If history dictates one fact of musical life, it’s that most bands are too big not to fail.
That’s because they’re formed through relationships between three or more people, which makes them even more complex than romances. Most will therefore crumble within a year, and even successful ones are lucky to last for five.
But 20 years? It’s a mark only a few South Florida groups have ever reached. West Palm Beach roots music trio The Dillengers joined the rare club in 2011, leaving a trail of three stellar CDs, one perfect house gig, and an extensive list of cover songs that’s ranged from Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis and George Jones to Tom Waits, Henry Mancini and The Ramones.
“I like to point out that we’ve been able to stick around roughly three times as long as The Beatles,” says Dillengers guitarist and vocalist Rick Rossano. “But it wouldn’t have been possible without being able to plug in and play with the great musicians I’ve been able to work with. It all boils down to that.”
Rossano is the band’s leader and founder, and has also been an outstanding area bassist for more than 30 years. The versatile musician made the guitar his primary instrument by leading the area ’60s rock band Ricky & the Rocketships during the 1980s, setting the template for the more far-reaching Dillengers.
In singing bassist Charlie Gonzalez, who’d played with R&B act Brookes Bros., and singing drummer George Anderson, of ‘60s rock cover act the White Owls, Rossano found the perfect trio partners. The group’s 1992 debut EP, At Large, featured Rossano originals that echoed The Beatles (What in the World) and Elvis Costello (Anything I Didn’t Say), plus his signature Elvis Presley parody, I Seen Elvis, which remains a requested favorite during live appearances.
“I first saw The Dillengers very early on, and they really stood out even then,” says Andy Stein, lead guitarist for area variety rock acts Acoustic Remedy and No Strings Attached. “No other local band has ever had their roots-music vocabulary.”
That debut album was part of the reason The Dillengers were hired as the house band at Elwood’s Dixie Bar-B-Q, the filling station-turned open-air juke joint on Atlantic Avenue in Delray Beach where the trio held court from 1994 to 2001. In 2009, owner Michael Elwood Gochenour sold the restaurant along the railroad tracks at 301 E. Atlantic Avenue, home since to the neon-lit Johnnie Brown’s. He opened a new Elwood’s three blocks north in early 2011, but then died suddenly on May 30 at age 59.
Gochenour’s club went dark immediately afterward, just as the current Dillengers lineup of Rossano, bassist/vocalist Bill Rabon (who joined the band in 2007) and drummer/vocalist Mike Vullo (2004) was staking its place as its everything-old-is-new-again house band.
“We played there five or six times,” Rabon says, “and were set to play there several more when Elwood died.”
“He was a friend,” Rossano says. “Life didn’t get much better than a house gig at his place. I miss him.”
Elwood’s, particularly the original location, was a ’60s hipster throwback. A huge “Lounge” sign adorned the east wall near a bar that served Pabst Blue Ribbon draft beer. The filling station’s leftover pump stood by the entrance bearing a sign that read, “Eat here, get gas.” Bands set up on a stage right in front of the former station’s still-intact garage door. It was a retro atmosphere straight out of a Quentin Tarantino film.
And The Dillengers would’ve fit right in on the soundtracks to Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown and Reservoir Dogs. On St. Patrick’s Day of 1996, the band recorded its raucous Live at Elwood’s CD, arguably the greatest live album ever by a South Florida artist. Gonzalez and Anderson blazed a rhythmic trail throughout, and Rossano’s incendiary, overdub-free fretwork on I Seen Elvis and freewheeling, unorthodox covers like John Lee Hooker’s Hug You Kiss You Squeeze You, The Ventures’ Surf Rider and Johnny Cash’s Get Rhythm eventually drew national attention.
In March of 2000, Rossano was deservedly featured as one of “America’s 10 Best Unknown Guitarists” in a story in the international magazine Guitar One, largely because of his work on Live at Elwood’s. In 2001, the guitarist released an educational book and accompanying CD called Roots-Style Rhythm Tracks that’s still available through Mel Bay.
“It was such an honor to be included in that article,” Rossano says. “And it happened before the educational book-and-CD combo and the Favored Nations deal, so it helped.”
Rossano’s eclectic tastes and absurdist humor often results in unorthodox musical combos in the studio and on stage. At Large featured a reggae cover of Neil Young’s Rust Never Sleeps called Rasta Never Sleeps, and the trio’s live renditions of Purple Acres featured Rossano singing the lyrics from Green Acres over the music from Hendrix’s Purple Haze. But in 2001, the mercurial guitarist decided to do something he normally doesn’t — record a thematic CD.
The self-described, vocal-free Instro-mania pegged Rossano, Gonzalez and Anderson as a ’60s surf music trio on the guitarist’s originals ( Dirtbag, Astrosurfin’), plus covers of movie themes (Goldfinger, The Good, the Bad & the Ugly) and gems by his guitar heroes like Link Wray (Rumble) and Duane Eddy (Rebel Rouser).
Once again, Rossano’s work drew attention from beyond Florida’s borders. He sent a copy to Favored Nations recording label head Steve Vai, the guitarist who’d studied at the Berklee College of Music in Boston before rising to stardom with Frank Zappa in the 1980s. An impressed Vai called back, and Instro-mania was reissued through his California-based label in 2004.
“We have a standing offer from Steve to record two more albums,” Rossano says, “and we’ll get to those. But the only recording lately has been Mike and I doing some tracks for a local buddy, Steve Maier, who’s directing an independent horror film called ‘Mondo Art.’ I think it’s in post-production now, and he’s gotten distribution through Troma Entertainment.”
Vullo and Rabon are as versatile as their bandleading guitarist. The drummer is equally adept on guitar, as he proves with his manic R&B band the Funkabilly Playboys. Rabon often freelances on both electric bass and acoustic upright with other area acts like the Mario LaCasse Band and Galo Rivera’s Santana Tribute Band.
Rabon’s additional soulful lead vocals with The Dillengers, and Vullo’s capable backups, aid a deep songlist ranging from pop godfathers The Beatles to blues hero Howlin’ Wolf to soul icon Otis Redding and beyond.
“Their current lineup is as talented and tight as the original lineup was,” says Stein, who also had a very successful run with original area pop act Inhouse from 1994 to 1999. “And Rick just has such a feel for blues, R&B, surf, rockabilly and every aspect of rock. He’s just an incredible player.”
“It’s all roots music,” Rossano says, “and it changes night to night. We’ll always do an eclectic, ADD mix of cool-ass rockabilly and surf, plus Elvis Presley, Fats Domino, Ray Charles, Buddy Holly and a lot of other old-school rock ‘n’ roll. I’m privileged to play with guys like Bill and Mike, who can play all of that stuff.
“I’m also privileged to play on Sundays,” Rossano continues, “with a choir director and pianist like Howard Lemon at the First Christian Church in West Palm Beach. That’s very rewarding, full-on rock ‘n’ roll communion.”
The Dillengers have testified during a lengthy every-other-Friday house gig at Igot’s Martiki Bar in Lake Worth that should resume in January. The surf music masters are now fitting in regularly at an appropriate new venue called Longboards, located along the western 500 block of Clematis Street in downtown West Palm Beach.
“Longboards is a beautiful new club,” Rabon says. “Rodney Mayo opened it at the old Ray’s Downtown Blues site, and there’s great food and atmosphere. There’s even a huge video screen behind us with footage of guys riding 20-foot waves while we play surf music. It’s a perfect setting.”
Another perfect setting will be downtown Delray Beach’s Christmas Tree Lighting Party, where the city will illuminate its oversized tree at the intersection of Atlantic and Swinton avenues — just a few blocks west of the original Elwood’s location.
With the glitzy Johnnie Brown’s now there featuring ’70s and ’80s classic rock, perhaps the sounds of The Dillengers will waft eastward and plant roots toward a rightful time-warp reappearance by the talented and tenured trio in its old stomping grounds at 301 E. Atlantic Ave.
See The Dillengers at 10:30 p.m. Dec. 2 at Longboards, 519 Clematis St., West Palm Beach (561-833-4660); at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 9 for the Christmas Tree Lighting Party at Old School Square, 110 E. Atlantic Ave., Delray Beach (561-243-7922); at 9 p.m. Dec. 16 at O’Connor’s Irish Pub, 210 N.E. 2nd St., Delray Beach (561-330-0022); and at 8 p.m. Dec. 31 for the New Year’s Eve party at the Tiki Waterfront Sea Grill, 200 E. 13th St., Riviera Beach (561-845-5532).
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