Dewey Wayne - Just 'Here for the Music'

Dewey Wayne's Debut CD - Here for the Music

His story reads like a movie script, only Hollywood could not write one this good. Small town boy, grows up in rural Alabama, who's hometown becomes center of attention in 1989 with a rash of UFO sightings,  is given his first guitar by a perfect stranger,  which inspires him to write and sing songs at night while studying during the day to become a chemical engineer.

Meet Dewey Wayne. Dewey grew up in Fyffe, Alabama where Sand Mountain Bluegrass music is a way of life. Dewey, now living in Houston, Texas, has a remarkable story, and he is telling it well through his music. With songs like 'Here for the Music',  'I Call Dixie Home' and  'The Fyffe, Alabama UFO Blues', Dewey has set his life to music. He has mixed progressive country with good ol' fashion Sand Mountain Bluegrass for a sound that is pure 'Dewey Wayne Band.'

Dewey and the Dewey Wayne Band are making a name for themselves in the Houston area,  playing at many of the  local Honky Tonks, feeling most at 'home' at their favorite one, Blanco's Bar and Grill.   "It's the best place to go for real Texas honky tonk music.  That's why we have that picture of all of us at the bar on the back of the  CD, we love playing there!" says Dewey.

Dewey recently got to bring his band home to Fyffe for UFO Days, and share the stage with Billy Joe Royal that was an honor in itself, but to do so in front of his home-folk and to introduce the band to his kin was a bigger thrill. "It was an honor to come and play the songs Dewey wrote about North Alabama, in front of the people that live there." said Dan Smithwick (drummer), and the rest of the band (Greg Ray, Phil Canavagh) chimed in " We all loved the land, the people, and especially Dewey's Mom's cooking!"

I asked Dewey if he remembered the UFO sightings. "Well, I didn't see them myself, but I remember sitting on a tailgate, down by the gas station watching all the cars and people from all over the country come through.  My Uncle made up some t-shirts that said'I survived the Fyffe UFO' and they were selling like hotcakes!....I was about 15 years oldat the time." Dewey wrote a  song inspired by Charlie Daniels'  'Uneasy Rider' about the event, called  'The Fyffe, Alabama UFO Blues'.

Dewey expresses himself best with his music and it comes through when you see them perform or listen to their songs. One song really spoke volumes to me when I reviewed the CD, and I had to ask if it could be used at an upcoming wedding.  Dewey said, "I'm really glad you enjoyed "Live This Life with Me". I wrote it for my wife, Maria and performed it at the altar on our wedding day. It was the first time anyone had heard it. It would be great if you played it so that it might increase the joy on another couple's wedding day as it did on mine."

But Dewey's highest priority wasn't always music.  He graduated from Auburn University with a Chemical Engineering degree.  "I worked for NASA in Huntsville, Alabama for a while, doing thermodynamic problem assessment for the Space Shuttle Main Engines after graduation, but left that job to move to Houston."  When asked how did the music career come about, he relates a story that would make any Hollywood movie writer beg for. "My first guitar was given to me by a complete stranger in a guitar shop in Boaz, Alabama. It was around Christmas time in '98 and he just walked up and said "the Lord told me to give you this guitar", and then he walked out. I found out that his name was Steve Morton, but that's all. I Never saw him again.  The guitar is pictured with me on the center fold of the album."

When asked what he makes of his unique life experiences, Dewey simply says..."...man, I'm just 'here for the music'"

"No one knows about chasing dreams more. He knows that chasing your dream takes dedication, devotion, hard work, and spending more money then what you have in hopes of that dream someday paying you to do what you love. That person is Dewey Wayne" - Pam Gifford - DeKalb Ramblings Editor