The Delta Jets

Dale Anderson
It's hardly a surprise that Dale Anderson's entree into the scene was the British invasion of the '60s.

A baby boomer with a gift for music, Anderson heard the same siren call that snared many of his generation, when the Beatles and the Rolling Stones were turning kids raised on bland '50s sit-coms into bona fide rock and rollers.

Anderson played in bands in high school and college, ultimately hooking up with Christian country rock band Hosanna. Then the pressures of ordinary life took over and Anderson's vagabond musician's existence gave way to steady work and responsibility.

"I didn't play for a long time," said Anderson. "I was raising kids and coaching sports and working overtime, and I didn't play again until I was in my 40s. I went to an open mic when I was 42. It was probably 1992 when I went to the Songwriters Showcase, which was a big open mic in Green Bay."

Anderson's big renaissance, however, came from a mix of likely and unlikely sources.

"It started with Jim-Dog," said Anderson. "He was a good musical friend in Chicago. He was my daughter's boyfriend and I was just barely touching blues music. It was not something I did. I used to listen to the Beatles and the Stones, and Jim-Dog made a tape for me a few years ago called 'Blues for Dale A.' He was 26 years old and I was in my 40s, and this kid taught me about this stuff."

The hook for Anderson was that many of these songs were original blues compositions that had been rerecorded by some of his rock 'n' roll heroes of the '60s and '70s -- songs he had grown up listening to.

"These were original old songs by Muddy Waters and Sonny Boy Williamson, Robert Johnson and others that had been covered by modern artists such as the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin," said Anderson. "That's what shocked me."

That tape, says Anderson, was a catalyst for his current musical incarnation, as was a budding interest in old-style resonator guitars.

"Right from then I just fell in love with Muddy Waters, and I heard the Robert Johnson songs that many people have covered, and after Jim-Dog made me that tape it was just about the same time I was reading in the magazines about these resonator guitars, and I saw pictures of a chrome guitar and I played one in the store, and in a matter of months I had a Dobro California Girl in my hand."

Resonator guitars, of which Dobros are one variation, are built with a metal cone that amplifies the vibrations of the strings like a wood body does in a standard guitar. The resonator guitar was invented in the 1920s to compete with horns and other loud instruments that were popular at the time, and was especially targeted toward Hawaiian players.

"They were really popular for quite a time until the war," said Anderson. "During World War II they just wouldn't let people have metal for stuff like that. And of course the amplifier came out around that time and there was just no call for them."

The guitar made a resurgence after a resonator was pictured on the Dire Straits album Brothers in Arms.

Andersonowns both the wooden Dobro variety of resonator guitar and the original metal resonator first manufactured by National Stringed Instrument Corp. They're ideal, says Anderson, for the blues music he currently favors.

"It's got that rattly metallic blues kind of sound, and the original ones, the first metal ones for Hawaiian guitar, the blues players stuck with them."

While Andersonchanged his musical tack after discovering the blues a few years ago, he retains an eclectic mix of folk, rock and rockabilly. Included in his repertoire are his own compositions, as well as music from Lyle Lovett, The Beatles, the Bodeans, John Cougar Mellencamp, Buddy Holly, Elvis, Eric Clapton and the Hollies. Many of his own songs feature fingerstyle guitar.

"My first recording, the title is Victoria Smiles. I had made that cassette in '97. It was all quiet fingerstyle stuff, and there was one vocal song on there. Then I did Parkridge Avenue in '99, which really showed that eclectic style of stuff. It's got fingerstyle, it's got blues, it's got the folk rock songs I wrote."

Anderson's recordings are available at his gigs, as well as Henri's in Green Bay. He has played throughout the state, but mostly finds work in the Green Bay area, including at a'Bravo Cafe, Attic Coffee and Books, and Kavarna, as well as A's Restaurant and Music Cafe in De Pere. He occasionally plays in the Fox Valley, and will be at Kaukauna Coffee and Tea on March 16.

For a complete schedule of Anderson's dates, consult Scene Club Calendar, or go to www.myspace.com/thedeltajets

Scene Publications
© 2001 Scene Publications - The Valley Scene

The Delta Jets - Chair Factory Blues - Self Release

By James “Skyy Dobro” Walker

14 songs; 46:37 minutes; Very Good

Hailing from Green Bay, Wisconsin, Dale Anderson has a 40 year career playing deep blues from the Delta. Starting with the folk music boom of the early 1960s, Anderson has competently developed his knowledge of this deep roots music and playing of resonator guitars in the style. Dale's email is idobro@new.rr.com, a “dobro” being an early wooden bodied resonator guitar. For fans of the earliest blues on record, this is great stuff!

Being from Wisconsin has also made Anderson appreciative of the early 1930s recordings made by many musicians from Mississippi in Grafton and Port Washington, Wisconsin. This album by the Delta Jets, consisting of Anderson and drummer Mark Riggenbach, is dedicated to those musicians who recorded within the walls of the Wisconsin chair factories.

“Emulation” might be a better word than “dedication” as Anderson strives to make the music sound old timey. On “Walking Blues,” attributed to Son House 1930, Anderson sings in his gravelly voice, and the Delta Jets use a technique at the beginning that makes it sound like the listener is hearing an original 78 rpm record with accompanying hiss. What is timeless in the song is Anderson’s pure picking and harmonious slide on his dobro.

On some tracks like “Dust My Broom” by Robert Johnson, The Delta Jets use modern multi-tracking to create a sweeter version than possible in 1937. Anderson plays guitar, dobro, and bass beside Riggenbach’s drums to create a contemporary version with a couple of new hooks that still pays respectful homage to the original.

You’ll find 5 originals by Anderson along with tracks by the Mississippi Sheiks, Sylvester Weaver, Tommy Johnson, Muddy Waters, Bukka White, and Willie Brown.

With his mastery of the style, it may just be that Dale Anderson should have been born 40 years earlier. - IllinoisBlues.com

Dale Anderson
It's hardly a surprise that Dale Anderson's entree into the scene was the British invasion of the '60s.

A baby boomer with a gift for music, Anderson heard the same siren call that snared many of his generation, when the Beatles and the Rolling Stones were turning kids raised on bland '50s sit-coms into bona fide rock and rollers.

Anderson played in bands in high school and college, ultimately hooking up with Christian country rock band Hosanna. Then the pressures of ordinary life took over and Anderson's vagabond musician's existence gave way to steady work and responsibility.

"I didn't play for a long time," said Anderson. "I was raising kids and coaching sports and working overtime, and I didn't play again until I was in my 40s. I went to an open mic when I was 42. It was probably 1992 when I went to the Songwriters Showcase, which was a big open mic in Green Bay."

Anderson's big renaissance, however, came from a mix of likely and unlikely sources.

"It started with Jim-Dog," said Anderson. "He was a good musical friend in Chicago. He was my daughter's boyfriend and I was just barely touching blues music. It was not something I did. I used to listen to the Beatles and the Stones, and Jim-Dog made a tape for me a few years ago called 'Blues for Dale A.' He was 26 years old and I was in my 40s, and this kid taught me about this stuff."

The hook for Anderson was that many of these songs were original blues compositions that had been rerecorded by some of his rock 'n' roll heroes of the '60s and '70s -- songs he had grown up listening to.

"These were original old songs by Muddy Waters and Sonny Boy Williamson, Robert Johnson and others that had been covered by modern artists such as the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin," said Anderson. "That's what shocked me."

That tape, says Anderson, was a catalyst for his current musical incarnation, as was a budding interest in old-style resonator guitars.

"Right from then I just fell in love with Muddy Waters, and I heard the Robert Johnson songs that many people have covered, and after Jim-Dog made me that tape it was just about the same time I was reading in the magazines about these resonator guitars, and I saw pictures of a chrome guitar and I played one in the store, and in a matter of months I had a Dobro California Girl in my hand."

Resonator guitars, of which Dobros are one variation, are built with a metal cone that amplifies the vibrations of the strings like a wood body does in a standard guitar. The resonator guitar was invented in the 1920s to compete with horns and other loud instruments that were popular at the time, and was especially targeted toward Hawaiian players.

"They were really popular for quite a time until the war," said Anderson. "During World War II they just wouldn't let people have metal for stuff like that. And of course the amplifier came out around that time and there was just no call for them."

The guitar made a resurgence after a resonator was pictured on the Dire Straits album Brothers in Arms.

Andersonowns both the wooden Dobro variety of resonator guitar and the original metal resonator first manufactured by National Stringed Instrument Corp. They're ideal, says Anderson, for the blues music he currently favors.

"It's got that rattly metallic blues kind of sound, and the original ones, the first metal ones for Hawaiian guitar, the blues players stuck with them."

While Andersonchanged his musical tack after discovering the blues a few years ago, he retains an eclectic mix of folk, rock and rockabilly. Included in his repertoire are his own compositions, as well as music from Lyle Lovett, The Beatles, the Bodeans, John Cougar Mellencamp, Buddy Holly, Elvis, Eric Clapton and the Hollies. Many of his own songs feature fingerstyle guitar.

"My first recording, the title is Victoria Smiles. I had made that cassette in '97. It was all quiet fingerstyle stuff, and there was one vocal song on there. Then I did Parkridge Avenue in '99, which really showed that eclectic style of stuff. It's got fingerstyle, it's got blues, it's got the folk rock songs I wrote."

Anderson's recordings are available at his gigs, as well as Henri's in Green Bay. He has played throughout the state, but mostly finds work in the Green Bay area, including at a'Bravo Cafe, Attic Coffee and Books, and Kavarna, as well as A's Restaurant and Music Cafe in De Pere. He occasionally plays in the Fox Valley, and will be at Kaukauna Coffee and Tea on March 16.

For a complete schedule of Anderson's dates, consult Scene Club Calendar, or go to www.myspace.com/thedeltajets

Scene Publications
© 2001 Scene Publications - The Valley Scene