise as the “Donut Prince,” playfully honoring fast food.

In 1998 Dickerson introduced Deke Dickerson & His Ecco-Fonics, named after a 1950s tape-echo device. Covering rockabilly, hillbilly, surf, jump blues, and instrumental rock, the group soon joined the Hightone Records roster and issued its first album, Number One Hit Record, in the fall of 1998. Two further Hightone releases followed—More Million Sellers in 1999 and Rhythm, Rhyme & Truth in 2000—before Dickerson began recording independently in 2003 with In 3-Dimensions!, the inaugural title on his own Major Label imprint. That same year saw the rarities anthology Mister Entertainment. He also founded Ecco-Fonic Records to document his own work and that of kindred artists, then assembled the 2004 compilation My Name Is Deke, drawing from his Hightone output.

Alongside a consistent sequence of Ecco-Fonic releases, Dickerson has supplied music for the films Election and Sideways, composed the score for the documentary The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia, contributed cues to Bob Dylan’s Theme Time Radio Hour, and produced albums for Dig Wayne, “Blind” Rage and Violence, and Lisa & Her Kin. In 2014 he collaborated with surf/garage rock legends the Trashmen on Bringing Back the Trash, recorded the EP Soul Meets Country with R&B vocalist Nikki Hill, and supplied vocals for a collection of Los Straitjackets instrumental covers. Rockbeat issued another Hightone retrospective, Greatest Hits, in 2015.

Beyond recording, Dickerson has established himself as a capable writer, authoring liner notes for albums by Glen Glenn, Jenks “Tex” Carman, Jimmy Bryant, and the Raging Teens.