Biography
Although the Winston-Salem quartet Dillon Fence issued three studio albums plus multiple standalone EPs on Mammoth Records from 1991 through 1994 and briefly stood as the label’s most prominent act behind Juliana Hatfield and the Blake Babies, the group earned scant critical praise and generated little conversation beyond a modest regional following in North Carolina. Nevertheless, their genial strain of jangle pop retains a quiet appeal that admirers of the Connells or Guadalcanal Diary are likely to enjoy.
The story originates with a high-school ensemble assembled in Winston-Salem by guitarist Greg Humphreys and bassist Chris Goode. After prevailing in a local battle of the bands, the lineup performed regularly around town until 1985, when the members dispersed to separate colleges. The next year Humphreys reconnected Goode with guitarist Kent Alphin, a University of North Carolina acquaintance; the three, joined by drummer Brooke Pitts, formed the Magoos. Shortly before their debut performance they encountered an unusual piece of outsider art in Dillon, South Carolina, prompting a name change to Dillon Fence.
Following several years on the regional fraternity circuit—where they occasionally shared bills with fellow North Carolina act Hootie & the Blowfish—and a personnel shift that installed Scott Carle behind the drums, the band’s self-titled demo tape attracted Mammoth’s attention, leading to a 1991 contract. The label issued the Christmas EP late that year to preview the 1992 full-length Rosemary. A second EP, Daylight, appeared later in 1992 as a bridge to the stronger Outside In, which outperformed the debut both commercially and critically. To consolidate catalog, Mammoth re-released the original six-song demo as Dillon Fence in 1993.
The 1994 album Living Room Scene incorporated a bolder seventies-rock edge reminiscent of Matthew Sweet’s Altered Beast and Primal Scream’s Give Out But Don’t Give Up, achieving the band’s strongest sales yet. Internal strains nevertheless surfaced: Alphin and Goode departed, replaced by Jim Smith and Andy Ware. The revamped lineup supported the Black Crowes on theater dates and then joined Hootie & the Blowfish for an extensive stadium run, fulfilling an earlier pledge made during their shared early struggles. Despite this exposure, Mammoth declined the demos for a projected fourth album, and Dillon Fence disbanded in 1995.
Humphreys and Ware subsequently formed the harder-edged Hobex, which signed with Sire in the late nineties, while Carle and Alphin launched the folk-leaning Granger, whose 1996 Shanachie release Underwater Hum appeared the following year. In 2001 the original recording lineup unexpectedly reconvened for several concerts; Live at the Cat’s Cradle documented the reunion, accompanied by speculation about a new studio effort.
The story originates with a high-school ensemble assembled in Winston-Salem by guitarist Greg Humphreys and bassist Chris Goode. After prevailing in a local battle of the bands, the lineup performed regularly around town until 1985, when the members dispersed to separate colleges. The next year Humphreys reconnected Goode with guitarist Kent Alphin, a University of North Carolina acquaintance; the three, joined by drummer Brooke Pitts, formed the Magoos. Shortly before their debut performance they encountered an unusual piece of outsider art in Dillon, South Carolina, prompting a name change to Dillon Fence.
Following several years on the regional fraternity circuit—where they occasionally shared bills with fellow North Carolina act Hootie & the Blowfish—and a personnel shift that installed Scott Carle behind the drums, the band’s self-titled demo tape attracted Mammoth’s attention, leading to a 1991 contract. The label issued the Christmas EP late that year to preview the 1992 full-length Rosemary. A second EP, Daylight, appeared later in 1992 as a bridge to the stronger Outside In, which outperformed the debut both commercially and critically. To consolidate catalog, Mammoth re-released the original six-song demo as Dillon Fence in 1993.
The 1994 album Living Room Scene incorporated a bolder seventies-rock edge reminiscent of Matthew Sweet’s Altered Beast and Primal Scream’s Give Out But Don’t Give Up, achieving the band’s strongest sales yet. Internal strains nevertheless surfaced: Alphin and Goode departed, replaced by Jim Smith and Andy Ware. The revamped lineup supported the Black Crowes on theater dates and then joined Hootie & the Blowfish for an extensive stadium run, fulfilling an earlier pledge made during their shared early struggles. Despite this exposure, Mammoth declined the demos for a projected fourth album, and Dillon Fence disbanded in 1995.
Humphreys and Ware subsequently formed the harder-edged Hobex, which signed with Sire in the late nineties, while Carle and Alphin launched the folk-leaning Granger, whose 1996 Shanachie release Underwater Hum appeared the following year. In 2001 the original recording lineup unexpectedly reconvened for several concerts; Live at the Cat’s Cradle documented the reunion, accompanied by speculation about a new studio effort.
Albums
Live
