LIVE! Music: Mike Dillon rips rock ‘n roll riffs on vibraphone for Fayetteville reunion
Mike Dillon rips rock roll riffs for Fayetteville reunion
December 10, 2023 at 1:00 a.m.
by Monica HooperFollow
Mike Dillon hasn't hammered his vibraphone in George's since before the pandemic, but he can't wait to get back.He's back in town with Mike Dillon & Punkadelick featuring Brian Roy Haas (Jacob Fred Odyssey) and Brenden Bull at 7 p.m. Dec. 13.
He tells me that he and Haas have fond memories of the former JR's Lightbulb Club and Chester's from back in the day and that most people remember him from his days with Billy Goat in the 1990s. Nowadays he's a percussionist for Ani Difranco and Rickie Lee Jones when he's not part of Les Claypool's Frog Brigade or Critters Buggin with Matt Chamberlain.
"Our live shows are very high energy still. People usually leave smiling, scratching their heads a little bit at what the heck has happened," he says.
Just this year, Dillon released the all-instrumental "rock' album "Inflorescence" with Haas and Nikki Glaspie (Beyonce). The album was recorded during the pandemic lockdown which gave Dillon, who is already a fan of experimentation, a new way to think about playing and recording.
Dillon says that people call him a punk rock vibraphonist for his music that pulls from classic rock influences like Rush, King Crimson and Black Sabbath and punk rockers The Minutemen and Black Flag. A classically trained musician, Dillon prefers to explore his influences through his vibraphone.
"Everyone calls it a xylophone, and that's fine. I run it through pickups, and I run it through a pedal board, guitar pedals, into a guitar amp [to create] a lot of the same textures that the guitar does," Dillon says.
"My goal and my mission is to lead a rock band with a vibraphone AKA the dirty uncle of the xylophone ... actually the nephew of the xylophone. It's really fun because it's wide open. I feel like there's a lot of things that haven't been done with my instrument in the rock 'n' roll contexts."
Patti Steel Band opens at 7 p.m. for the Dec. 13 show at George's Majestic Lounge in Fayetteville. Tickets are $12.
"I'm glad to be playing with Patti," Dillon adds, saying that she's a big supporter of live music and touring bands. "I love it that she has her own band. She's playing all the time. I always get her up to sit in with me if she shows up. I'm looking forward to what the night bequeaths upon us."