Sesac Magazine - Fall 2005
Perfect Harmony - Sesac's conjugal co-writers keep it together
From Gilbert and Sullivan to Rogers and Hart to Lennon and McCartney, successful musical collaborations are certainly nothing new. But a surprising number of Sesac affiliates--partners in music and in life--are taking this collaboration thing to a whole new level. We caught up with five of Sesac's busy co-writing couples to get some insight into how their love lives affect their music, and vice-versa.
With co-written song titles like "Banned at the Bluebird," "Kicked in the Chin," and "Sheryl Crow," Dan and Vickie Dubelman--the married couple that make up Betty Dylan--are doing their damdest to liven and lighten things up on the Americana scene. Their regular Go Plug Yourself songwriter nights at the Sutler, a venerable Nashville watering hole, have become a focal point of the city's growing roots music scene. As in everything they do, the Dubelmans take a quirky approach to their combined efforts.
DAN: Everything we write is a Betty Dylan song. We've done every combination. We'll sit down and critique each other's work and call that a Betty Dylan song, or we'll sit with a third person and bang it out together.
VICKIE: Sometimes it's difficult because we disagree on something. A lot of it is communication frustration. These are esoteric concepts when you're talking about music.
DAN: I'll get frustrated and walk out of the room, and she'll come back a few minutes later with someting that incorporates the change.
VICKIE: Dan always comes up with the one thing that just ties it together.
DAN: She's McCartney and I'm Lennon. She comes up with pretty melodies, and I'm coming up with angry or political stuff.
Clicke here to download .PDF (912k) document of artcle with pretty pictures and interviews with couples Jay Lyons & Sophia J, Sam & Annie Tate, Kay Story & Damon Scott, and Stacey Earle & Mark Stuart.
OR, download the entire Fall Issue of SESAC Magazine here (2.2MB .PDF)
The Tennessean - August 25, 2005
Front page of the special section with a picture and caption of Dan and Vickie eating lunch at their favorite Hendersonville BBQ joint, Centerpoint BBQ.
Cornell Alumni Magazine - September 2005
Dan's alma mater wrote a piece on him for our upcoming tour...
Birmingham Weekly Pick - July 22, 2005
Friday 07.22.05
BETTY WILL NOT BE THERE: But Dan and Vickie Dubelman - who comprise
the core of the Nashville-based band Betty Dylan - will be on hand Friday at
The Bomb Shelter. Combining punk spirit with genuine country melodies, the
married duo has become an alternative beacon in notoriously stodgy Nashville.
If you get a chance, ask ‘em why they got kicked out of Music City’s famous
Bluebird Cafe. Their unabashed willingness to engage in social and political
commentary has subjected the couple to much of the same criticism the Dixie
Chicks received a couple years ago when they spoke out against President Bush.
Screwing the establishment hasn’t screwed Betty Dylan over altogether, however.
The pair got a gig at last year’s Farm Aid and their latest CD, Don’t I Know You
From the Future?, features Dave Roe, longtime bass player for another independent-
minded fella named Johnny Cash. Local alt-country act, Menewa, the show might
also be a history lesson about Alabama Indian chiefs if you so desire, will open
at 7:30 p.m. Betty Dylan takes the stage around 9. The Bomb Shelter is located
at 114 24th St. North.
Birmingham Weekly Online
(download hi-res .tif 5.5MB)
Nashville Rage interview "Why You Rock" - April 14, 2005
Why I Rock: Betty Dylan
By Jason Moon Wilkins
Nashville duo Betty Dylan are smart, brash and funny as heck, and have found a real niche as hosts of ongoing series " Go Plug Yourself. " Musically, they match punk spirit with country chops and politically conscious lyrics. In their always entertaining manner, Dan and Vickie Dubelman tell ATR just why they rock.
ATR: The most infamous story about Betty Dylan is that you were banned from Bluebird Cafe. What did you do? Have you talked to them since? Any reparations?
Dan: I wish I could tell you some Jimi Hendrix-like rock ’n’ roll story about biting the head off a rat, but we really just played our set. The audience was in town for a Corvette convention and they joked around with us, which we had a lot of fun with.
Vickie: Yeah, we got the audience laughing out loud and talking back to us ... in a good way. Little did we know at the time that the Bluebird doesn’t really like their audiences to get that excited. We did so well selling CDs afterward that we wanted to go back again.
That’s when we found out they wouldn’t book us anymore.
They told us that we were great and that they’d hang our picture on the wall when we become famous, (but) they said we’re " too aggressive and in-your-face, " their words, for them to book us again. I really was bummed, having just arrived in Nashville and the first thing that happens is we get banned from the most famous club in town! I was actually pretty hurt.
ATR: Are there any other clubs you would like to be banned from? If so, how do you plan on doing it?
Dan: Seems like my plan is working well. We got thrown out of The Living Room nightclub in New York last year, and that was a lot more violent than the Bluebird. We lost some fans when we played the " Beat Bush " rally in New Hampshire. And just last week the Rodeo Bar in New York said we’re not country enough for them. We’re like the Dixie Chicks without the money....
Vickie: We were never trying to be banned from anywhere! Most of them are respectful and appreciative, but some are not. I think artists in general don’t mind lugging their equipment, putting in hours of rehearsals, years of writing songs, driving long distances, recording albums, figuring out what to wear and how to put on a good show, and then playing for no money sometimes. But to be treated with disrespect after all that, now that’s just outta line. We don’t stand for it, generally. So we get booted when we speak up for ourselves, that’s all.
ATR: Why the name Betty Dylan? Why not Dan & Vickie (besides the fact that Dan & Vickie sounds like a cruise ship lounge act)?
Dan: About 1996 I gave up playing music as a possible career, but I still played gigs for fun. Vickie would come down and watch my band and maybe sing some backups. It didn’t take long for her to take over the band and become the lead singer, so the name Dr. Dan’s Music Show didn’t fit. Then one day Jah came to us and said, " Hi, Betty Dylan. " Some people in Europe think we are Betty and Dylan, which always makes me laugh. I don’t know why.
Vickie: One day it just popped out. You could say it was Jah, certainly. I said " Betty Dylan, " and when we sobered up it still seemed fine. I always tell people it’s like Pink Floyd or Jethro Tull. There’s no " Betty. " Betty was the name of my imaginary friend when I was a child. I didn’t even know, until a couple of years ago, that Bob Dylan’s mother was actually named Betty. Zimmerman, of course, which was just freaky. I have actually thought about changing my name to Betty Dylan just to stop the confusion! I guess some might think we’re just trying to be mysterious. Is it working?
ATR: If you had to choose, platinum Betty Dylan record or hosting Saturday Night Live?
Dan: That’s the nicest question I have ever been asked.
Vickie: Right now, I’d have to choose whichever pays more! I’d use the word whore, but I’m not sure I can say that word in print. (Editor’s note: You just did....)
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DWIGHT ENGLEWOOD ELEMENTARY ALUMNI MAGAZINE
(Check out who Dr. Dan went to elementary school with.)
(Click here to view) or (download hi-res tif)
Le Cri Du Coyote Magazine review of "Abdicate The Throne"
by Bernard Boyat
in French:
les deux titres qui sautent immediatement aux yeux sont le premier et le dernier The Star Spangled Banner et Masters of War et on se dit quon tient un album anti guere/anti Bush. Il n'en est rien, les autres chansons abordant d'autres themes sur des rythmes tres rock et des paroles parfois alambiquees. A part cela, que retient-on? Un rock melodieux (Hard Time Showing It) et un titre plus R'n'R assez caustique (Banned At The Bluebird) et les paroles finales de leur version de l'hymne national: "Et la lueu rouge de la fusee, les bombes eclatant dans l'air donnerent la preuve que notre drapeau etait encore la. Oh, dites, cette banniere etoilee floote-t-elle encore sur la terre des hommes libres et les maisons des courageux?"
Babel Fish english translation:
the two titles which jump immediately to the eyes are the first and the last The Star Spangled Banner and Masters of War and one says quon holds an album anti guere/anti Bush. It of it is nothing, the other songs approaching of other topics on rates/rhythms very rock'n'roll and words sometimes alambiquees. Besides that, which retained is? A melodieux rock'n'roll (Hardware Time Showing It) and a title plus rather caustic R' R (Banned At The Bluebird) and final words of their version of the national anthem: "And the red lueu of the fusee, the bombs eclatant in the air donnerent the proof that our flag still etait. Oh, known as, this banner etoilee floote it still on the ground of the free men and houses of the courageous one?"
BELGIAN? REVIEW BETTY DYLAN' ABDICATE THE THRONE
June 7, 2005 - by Vicky De Jonghe
Betty Dylan, is de naam voor het rebelse koppel Dan en Vickie Dubelman. Deze twee muzikanten werden van het podium gezet bij verschillende clubs. Ze vullen elkaar perfect aan met ruwheid en vrouwelijkheid. Deze vijfde cd is er zoals al de voorgaande één met een boodschap. De politieke verkiezing van 2004 in de VS laat zijn sporen na in dit wat politiek getinte album. De opbouw is filmisch van aard, ze vertellen hun verhaal over de VS, de goeie maar ook de slechte kanten. De cd opent met "Star Spangled Banner", waar de stem van Vickie Dubelman je beweegt tot tranen, alsof je op het einde van de film de kist de grond ziet inzakken en een fade out shot over de begraafplaats krijgt. Dit vocaal nummer wordt onmiddellijk gevolgd door de toonzetter van de cd "Abdicate The Throne", puurheid met beat. De nummers wisselen de tragere met de stevige rock af maar ook country is aan de orde. Het leven is hun maatstaf en dat komt letterlijk ter sprake in "Banned at the Bluebird", waar ze van het podium gehaald werden en buiten gezet. Ze eindigen hun verhaal met een cover van Bob Dylan's "Masters of War". Hiermee ronden ze hun statement met de grote knipoog naar hun politieke leiders af. Je krijgt medelijden met die politieke leiders, het wordt koud en onverschillig gebracht, het bezorgt je rillingen. Het heldere stemgeluid van Vickie weet precies waar ze mee bezig is.
Een pracht van een cd die je tijdens tijden van frustratie en blokkades de volumeknop doet open draaien! Maar als je een gelukkige vogeltje bent, laat het een vreemd gevoel achter. Toch is deze cd een aanrader.
Als je Betty Dylan kan smaken, zijn de Belgische groepen Madra Lyss en Lora Zenn zeker en goeie tip. www.madralyss.be www.lorazenn.be
BABELFISH TRANLATION:
Betty Dylan, are the name for the rebellious cross-belt then and Vickie Dubelman. These two muzikanten were put of the podium at several clubs. They complete each other perfectly with roughness and femininity. This fifth cd is there like already the previous one with a message. The political election of 2004 in the US leaves its tracks after in this what politically getinte album. The advancement is filmisch of nature, them tell their tale concerning the US, the goeie but also the bad sides. The cd opens with "Star Spangled Banner", where the voice of Vickie Dubelman moves you to waters as if you at the end of the film the travelling box sees the ground collapsing and fade out get shot concerning the cemetery. This vocal number is immediately followed by for the of the cd the "Abdicate The Throne", purity with beat. The numbers vary slower with the firm rock but also country is under discussion. Living is their criterion and that comes litterally for the talk in "Banned ate the Bluebird", where they were obtained of the podium and outside put. They finish their tale with a cover of bob Dylan's "masters or war". They wind up their statement with the large knipoog to their political LEADERS. You get compassion with those political LEADERS, it becomes cold and brought indifferently, it provides shivers you. The clear voice sound of Vickie weet exactly where she is busy. A splendour of a cd which you open the volume bud during times of frustration and blockades to twist! But if you a gelukkige vogeltje is, it leaves behind a strange feeling. Toch this cd is a must. If you Betty Dylan can taste, the Belgian groups Madra Lyss and Lora Zenn be certain and goeie tip www.madralyss.be www.lorazenn.be
RootsTime.be
"Abdicate The Throne" REVIEW - Maverick Magazine UK
November 2004
You'd think you'd be on safe ground with an album called Abdicate The Throne, that begins with the STar Spangled Banner and ends with a searing version of Dylan's Masters of War.
And undoubtedly this is music with a message (several actually) but just before you roll your eyes at yet another anti-war polemic. Never once does it lose sight of the fact that it is still a rock n roll ablum and a damn good one to boot. It says what it says and then gets on with it.
Betty Dylan is/are husband and wife Dan and Vickie Dubelman who, until now, have been a part of that respected, if largely unsung, strata of musicians making great music and just about making a living. The pari have opened for the likes f Buddy Miller, Rodney Crowell, Drive By Truckers and Hank Williams III, they have played with session musicians of the calibre of Bernard "Pretty" Purdie (Aretha Franklin) and Carol Kaye who played on Pet Sounds (Beach Boys).
What that CV means is that they are rated by their peers and on the evidence of Abdicate The Throne and its predecessor, Heart Land, that endorsement is not misplaced.
As you would expect, this is a stormy collection of songs. It's long on sinister stories and a bit short on sweetness and light. The Zappa-esque Sheryl Crow, Tender and Love Is Being Bought And Sold take a look at the underbelly of their subjects. These are the tales of lives gone awry.
The feeling of imminent danger is reinforced by the immediacy of the recording. It sounds very much like Betty Dylan rolled off the stage of some rather seedy dive and fell into the studio, recording the songs with the minimum of fuss and maximum of impact.
Abdicate the Throne is a slightly discomfiting album, the strident beat is the perfect vehicle to carry the harshness of the lyrics.
This is a world you wouldn't want to live in but, from a safe distance, it has the romantic allure of a place populated by people life didn't treat well."
(Download .pdf - 901k)
Citylink Magazine, Florida - Get Betty to Rumble
May 12, 2004
Get Betty to Rumble
Dan and Vickie Dubelman are the scrappy heart of alt-country rock band Betty Dylan.
by Bob Weinberg
Talk about cow-punk. Betty Dylan has been banned from Nashville's Bluebird Café, chucked from the stage of New York City's Living Room nightclub and excommunicated by several ex-fans on its e-mail list. The twangy rockers' infraction? Simply being themselves, agree Dan and Vickie Dubelman, the husband-and-wife team at the heart of the wickedly witty alt-country band that has no member named Betty nor any blood relation to underwear pitchman Bob Dylan.
"They kicked us off the stage and out of the club because they thought we were making fun of the staff," says Vickie of the recent dustup at the New York nightspot. "But we weren't. We were doing our regular show." She and her husband, who live in Nashville when not touring the country in their RV, conversed with City Link by speakerphone from Dan's childhood home in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., and will be performing Thursday at the Bamboo Room in Lake Worth.
At the Bluebird, Dan says, they were victims of their own success. During Betty's first appearance at the intimate venue, the quirky couple truly connected with an appreciative audience. Then, Dan called the café for another gig. "They said they liked us very much," he relates, "but we were too aggressive and in-your-face."
"It's the kind of place where they don't like the audience to make any noise, and we had the audience laughing hysterically," Vickie adds. "They really didn't like that we got them all roused up."
Also roused were several members of Betty's e-mail list, who took exception to Dan and Vickie's invitation to see them play at a Beat Bush rally in New Hampshire and opted out of further communication with the band. One can only imagine how those folks will react to Betty's next recording, a politically pointed concept album to be titled Abdicate the Throne and released this summer.
Like Bob Dylan, Betty Dylan is sure to raise the ire of the politically correct, blues and country purists, right-wing ideologues and humorless folkies. "They're so disgusted when I sing about giving head," Vickie says of folkies. "It's really quite funny." Yet the group's appeal is more than apparent on its fourth CD, last year's Heart Land, a twangy amalgam of country, rock and blues that tips a Stetson to Bob Dylan, The Velvet Underground, Johnny Cash and Hank Williams. Vickie's voice is pure and strong, in contrast to Dan's sardonic, half-sung, half-spoken snarl and gritty guitarwork. Songs range from traditional honky-tonk numbers to decidedly alt-country tunes such as "The Man" (an answer song of sorts to the Velvets' "I'm Waiting for the Man," about a poor schmuck who gets busted with a bag of weed) to the barbed ballad "Don't Tell Me What To Do." A dream rhythm section comprises session vets Bernard Purdie and Kenny Aronoff on drums and Jerry Jemmott on bass. Jemmott, who can be heard on classic recordings such as "The Thrill Is Gone" and "Mr. Bojangles," has been a friend of Dan's since the guitarist was 17 years old and will be appearing with the band at the Bamboo Room.
However, Dan had tasted fame long before he was playing music with legendary sidemen. At age 5, he appeared in a long-running television commercial for Cracker Jack with comic actor Jack Gilford and won a Golden Lion award at the Cannes International Advertising Festival for his performance. Ever since then, he jokes, he has been playing catch-up.
While struggling in New York as a musician, Dan took a marketing job with Fox Kids Network and, in 1997, relocated to Los Angeles. There he met California native Vickie, who was working for Universal/Harvey Animation Studios. Eventually, they joined musically as well as romantically, despite disparate influences: She grew up listening to The Beatles and Elton John, while he was into Dylan and the blues. As Vickie describes it, she's Paul McCartney to Dan's John Lennon, though the couple enjoys a more harmonious relationship. "I think John and Paul didn't sleep together, that was their problem," she notes.
Having relocated to Bloomington, Ind., and then Nashville, where they have parked their RV for the past eight months, Dan and Vickie continue to
look for a musical niche into which Betty will fit comfortably: Alt-country, roots and Americana are all labels they readily accept, and their songs have found their way onto some 300 radio stations nationwide. Having opened for Buddy and Julie Miller, Drive-By Truckers and Hank III, as well as earning raves at venues from which they haven't been ejected, Betty Dylan has had little trouble connecting with audiences. "That's not the problem," Vickie acknowledges. "It's just so fucking slow-going."
Still, good things are coming Betty's way. Several of its songs were selected for the upcoming independent film Shrink Rap, and while in New Jersey, Dan and Vickie met with an enthused Dave Bennett, legendary singer Tony's son, who engineered his dad's renaissance in the 1990s and at whose studio they will most likely record. The main goal, the couple maintains, is to "get the art out. If that entails using a major label, that's fine," Dan says. "If it doesn't, that's fine, too."
For now, Betty Dylan will continue to convert new fans one show at a time. "A lot of times, people don't get us from listening to the record," Vickie observes. "They don't understand what we are, I guess, because we're kind of eclectic. But then, they see us live, and they get us."
Liner notes
1. Dan Dubelman played the part of Keith Richards in a Rolling Stones cover band called Sticky Fingers.
2. Vickie toured and recorded with her high school's highly acclaimed vocal jazz group.
3. Dan won a scholarship and fellowship to Johns Hopkins University, where he earned a master's degree in fiction writing. He also studied acting at Oxford.
4. Dan and Vickie met while working on the animated Casper the Friendly Ghost television series. Vickie was married at the time and has since learned that her ex is going through a sex-change operation.
http://www.citylinkmagazine.com
Contact Bob Weinberg at bweinberg@citylinkmagazine.com
(Download .pdf 2.2MB)
Nashville music duo perform at Night Owl
By STEVE LOVERNE
The Equinox – Keene State College News
Published: Thursday, February 19, 2004
Who or what is Betty Dylan?
No one in the group is named Betty. Like Pink Floyd and Jethro Tull, the name is a combination of elements. Guitarist and songwriter "Dr. Dan" Dubelman has been told that he sings like Bob Dylan.
The name Betty completes the name and evokes the feminine quality of Vickie Dubelman, the other half of the group. These two are married, and hailing from Nashville, TN, tour the country in an RV.
The alt. country duo performed at in the Night Owl Caf Friday Feb. 13. Betty Dylan entertained a crowd diverse in age with their unique blend of stripped down country, blues, and rock.
After an introduction by a friend and his daughter, the group kicked the show off with their anthem, "American Trash". A satire and celebration of American life, the song tells of the freedoms we enjoy in this fine country, like eating "crap like McDonald's" and having "a TV the size of a flag."
"Wal-Mart parking lots have become a romantic place for us" jokes Vickie as she introduces their version of The Beatles' "Why Don't We Do It in the Road" one of several comedic songs in their repertoire.
Each song has its own introduction, and many have stories that go with them.
"We play a lot of bars," explained Vickie, "and there's always a really attractive waitress."
Following that explanation, they launched into a playful ditty where Dr. Dan wants to "lay that cute waitress", and a jealous Betty responds in the next verse with "I'm gonna lay that waitress."
"No night is complete without a little Cash," said Vickie, before busting into Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues," which includes the famous lyric, one "I shot a man in Reno/Just to see him die." They seemed to have a lot of fun with it, with a good deal of vocal interplay between Vickie and Dr. Dan.
Vickie has a beautiful, full voice, with just enough roughness to perfectly compliment their gritty style of music. Her voice inflects soul into the music.
Dr. Dan, who talks more than sings, has a voice that is low and creepy.When the two voices combine, the result is a sound that Betty Dylan can call their own.
It seems also that no night is complete without a little steel dobro, which Dr. Dan busted out for a few numbers. Slide on a dobro has such a cool and haunting sound, which transported me straight to the crossroads.
There I stood on a misty night, waiting to sell my soul to the Devil in exchange for learning to play my guitar real good. Ok, maybe not, but it was pretty cool. I was hoping to see some slide guitar, in fact, I was expecting it. They didn't let me down.
Vickie, who does most of the talking, explained that while they play many acoustic shows, they also play electric from time to time.
When they do, some of the best local musicians are invited to play, so there are in a sense many people who are in Betty Dylan.
"Now you're all in the band," Vickie told the audience as it clapped along with the music.
One of the more interesting moments was the group's version of The Beatles' "Money Can't Buy Me Love", which they made their own by slowing down the pace and turning it into a twelve bar blues.
Dylan played for a grueling two hours, but that did not seem to faze them. They could probably play all night.
At one point in the show, Vickie said that several years ago they gave up having a normal life, in order to do what they do.
From my experience watching them, it is clear that they made a worthwhile choice. They had a lot of fun playing, and the audience seemed to really enjoy the show.
"This is our first time playing a college," said Vickie. I don't think it will be their last. If you'd like to hear what you missed, or what you heard, check out www.bettydylan.com.
Steve Loverne is a sophomore majoring in film.
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Heart Land Credits & Trivia
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Roots Music Report
5 STARS! Blues, Rock and Country on this CD. Cool, getdown and two steppin' good. This album is smack down in the middle of the roots music movement. It's albums like this one that keep roots music alive and going strong. RADIO SPIN IT!
RootsMusicReport.com
(Download .pdf 1.8MB)
VIDEO of live performance at Saxon Pub, Austin
"American Trash" shot by and shown on tv by our friends at "Raw Time", a local Austin TX cable show
....visit our pal, Dave, at Raw Time or go straight to the video
RootsHighway.com " American Trash" REVIEW
by Marc Ringwood 8/24/04
“Get off your ass!” sings Vickie Dubelman on the opening track on Betty Dylan (no relation)’s album “American Trash.” And the music contained within this 14 track effort is music that’ll get you off your ass. Betty Dylan is not one person, but two people – husband and wife team of Vickie and Dr. Dan Dubelman who currently practice their trade in New York, and anywhere else that’ll let them bring their in-your-face attitude through the swingin’ doors. But don’t expect to see them at Nashville’s Bluebird Café anytime soon …banned because of their raucous show, and the defiance of what Nashville considers to be “country music.” The Dubelman’s brand of music melds the finest elements of country and blues and wraps them up into memorable chapters of life saluting America’s finest (and some not so fine) people.
“American Trash” is a storybook of American life and the things we all take for granted. Much like their live show, Dr. Dan and Vickie’s chemistry is clear as day, and what a team they make. Even though the closest they even come to being “Dylan” is when Dr. Dan talk/sings (which is infrequent) but when the two combine harmonies, the effect is chilling and at the same time brings a smile to your face. Dubelman’s clear-as-a-bell Patsy Cline-ish voice is truly on display on tracks like “Okay”, “Asleep and Awake”, “Mr. Rock and Roll” (features whorehouse piano and a mean guitar), and on the outstanding cover of Hank Williams “Your Cheatin’ Heart.” It’s no wonder that Dubelman has solidified herself as one half of one of the best undiscovered (?) acts coming out of New York in recent memory.
That’s not to say that Dr. Dan doesn’t contribute to the element of the band. Betty Dylan wouldn’t have the same mystique without him and their camaraderie. Feature tracks like the tongue-in-cheek humor of “Hard Country” that pokes fun at the current state of what’s actually considered country – and pokes fun at the likes of Shania Twain. “…my dog just died/my ex wife is back….” (talk about truth!) and the Dubelman’s continue in stride “Track down Shania Twain/She’s a relief pitcher for the Atlanta Braves/Call me when you’ve got the craze/A country version of Purple Haze…” their tribute to the only park on New York’s lower East Side in “Tompkins Square Park” where Dr. Dan states of the unworldly characters who can be found in the park “they’re not as fucked up as they seem” and the country shuffle of “Last Night Was the Last Straw” highlight the diversity of the group and further raise the question “Why the hell haven’t we heard of Betty Dylan before now?” It’s safe to say that we’ll hear a lot more from this team in the very near future. Somewhere in all of our hearts there’s room for the Dubelman’s, so why not open it up and make ‘em feel at home.
Denver Post - Sunday, August 17, 2003
REVIEW of HEART LAND by Michael Booth
It takes guts to form a band and call it Betty Dylan, the same confidence it would require to join an
amateur baseball league as "Bobby Ruth" or a youth orchestra as "Wayne Mozart." But the rootsy duo's new
release lives up to the audacity of its chosen name.
As Betty, lead singer Vickie Dubelman has a sweet yet strong voice that can range from smoky roadhouse blues
to get-out honky-tonk to Southern funk. The twangy opener, "Are You Happy Now," has the raw immediacy of
a melody coming from your next-door neighbor's garage on a Saturday night. She and guitarist-husband Dan
Dubelman sprinkle in covers of Hank Williams and Johnny Cash, as well as their own new compositions and
some older songs.
Gaining help from John Mellencamp's drummer Kenny Aronoff, former Vulgar Boatmen bassist Jake Smith and
R&B drummer Bernard Purdie, Betty Dylan swings, grooves and stomps through the set.
And to see the live show, which ranges from the acoustic duo configuration to long jams with friends,
catch Betty Dylan at the Gothic Theatre on Saturday for $15.
Associated Press 8/6/03
Radical Sabatical Release
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Americana UK - Betty Dylan "Heart Land" Review
May 2003
Hot on the heels of their "Brand New Key" album, reviewed here just last month, comes the next instalment in the Betty Dylan plan for world domination. Whilst "Brand New key" was stylistically all over the place, this album concentrates on the country blues element which made up the best parts of that album, so good in fact that they've included four tracks from it on this album. Again its a very unpolished and live sound, with much of the same stellar supporting cast as previously, and stand outs include a very fine cover of "Your Cheating Heart" with Vickie sneering "sucker" just as it finishes and "Don't Tell Me What To Do", a tale of splitting up and checking out through the bathroom window. Best of all is "Farewell Show", a heartbreaking tale of being kicked out of the band and having nowhere to go, resorting to that old chestnut, 'phoning Mama, it highlights the awesome drumming talents of Bernard Purdie (Steely Dan and Aretha Franklin) and builds nicely to a guitar frenzy for the outro. Worth investigating.
View at Americana UK
Americana UK - "Brand New Key" Review
April 2003
It's like Pink Floyd or Jethro Tull. No one in the band is named Betty. Or Dylan. Betty Dylan is Dr. Dan and Vickie. They're married. He's not a Doctor but he does plays guitar, sing, produce and write a lot of the songs and likens himself to a latter day Dylan. Vickie plays rhythm guitar, sings, sometimes writes and claims to always drive. Vickie answers to Betty since so many people call her that. It's an easy mistake to make, she looks real cute. Dan previously played Keith Richards in the Rolling Stones review, "Sticky Fingers" although frankly he doesn't look remotely wasted enough to pass muster. The music? Betty Dylan play a rough and ready eclectic mix of blues, country and rock. They have a commitment to release an album every 6 months and this is their third, or fourth, its hard to tell (they also produce books and screen plays when they have a moment or two). They're clever like that and they kick off this album with a roughed up, slowed down version of Melanie's "Brand New Key", introducing us to Vickie's powerful vocals, equal part snarling and soaring before the sweet soul music of "Love Lies" replete with BB King guitar riffs. A menacing but funky cover of "Folsom Prison Blues" gives way to two acoustic songs to slow down the pace in the middle of the album; Vickie's "Kiss Me Back" is an absolutely gorgeous soulful blues with pin drop quiet bluesy guitar setting the stage for her best vocal performance on the album. Dr Dan's "Sunken Heart" on the other hand is a similar idea but one which serves only to highlight his limited half sung half spoken vocal style. More fine vocals however from Vickie in the Neko Case styled "LA's a Boring Town" before closing with the Stonesy throwaway "You Can't Get Me Now". There's a fine supporting cast including Carol Kaye (Pet Sounds and Phil Spector), Bernard Purdie (Steely Dan and Aretha Franklin), Jerry Jemmott (Aretha Franklin and King Curtis) and others and it was produced by Betty Dylan with lots of help from Marvin Etzioni (Counting Crows, Lone Justice). This album feels very much like a work in progress, its loose jams, its rough and unpolished and its bursting with ideas and energy. Take a listen. TJF.
Americana UK
Betty Dylan brings the `Heart Land' to Barley's
KNOXVILLE DAILY TIMES
2003-04-11
IF YOU GO
Betty Dylan with Jerry Jemmott
WHERE: Barley's Taproom, 200 E. Jackson Ave., Knoxville's Old City
By Steve Wildsmith of The Daily Times Staff
Give Betty Dylan's most recent record ``Heart Land'' a spin, and you'll assume that the heavy country leanings of the Bloomington, Ind., band, made up of married duo Dan and Vickie Dubelman, must have been influenced by the No Depression movement of the early 1990s.
Like those alternative-country bands -- Uncle Tupelo, The Jayhawks, Son Volt, Wilco -- Betty Dylan takes the yearning melancholy of old-school country, circa Hank Williams Sr. and Patsy Cline, and electrifies it with a ragged fusion of rock 'n' roll. So it's only natural to assume the Dubelmans are idols of the No Depression movement.
But, like a record clerk from several years ago, you might be slightly surprised.
"I went in to this store to find some music, and the clerk could tell I was in a band,'' Dan Dubelman said this week. "He asked what kind of music we played, and I told him this edgy, country-rock stuff. He started going on about No Depression and Miles of Music [an alt-country record distributor], and I had no idea what he was talking about."
"I was like, `No depression? No, man our music isn't depressing! Miles of music? Man, I've got 10,000 miles of music!' I just had no idea about any of that stuff,'' he added, chuckling.
But it didn't take long for the Dubelmans to come around. And as a result, the alternative-country godfathers became what Dubelman refers to as "second-round'' influences on Betty Dylan.
"As far as the No Depression stuff goes, we totally love it, but we had to learn about it,'' he said. "When we first started playing music together, we met this drummer who was into this alt-country thing, and we tried to be hokey and hoke it up a bit, but it was not what was good about us. We just did what we do naturally, and people said, 'Oh, that's in this genre.'"
The Dubelmans' union spans both coasts -- he's from New York, she's from Bakersfield, Calif. Dan plays guitar and writes the music and lyrics, as well as vocals, while Vickie plays guitar and sings like a more powerful version of Sheryl Crow -- firm, confident and no strain whatsoever in reaching those high notes.
The two began touring full-time as Betty Dylan, recording songs as they traveled across the country, making friends with a number of musicians in the industry who command generous respect -- such as Jerry Jemmott of the Muscle Shoals rhythm section, who will perform with Betty Dylan tonight at Barley's in Knoxville's Old City.
In fact, Dan Dubelman said, the band's most recent record, "Heart Land,'' was put together in much the same fashion -- a piece at a time, built on solid songwriting and excellent music that evokes the boozy atmosphere of a Western honky-tonk, the attitude of a grungy rock 'n' roll club and the soul of an R&B roadhouse shack.
"We try to record all the time whenever we can, and then we put the stuff together later, so it's almost like an ongoing process for us,'' Dubelman said. "Everything about this band has been really organic, and it's the same way with this record. Other people had to show us how it fit together and all that, and now I can hear it too when I listen to the thing as a whole.''
Working with Jemmott and other session musicians -- such as Bernard Purdie, who played on several Aretha Franklin records; Kenny Arnoff, who provided the backbeat to the majority of John Mellencamp's 1980s hits; and Carol Kaye, who played on The Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds'' album -- was both a learning experience for the couple and inspiring as well, Dubelman said.
"I don't know what it was like working with these different people (back then), but I know in our environment it was almost a lovefest,'' he said. "It was like, `Oh my God, it's great to be here with these great people.' We really felt like where we were coming from with these songs was not just the heartland of the country, but from our heart as well, and I think it has that meaning too for all those great musicians.''
"Heart Land'' features four new songs, previously unreleased material and two classic country covers -- Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues'' and Hank Williams Sr.'s "Your Cheatin' Heart.'' But be prepared -- instead of faithfully paying homage to the originals, the Dubelmans retain the spirit but cast the songs into a new light, kicking off "Folsom Prison Blues'' with a blues dirge that's so sultry Vickie Dubleman's vocals practically ooze from the speakers. "Your Cheatin' Heart,'' is slowed down to almost a waltz, conjuring up a vision of performances in a smoky bar with a lone spotlight on the musicians.
For Dubelman, covering those songs and adding them to the bounty of Betty material on "Heart Land'' was only natural.
"You play music from your heart, like you'd make a painting from your heart,'' he said. "When try to do something better than how it's already been done, it almost inevitably fails. It's like if you try to come up with a better formula than Einstein, you're not going to do it. You've got to open up what was already there and go with it.''
(Read the article online) or (download .pdf 348k)
NUVO - Indy's Free Thinking Entertainment Source - March 12, 2003
Show Preview, Birdy's Friday March 14
By Scott Hall
Dan and Vickie Dubelman didn't plan to settle in Bloomington, and they didn't plan to release their fourth album so soon.
But the couple, better knwn as the L.A. roots-music duo Betty Dylan, was captivated last year when they passed through Indiana's best effort at a bohemian college town. They had heard it was a cool place and made a point of stopping for a visit.
"It just sucked us in," says Dan, a New Jersey native. "In Bloomington, it felt like there was some sort of natural energy happening, and we've gotten really good at going with the energy. If there's good energy, sometimes we hang around. If there's bad energy, we get out."
The two quickly connected with the native music mongers and decided the energy was good. Now their RV has been parked at a Monroe Cunty campground for the past three months or more, the closest thing they've had to a permanent address in a while. Like a growing list of Hoosier musicians, they've been taking yoga lessons from Mahan Kalpa, the music producer and engineer formerly known as Paul Mahern.
Most importantly, four songs they recorded in December with local notables--including drummer extraordinaire Kenny Aronoff, bassist Jake Smith (Antenna, Mysteries of Life, Vulgar Boatmen) and violinist Megan Weeder (Salaam, Mary Janes)--form the core of their fourth independent album, Heart Land, the subject of a release party Friday at Birdy's Bar & Grill.
Friday's show is the first outing--not counting a snowed-out attempt a few weeks ago--for a semi-regular event known as the Roots-Rock Convoy. Other acts include guitarist Teddy Richards, son of Aretha Franklin; Pike 27, a Cincinnati-based roots-rock outfit; and Citizens Band, perhaps Indy's leading light in that genre. The music starts at 9 p.m., and admission is $5.
Aronoff, former Mellencamper and perhaps the world's most sought-after session drummer, has joined them at recent hometown shows, though it's unclear whether he can make the Friday gig.
Betty Dylan will also perform a free show at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Artsgarden in Indianapolis and a Bloomington release party March 21 at the Bluebird.
Visit the author at http://www.onthebeat.org
(Download .pdf - 4.8MB)
Alt-country duo Betty Dylan discovers joys of Bloomington
The Herald Times "The Scene", January 24, 2003 - By David Coonce
When people think "heartland," they often think "Bloomington." I suppose it's as much due to geography as anything else, but I would like to think that Bloomington, in particular, is like a little microcosm of all the things that make America what it is. There is a thriving arts culture, a solid music scene, successful locally owned businesses, a downtown you can walk around in, a fascinating array of people from all walks of life, a multitude of political opinions and a genuinely small-town kindness and closeness.
The Los Angeles-based alt-country duo Betty Dylan has recently relocated to Bloomington, in part to be surrounded by all of the things I just mentioned. As guitarist Dan Dubleman says in the band's press release, Bloomington "has great musicians, appreciative audiences and the space and time away from big cities to develop a heartland perspective." It is always gratifying to be recognized for the unique assets this community has always had.
Betty Dylan plays a blend of blues, country and rock with a melodic, hard edge. The duo, which includes Dan's wife Vickie on vocals, has criss-crossed the country several times over the last couple years, playing venues great and small.
The two have released three very solid records, Flame being the newest, and are currently working on their fourth, Heart Land, here in Bloomington at Farm Fresh Studios. Some of the musicians on the record include drummer-to-the-stars Kenny Aronoff, Mysteries of Life leader Jake Smith on bass and Salaam violinist Megan Weeder.
The songs on Heartland are much more rooted in classic country-blues than Betty Dylan's previous work. Where the group's previous records we're all over the map stylistically, this one is more focused, allowing the duo's true talents to emerge from the shadows. Vickie's vocals are a wonder, equal part polish and snarl, the soul of a blueswoman with the passion of a poet. Dan's tuneful, solid guitar riffage and clever progressions are top-notch, and the musicians behind them provide the perfect anchor for Betty Dylan's compositions.
The group plays its Bloomington coming-out party Tuesday night at The Bluebird. The band from the recordings will back them up, including Aronoff if his schedule permits.
http://www.HoosierTimes.com
(Download .pdf - 1.4MB) or (Download hi-res .tif 1.9MB)
Maverick Country Music Magazine
October 2002 Album Review: "Flame"
Artist: Betty Dylan
by Helen Keene
Betty Dylan and convention are words rarely found together (they don't have Betty Dylan conventions just yet). In fact, I did a search on Google and came up with nothing. Betty Dylan are, to the untrained eye, decidedly weird. But there's nothing wrong with being a bit off-kilter, is there EIton? Let's take a look at the evidence. Their first album (yes despite the name, they are a group, not an individual), AMERICAN TRASH, was the soundtrack to a book. Dr Dan, who gained his qualification from the same school as Dr Fox, is the male voice of the duo, an author and a former fiction teacher. He claims to see the future and predicts secret languages. With wife and musical partner Vickie, he lives in an RV named 'Homey'. Interesting.
Flame, their sophomore outing, in context then, is pretty straightforward, being the accompaniment to a screenplay, exploring the metaphorical journey of a flame-haired teenager who finds her voice and becomes lead singer in a band. We're first introduced to Flame ('That's a weird name, but it's the world that's insane') with a customary Dr Dan Lou Reed spoken word commentary. We don't know if Flame has a surname. Songs entitled Poison Kisses, Love Lies, and Kicked in the Chin hint strongly at the plot and poor young Flame's tribulations.
But the unexpected twist is the hidden gem of Vickie's acappella Jones For You, a piercing slow motion mantra of velvet smoothness. Intriguing moments also develop with the gruff cartoon snakey-ness of Dr Dan's Violet Tracks, backed up by a flapping rockabilly piano and chug chug chugging electric guitar and the incredible jazzy arrangement of EIton John's Rocket Man with Vickie in subversive mode, belting out 'Mars ain't the kind of place to raise your kids/ ROCKETMAN,' sexy, eerie and edgy, all at the same time. The Beatles Can't Buy Me Love is given equally innovative treatment as a duet. Dr Dan sounds vaguely threatening, whilst Vickie remains mysterious-an Uma Thurman in a Pulp Fiction kind of way. Less memorable numbers such as Work It Out and Thinking About You encompass plodding blues and the occasional touch on country and provide inoffensive background fillers which are less gutsy, but less interesting. I guess that leaves room for the acting to shine. It may not all be up to The Commitments quality, but it's original. I see David Lynch reaching for the phone. I wonder if Dr Dan sees him too?
FreakzofRock.com REVIEW of FLAME CD
September 2002
Band: BettyDylan
Album: Flame
Reviewed by: Ashley
When I first recieved "Flame" in my mailbox, I really didn't know what to
expect when I popped it into my CD player. I must say that I was quite
surprised from what I heard coming out of my speakers. For one, this band
has a very unique style of music. Why do I say that? Its because not one
song on this whole album sounded the same and it has a mixtues of west-coast
country and blues rock. I for one, thought this is a album that you can pop
into your CD player at anytime and just sit back and relax. The seconed
reason was, when I open up the liner notes the guy looked like Billy Bob
Thorton. Yes, people the actor turned singer Billy Bob Thornton. And anybody
who knows me very well--knows that I have a thing for Billy Bob Thornton.
Also the fact that song titles like "Kicked In the Chin" and "Can't Buy Me
Love" is kickass and rocks in my book.
Overall: Any band that can remax the Beatle classic "Can't Buy Me Love" and
still make it kickass...is #1 in my book!
Aspen Times - Aspen, CO
April 2002 - Great long article, download the pdfs to read.
(2 separate docs page 1 .pdf - 1.2MB and page 2 .pdf - 2.5MB)
And Along Comes Betty - Husband-wife duo marries music an dliterature in "American Trash"
Santa Cruz Sentinal - August 13, 2001
By Wallace Baine
The simple question "who is Betty Dylan?" has a complicated answer, so take notes if it helps.
Vickie Dubelman is a rock singer who, considering her downtown hipster's looks, could easily pass for someone named Betty Dylan. And though she comes closest to embodying Betty, Vickie is technically not Betty.
Vickie's husband is a writer who goes by the moniker Dr. Dan and though, he's obviously not a Betty (he's not a doctor either), it's her name that graces his new novella, "American Trash," which by the way is also the name of the 14-song CD that features Vickie's vivacious vocals, also under the authorship of this "Betty Dylan" person.
All clear now?
Betty Dylan is the collective name of Dan and Vickie Dubelman's artistic persona, and "American Trash" is the title of their unique multi-media effort of story and music.
Depending on your perspective, "American Trash: 14 Songs and a Book" is a lively and cheeky alt.country disc wrapped in a book, or a funny/bizarre stream-of-consciousness memoir with a soundtrack CD tucked in the back.
The Dubelmans, who play tonight at Henfling's in Ben Lomond, were in the middle of recording their new album when their producer Marvin Etzioni (Lone Justice, Counting Crows) happened to be in the middle of reading a short novel Dan had written years before.
Why not combine the two into one package? Etzioni suggested.
"They're different pieces of art," said Dr. Dan, who has a masters degree in fiction writing from Johns Hopkins University, and actually taught fiction there for a while. "But they really go together nicely."
The idea is risky. Dan and Vickie are asking record stores to carry a CD that doesn't fit in their bins and bookstores to sell a book that appeals primarily to music buffs.
"It's a different kind of concept," said Dan, "but we just embraced it.We decided we're not going to be afraid of doing something, marketing-wise, other people weren't doing. And it's really taken a life of its own. We've been surprised at the strong reactions people have had to it."
Betty Dylan's sound is broad, boogie-based dance-hall country with an urbane spirit of irony to it.
The title song on "American Trash," which has enjoyed airplay on KPIG (107.5 FM), is a warped anthem of ticky-tacky American excess, evoking gold Cadillacs, fake IDs and Motel 6.
The rest of the album follows in the same vein, stomping merrily through broken-hearted themes that are the currency of country music. All are originals except a high-cholesterol take on Hank Williams'"Your Cheatin' Heart."
The novel is a rambling, quite funny series of obsessions and adventures of a run-down American nobody.
His reaction when his girlfriend first told him she loved him? "It was as though the Mets had come through in the bottom of the ninth, not the World Series, but an important game."
Dan and Vickie came from opposite sides of the America they so gleefully trash (and by trashing salute).
Dan grew up a New Jersey kid who starred in a Cracker Jack commercial at the age of 5. His literary talents put him on an up elevator into academia, where he studied with celebrated literary figures Alison Lurie and John Barth at Cornell and Johns Hopkins, respectively.
Determined to launch a music career, he worked a few hard years on the road. Among his more undignified gigs was playing the Keith Richards part in a Rolling Stones tribute band.
Vickie is a California girl, reared in everybody's favorite California cowtown, Bakersfield, where she baby-sat a few times the grandchildren of Bakersfield's most famous musical figure, Buck Owens.
She ended up in L.A. while still a teen. After several musical experiences with jazz and rock , she fronted a band called Venus Con Carne which appeared on an episode of "Ellen", she eventually gravitated to country music, where her expressive wail was more at home.
The two met working on the fringes of show business in L.A. They were both steeped in music, but avoided playing together until they stumbled upon the idea of Betty Dylan.
"Oh, I answer to Betty all the time," said Vickie of her on-stage persona. "But I'm never really not playing myself on stage."
Dan describes Vickie's on-stage look as Goth, but warm and approachable. The couple's music also plays on those cultural paradoxes. The whole notion of "American Trash" is built on two contradictory impulses: contempt and admiration.
"The concept really stems from how Americans tend to throw everything out like trash," said Dan. "But it's all we got.
"Look at McDonald's. They serve bad food that's not good for you; but in a weird way, McDonald's is comforting too. Those arches are our pyramids."
Contact Wallace Baine at wbaine@santa-cruz.com
Santa Cruz Sentinel
Music Connection Magazine
Vickie's got some funny quotes in thiis "Auditioning Tips" article
Click here to view
Music Connection Magazine
Review of "American Trash, 14 Songs and a Book" by Tom Kidd - May 7, 2001
Local favorites Betty Dylan, who have opened for everyone from Rodney Crowell to Hank Williams III, have penned a great book and CD package, American Trash. The text is smart, perhaps a little self-consciously so, though not as self-conscious as either Kerouac or Bukowski and certainly a lot easier to get into given the dearth of drugs associated with the earlier artists. On the accompanying full-length CD, the husband/wife team Dan & Vickie Dubelman trade vocals like a nuvo-beat Chuck E. Weiss and Rickie Lee Jones. It's a well-designed, fully realized project; the kind that puts the art back in the word "artists."
(Click to view .gif 26k)
Independent Music Reflections - Betty Dylan "American Trash" Interview with Vickie
By Steven Digman
"Betty Dylan is not me. I am not Betty Dylan. Betty Dylan really is me"…Betty Dylan is - Vickie Dubelman.
Beginning at the musical age of Venus Con Carne (her first band), Vickie musically meets and then musically marries Dan Dubelman (Dr. Dan and the Prescriptions), thereby producing (together) their musical offspring - Betty Dylan, AMERICAN TRASH!
Describing her music as "Roots or alt-country for short… rock, pop, country, blues, folk and jazz, [and] if you listen to our albums I think you'll hear all of those styles and influences...even some soul."
And it is country with... alternative soul!
Voice wise Dr. Dan is 'talk with the edge of music'; distinctive and unencumbered by any singing restrictions of musical range. Whereas on the other voice - Vickie is beautiful.
Produced by Vickie Dubelman and Marvin Etzioni, AMERICAN TRASH is music that is born and written from the 'other side of the tracks'- the alternative side. The kind you have to live in order to write.
It is a labyrinth of interconnecting organic musical structure (fourteen-tracks) of vocal woman-made artifacts with the added verb inflections (modality) of Dr. Dan.
…" I always wanted to sing", she says. "We moved a lot and my parents split up and got back together so many times...plus they tried the open marriage thing...there were drugs and alcohol and parties all the time. And I was an only child. As a form of escapism and a way to entertain myself, I would sing to myself for hours. It's the one area where I always felt some control." And now with AMERICAN TRASH, Betty Dylan sings to us.
With all songs either written or co-written by Dan and Vickie Dubelman (with the one exception of "Your Cheating Heart" written by the late Hank Williams Sr.), which is vocally I might add the best song on this CD. Dan and Vickie weave (to the listener) a lyrical musical American journey.
And how long has Vickie Dubelman been writing songs?
"I normally don't like what I write, but I've been writing since the sixth grade. I write a lot of things down. When I really hit on something good, it comes easily. And all the other work is just part of the exercise. On the other hand Dan is the real prolific poet, and he has a ton of great songs."
Which do you like better songwriting or singing the song?
"Singing is easier and more immediately gratifying. I am an immediate gratification junkie. However, when I write a really good song, the gratification runs deeper."
Which is more difficult?
"Writing, except when a good one pops out. Writing in general takes more discipline (which, like I said, is not my strong suit), and I get distracted a lot. [And good ones do pop out. Listen to 'Okay' (the third track). Here Vickie sings vocals that a listener can drink. It is intoxicating (vocally smooth); punctuated by Dr. Dan's herbal medicine (verbs). Of equal quality: 'Don't Tell Me What To Do' and 'Farewell Show'] I play what feels good not what seems right. We also don't play things the same way twice. We often play with different musicians from places like Santa Fe, Austin, Los Angeles, Iowa City, Boston, New York, etc. We never ask the musicians to play it like the record. We like to leave it wide open for spontaneity."
What are your musical influences?
"Beatles, Elton John, Patsy Cline, The Carpenters, Dylan, Gram Parsons, Chili Peppers, Sly and the Family Stone, the Ohio Players, Jimi, Janis, the Osmonds, the Bradys, Johnny Mathis, Billy Holiday, etc."
Concluding remarks:
"Dr. Dan and I are happily married, so please do not grab my ass or I will not hesitate to break your fingers (ask the guy at the Wilco show at the El Ray Theater)."
So Listen (I suggest), but definitely don't touch!
Read the interview online at Digman's World
Same article plus others at Collected Sounds site
Glendale News Press - Betty Dylan Revitalizes Talk Show
December 2001
Article about the first Go Plug Yourself Variety Show in L.A.
See article here
UCLA Bruin Interview
Click here to read
Score! Music Magazine "American Trash, 14 Songs and a Book" Review
November 2001 by Cristy
Betty Dylan is a fictional character, the amalgam of Dan Dubelman (aka Dr. Dan) and wife Vickie's musical, spiritual and marital union. American Trash was originally written while Dan attended Cornell, and eventually earned him a scholarship to study fiction at Johns Hopkins University, but after composing and performing the songs, it was decided to release them as a package.
It is apparent from the first paragraph that this novella was written to satisfy some academic requirement, and not appeal to the masses. It reads like a series of snapshots, captured emotional moments puncutated by the occasional sputtering of an old film projector coughing to life. These sporadic bursts of movement provide the reader with enough clues to keep turning the page, while the unusual but intriguing metaphors and imagery engage the literary minded.
Billy and Rosanna, the subjects of this story, are neither financially or psychologically stable. As a matter of fact, I don't believe either of them to be real bright, but they are real. Instead of bowing to the pressure of middle-class mediocrity, Dan dove into a world that exists in dusty trailer parks and dimly lit honky tonks all over the country, without judgement or drama. As we all wander through teh days of our existence oblivious to the eccentricities others would see as pathological, so do Billy and Rosanna. In that respect, they are normal; they are us.
The soundtrack to this melancholy love sotry was labeled country, but exceeded my expectations. I was prepared to suffer through steel guitars and egregious nasal vocals, but was greeted with the smooth stylings of early Elvis (pre-pelvis) and Patsy Cline, with a little blues thrown in for seasoning.
Hank Williams' "Your Cheating Heart" aside, my personal favorites are the somewhat monotonous but entertaining "American Trash" and the punch, attitude soaked "The Cop."
American Trash is not a linear tale, with a discernable plot or character development. There are no car chases, supernatural episodes, or dramatic life altering events. So if you're looking for Anne Rice, Stephen King, John Grisham or Barbara Taylor Bradford, this book is not for you. However, if you want a little variation in your usual literary cuisine, not to mention some bonus aural pleasures, Betty Dylan's creation could be worthy of your time. If nothing else, the title will spartk curiosity on your bookshelf.
Score! Music Magazine
Music Biz Magazine Review of "American Trash, 14 Songs and a Book"
November 2001 by Tom Farrell
American Trash, 14 Songs and a Book may be the launching point for a whole new genre combining reading and listening. American Trash is, according to the jacket, "a rock and roll love story told in words and song." In other words, it's a 75-page book accompanied by a fourteen song soundtrack, all by a band/author named Betty Dylan. Back to the sleeve, which tells us that "Producer Marvin Etzioni (Counting Crows, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Lone Justice) had a crazy notion that a book Dan had written, American Trash, and the songs worked together and that they should be released as a package." So lo and behold, the soundtrack accompanies the book. Great idea, and sure to be a stepping stone for many other outings in this genre.
View .jpg of the article here or download hi-res .tif 1MB
Music Biz Magazine
UCLA Bruin Show Review
April 3, 2001
The Roxy Theatre, Los Angeles, CA - Betty Dylan opened for Rodney Crowell
Click here to read the review
Good Times - Santa Cruz Weekly
August 9, 2001
The Story of Betty Dylan--a duo, not a woman--reads like a Coors Lite Theater miniseries: Vickie, feisty gal with a tattoo, a background in acting, and a voice like a moonshine-swilliin' nightingale, scraps her band Venus Con Carne (best known for its appearance on an episode of "Ellen.") She gets misty for a complex Billy Bob Thornton-esque character who goes by the name of Dr. Dan. Soon after marrying Dr. Dan, who has his own share of acting credits under his cowboy belt, she joins his band, Dr. Dan and the Perscriptions (sic). One night, in the thick of a "mystical experience" in the Joshua Tree desert, they are visited by the vision of Betty Dylan. The resulting music, with its playful boy/girl vocals and themes of sex, booze and revenge schemes, is a tasty country-blues/pop stew. Think X on anti-punk pklls. And this is one Dylan you won't have to pay a scalper's college tuition to see.
View .jpg of article
Good Times Weekly
Metro Santa Cruz - American Trash Review
August 2001
Vickie was doing fine on her own. Her band, Venus Con Carne, had just appeared on a shomewhat successful television show. Dr. Dan, also, was doing just fine on his own. He was playing with two very fine musicians; Bernard "Pretty" Purdie and Jerry Jemmott, who were doing fine, too. Then one night, Vickie heard this trio play and liked it so much she decided it should be hers, and Betty Dylan was born. Vickie's voice has amazing range, and Dr. Dan's voice...is very appealing when wound around Vickie's. The two write their songs together, and the titles ("Last Night Was the Last Straw") are special. Dan wrote a...story that is paired with their CD, American Trash, in a very artistic way.
View .jpg of article
Metro Santa Cruz
