Biography
Dexter Romweber emerged as a singular, fiercely original presence in American roots music, chiefly recognized for serving as frontman, guitarist, and lead singer of the Flat Duo Jets. This ensemble, most often a duo, merged rockabilly, country, blues, jazz, surf, exotica, and countless further strands during performances that radiated enough raw force to energize an entire locale. Although he favored emotional drive over exacting technique, Romweber proved a compelling guitarist and composer whose wide-ranging musical hunger extended to astute choices of material for interpretation; the Flat Duo Jets’ self-titled debut, released in 1990, offered a vivid map of his artistic outlook. Once the band dissolved, he maintained momentum as a solo performer through wide-ranging projects such as 2001’s Chased by Martians and 2004’s Blues That Defy My Soul, later joining forces with sister Sara Romweber to establish the Dexter Romweber Duo via 2009’s Ruins of Berlin.
John Michael Dexter Romweber entered the world in Batesville, Indiana, on June 18, 1966. The household relocated from Indiana to Florida and then settled in Carrboro, North Carolina, in 1977. His mother, an avid music enthusiast and pianist, nurtured her children’s artistic pursuits and assisted Dexter with funding his equipment. At ten he assembled his earliest group, Gary & the Resistors, alongside friend Hunter Landon and sister Sara Romweber. (Even then Romweber displayed sharp instincts for talent; Landon later performed with the Bad Checks, while Sara played drums in Snatches of Pink and Let’s Active.) During junior high he started another outfit, Crash Landon & the Kamikazes, and at seventeen he united with drummer Chris Smith, known as Crow, to create the Flat Duo Jets—a lean, two-man rock & roll unit that drew from America’s musical heritage while Romweber and Crow played with frantic vigor. In 1985 a modest North Carolina imprint put out the Flat Duo Jets’ first recording, the six-song live-to-two-track cassette In Stereo. That year the pair also delivered a striking appearance on MTV’s The Cutting Edge, securing nationwide visibility. By 1986 the Flat Duo Jets had moved to Athens, Georgia, where they appeared in Tony Gayton’s documentary Athens, GA: Inside/Out; I.R.S. Records released a soundtrack album containing the duo’s “Hazy Crazy Kisses” and “Jet Tone Boogie.”
In 1989 Jefferson Holt, then managing R.E.M., established Dog Gone Records and signed the Flat Duo Jets among his initial acts. The 1990 album Flat Duo Jets, captured live to two-track inside a garage and one of their infrequent trio sessions featuring bassist Tone Mayer (aka Tone), earned enthusiastic notices and strong college-radio play. For their next full-length effort, 1991’s Go Go Harlem Baby, the group moved to another Georgia indie, Sky Records. After Sky, which also reissued the In Stereo EP, shuttered shortly following 1993’s White Trees, Norton Records issued Safari later that year—a compilation of unreleased cassette tapes spanning 1984 to 1987. Norton and the Flat Duo Jets proved an ideal match, resulting in two studio albums: 1995’s Introducing Flat Duo Jets, produced by Norton co-founder Billy Miller in a single day, and 1996’s Red Tango, also helmed by Miller across three days. Unexpectedly, the band reached a major label when Outpost Recordings, a Geffen subsidiary co-founded by producer Scott Litt, signed them. Produced by Litt and Chris Stamey, 1998’s Lucky Eye represented Romweber’s most expansive effort, incorporating horns, keyboards, and string arrangements, yet received minimal promotion and never reached a broad audience. Disheartened by its commercial outcome and following the release of Norton’s 1998 live collection Wild Blue Yonder, Romweber parted ways with Crow and disbanded the Flat Duo Jets. A 2008 live album, Two Headed Cow, documented a concert filmed for a documentary of the same name exploring Romweber’s life and music.
Romweber had already issued a solo album while still with the Flat Duo Jets: the odds-and-ends collection Folk Songs: Solo Collection, released in 1996. After the split he recorded with drummer Crash LaResh for Manifesto Records on 2001’s Chased by Martians. 2004’s Blues That Defy My Soul, issued by Yep Roc and produced by Rick Miller of Southern Culture on the Skids, featured LaResh on percussion. In 2006 Romweber pursued two distinctive ventures. Captivated by Frédéric Chopin’s classical piano works, he created Piano, an album of thirteen original pieces composed in Chopin’s style. Though he generally favored sparse backing, he also introduced Dexter Romweber & the New Romans, a seven-piece ensemble that included three female backing vocalists; the group rehearsed regularly yet performed infrequently in North Carolina and released Night Tide in 2012.
Longtime admirer Neko Case invited Romweber to contribute guitar to her 2006 album Fox Confessor Brings the Flood and later added backing vocals to “Still Around” on the Dexter Romweber Duo’s debut, 2009’s Ruins of Berlin, which also included appearances by Cat Power, Exene Cervenka, and Kelly Hogan. The Duo consisted of Romweber and sister Sara; another admirer, Jack White—who credited strong influence from Romweber and the Flat Duo Jets—hosted them at his Nashville pressing plant and venue, Third Man Records. The performance was recorded and issued by White’s Third Man label in 2010 as Live at Third Man. (White also joined the duo for the limited-edition single “The Wind Did Move” b/w “Last Kind Word Blues.”) Bloodshot Records released the Duo’s second album, Is That You in the Blue?, in 2011, followed by Images 13 in 2014. Romweber resumed solo work in 2016 with Carrboro, another Bloodshot release. In 2017 the long-unavailable Flat Duo Jets debut appeared in expanded form as Wild Wild Love. The Dexter Romweber Duo concluded in 2019 upon Sara Romweber’s passing, and in 2023 Romweber returned as a solo artist with Good Thing Goin’, issued by Propeller Sound Recordings. It became his final release; he died February 16, 2024, at age 57.
John Michael Dexter Romweber entered the world in Batesville, Indiana, on June 18, 1966. The household relocated from Indiana to Florida and then settled in Carrboro, North Carolina, in 1977. His mother, an avid music enthusiast and pianist, nurtured her children’s artistic pursuits and assisted Dexter with funding his equipment. At ten he assembled his earliest group, Gary & the Resistors, alongside friend Hunter Landon and sister Sara Romweber. (Even then Romweber displayed sharp instincts for talent; Landon later performed with the Bad Checks, while Sara played drums in Snatches of Pink and Let’s Active.) During junior high he started another outfit, Crash Landon & the Kamikazes, and at seventeen he united with drummer Chris Smith, known as Crow, to create the Flat Duo Jets—a lean, two-man rock & roll unit that drew from America’s musical heritage while Romweber and Crow played with frantic vigor. In 1985 a modest North Carolina imprint put out the Flat Duo Jets’ first recording, the six-song live-to-two-track cassette In Stereo. That year the pair also delivered a striking appearance on MTV’s The Cutting Edge, securing nationwide visibility. By 1986 the Flat Duo Jets had moved to Athens, Georgia, where they appeared in Tony Gayton’s documentary Athens, GA: Inside/Out; I.R.S. Records released a soundtrack album containing the duo’s “Hazy Crazy Kisses” and “Jet Tone Boogie.”
In 1989 Jefferson Holt, then managing R.E.M., established Dog Gone Records and signed the Flat Duo Jets among his initial acts. The 1990 album Flat Duo Jets, captured live to two-track inside a garage and one of their infrequent trio sessions featuring bassist Tone Mayer (aka Tone), earned enthusiastic notices and strong college-radio play. For their next full-length effort, 1991’s Go Go Harlem Baby, the group moved to another Georgia indie, Sky Records. After Sky, which also reissued the In Stereo EP, shuttered shortly following 1993’s White Trees, Norton Records issued Safari later that year—a compilation of unreleased cassette tapes spanning 1984 to 1987. Norton and the Flat Duo Jets proved an ideal match, resulting in two studio albums: 1995’s Introducing Flat Duo Jets, produced by Norton co-founder Billy Miller in a single day, and 1996’s Red Tango, also helmed by Miller across three days. Unexpectedly, the band reached a major label when Outpost Recordings, a Geffen subsidiary co-founded by producer Scott Litt, signed them. Produced by Litt and Chris Stamey, 1998’s Lucky Eye represented Romweber’s most expansive effort, incorporating horns, keyboards, and string arrangements, yet received minimal promotion and never reached a broad audience. Disheartened by its commercial outcome and following the release of Norton’s 1998 live collection Wild Blue Yonder, Romweber parted ways with Crow and disbanded the Flat Duo Jets. A 2008 live album, Two Headed Cow, documented a concert filmed for a documentary of the same name exploring Romweber’s life and music.
Romweber had already issued a solo album while still with the Flat Duo Jets: the odds-and-ends collection Folk Songs: Solo Collection, released in 1996. After the split he recorded with drummer Crash LaResh for Manifesto Records on 2001’s Chased by Martians. 2004’s Blues That Defy My Soul, issued by Yep Roc and produced by Rick Miller of Southern Culture on the Skids, featured LaResh on percussion. In 2006 Romweber pursued two distinctive ventures. Captivated by Frédéric Chopin’s classical piano works, he created Piano, an album of thirteen original pieces composed in Chopin’s style. Though he generally favored sparse backing, he also introduced Dexter Romweber & the New Romans, a seven-piece ensemble that included three female backing vocalists; the group rehearsed regularly yet performed infrequently in North Carolina and released Night Tide in 2012.
Longtime admirer Neko Case invited Romweber to contribute guitar to her 2006 album Fox Confessor Brings the Flood and later added backing vocals to “Still Around” on the Dexter Romweber Duo’s debut, 2009’s Ruins of Berlin, which also included appearances by Cat Power, Exene Cervenka, and Kelly Hogan. The Duo consisted of Romweber and sister Sara; another admirer, Jack White—who credited strong influence from Romweber and the Flat Duo Jets—hosted them at his Nashville pressing plant and venue, Third Man Records. The performance was recorded and issued by White’s Third Man label in 2010 as Live at Third Man. (White also joined the duo for the limited-edition single “The Wind Did Move” b/w “Last Kind Word Blues.”) Bloodshot Records released the Duo’s second album, Is That You in the Blue?, in 2011, followed by Images 13 in 2014. Romweber resumed solo work in 2016 with Carrboro, another Bloodshot release. In 2017 the long-unavailable Flat Duo Jets debut appeared in expanded form as Wild Wild Love. The Dexter Romweber Duo concluded in 2019 upon Sara Romweber’s passing, and in 2023 Romweber returned as a solo artist with Good Thing Goin’, issued by Propeller Sound Recordings. It became his final release; he died February 16, 2024, at age 57.
Albums
