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Until very recently, to my great
shame, the name of Crazy Joe was
unknown to me. Could you tell me
where do you come from and what’s
your background?
I’m from the great state of
Ohio - born in Columbus in 1979,
grew up in a little town called
Granville, and then moved with my
parents to Enon in 1995, which is
in the Miami Valley near Dayton.
I’ve stayed in that area
ever since.
What led you to pick the
guitar? Did some specific player
have an impact on you?
Yeah, my dad! He played in bands
in high school and college, and I
suppose seeing him play around
the house when I was a small kid
made me want my own guitar. When
I was four, I begged my mom to
get me one, which she did for
Christmas - a plastic guitar from
Big Bear with a picture of Willie
Nelson! My folks still have it.
What did you grow up
listening to?
My dad’s records, which were
mostly from the mid- to late-60’s.
He had everything from the Beach
Boys and the Beatles to the Who,
Santana, Jimi Hendrix, you name
it. He liked everything, so I
also got to hear Sam Cooke,
Wilson Pickett, Sam & Dave,
all kinds of good stuff. And of
course oldies radio, back when
they actually played music from
the 1950’s and 1960’s.
But then there were also his
mother’s records, which
would later have a bigger impact
than I realized at the time.
Nanny was a country fan, so I
heard Merle Haggard, Hank
Williams, the Statler Brothers,
Eddy Arnold, Roy Clark. She had
the “Roy Clark Guitar
Spectacular” LP which I only
very recently realized must have
influenced me subconsciously.
How and when did you form
Crazy Joe & The Mad River
Outlaws and is this your first
band?
I started my first band when I
was 12, called Wasted Energy. We
played late-60’s cover
songs, but never had any real
gigs. I was the youngest guy in
the group; the other guys were
all 15 or 16 years old and in
high school. Then in high school
I played in different bands with
my buddies and did a lot of home
recording, playing all the
instruments myself; I suppose
kind of like Les Paul, but this
was still mainly 60’s music.
I started Crazy Joe and the Mad
River Outlaws in the spring of
2000. I was in my third year in
college and happened to run into
a guy I went to high school with
on my way to class. By that time
I had become totally addicted to
the Reverend Horton Heat and had
“accidentally” seen the
Amazing Royal Crowns twice…the
first time was a life-changing
experience. I mean, I’d
heard music from the 1950’s
off and on my entire life, and
even played some of it in high
school, but suddenly it seemed
like the most exciting music I’d
ever heard. So I asked the guy,
who later turned out to be “Hep
Cat” Matt Duffey, if he
wanted to start a 50’s-style
rockabilly band. He looked at me
like I was crazy but shrugged his
shoulders and said “all
right.” Two summers before
that, I played drums in a
punkabilly band called
Switchblade Serenade. It was fun,
but never amounted to anything. You
sometimes refer to the band as
"nerdabilly". How would
you define that?
Well, you’d have to ask Deke
Dickerson; he’s the one who
came up with it. I guess the name
“Crazy Joe” is somewhat
ironic, because I’m not
exactly a wild and crazy guy. I
have a master’s degree in
electrical engineering and I
spend an awful lot of my free
time designing hi-fi and
recording equipment and tinkering
with stuff. I couldn’t be a
dangerous rock rebel if my life
depended on it. But hey, at least
I’m not trying to fool
anybody.
The new EP “Sweatin’
Bullets...” is different and
shows more variety in the styles
approached, with a rock’n’roll
tune with sax, a Bakersfield type
song, a Joe Maphis-Les Paul
instro and a ballad ala Elvis. A
word about that.
Well, thanks for comparing me to
my heroes! I guess I just like a
lot of different stuff. I go
through phases where I’m
obsessed with a particular
artist, and I’m sure that
has something to do with it.
Merle Travis, Les Paul, Little
Richard, the Collins Kids, Johnny
Horton, the Comets, you get the
idea.
Another change to the
sound was Matt who now plays
electric bass. Why did he switch
and does he still play the slap
bass?
Oh yes, he still plays slap bass;
he reminds me every day. I was
looking for a deeper, more
penetrating bass sound like some
of the later rock & roll
records and 60’s country.
Think of “Somethin’
Else” by Eddie Cochran -
that’s a fantastic sound.
What about the other two,
Rob and Brian?
I’m very lucky to have these
guys in the band. Brian Hoeflich
is a great drummer who has
actually played this kind of
music for a long time, even did a
pick-up gig with Deke several
years ago. That’s very
difficult to find around Dayton,
OH, trust me! While I was “between
drummers” I cut the EP with
two different session guys I
knew, and they did an admirable
job. But with Brian I won’t
hesitate to take the band as-is
and record, which we’re
planning to do as soon as I get
off the road with Deke in
December. I’m doing his fall
tour, which I’m very excited
about.
I suppose having Rob on
the rhythm guitar allows you more
freedom on your guitar playing
than the trio line-up?
Oh, you have no idea. And
acoustic guitar is something I’ve
always wanted in the group, but
couldn’t find. And he’s
a great singer, too! He can do a
surprisingly accurate Johnny Cash
vocal, and that lower range
sounds really good on vocal
harmonies, it compliments my
range nicely. Again, I will not
hesitate to record these guys as-is,
they’re great. And the best
part is that there are no jerks
in the band. We all get along
great. I didn’t realize how
valuable that is until now.
Talking about guitar,
what is the brand of the one you
have on the cover of ‘Sweatin’?
It looks like a Bigsby model.
That guitar is a Casey Simmons
Custom “Triphonic.”
Casey is an old buddy of mine; I
met him about seven years ago
when I put a Hammond M-3 organ up
for sale in the newspaper. He was
only in high school then. I hadn’t
seen him for a couple of years
when he called me one day in 2004
asking for help wiring a guitar
he’d built. I knew he had
built guitars before, mostly from
pre-made parts, but the one he
brought over was stunning.
Entirely hand-made from scratch,
it was beautiful. I told him his
next guitar would have my name on
it. So I came up with the design
and we co-engineered its
construction. It’s made of
solid Korina, white Limba for the
body and black Limba for the
neck, which runs all the way
through the guitar. Critical to
the sound are the three G&L
pickups, which I think are the
best available. I have several
G&L guitars, and they’re
great; they’re all I used
before Casey built me the 12-lb.
monster. I’ve never owned a
better guitar in my life. It’s
hell on my back, but worth it.
You’ve played at The
Deke’s Guitar Geek, are you,
like Deke, crazy about guitars?
Well, sort of. Back when I
started the group I lusted after
a 50’s Gretsch Round Up like
Conway Twitty had back then, but
the vintage guitar scene has
gotten too rich for my blood. I
decided that I wanted something
different, and boy, did I get
that. I toyed with the idea of a
doubleneck for a while, because I
sometimes play this thing I call
an “electric ukulele”
that I built in eighth-grade shop
class; it’s really just an
octave-up six-string guitar. You
can hear it on “Electric
Ukulele Rag” on the new EP.
But I decided that the doubleneck
is really Deke’s territory,
so I wouldn’t touch one with
a ten-foot pole.
You recently toured with
him, how was it?
Oh, it was great! Deke’s a
GREAT guy to work for, a true
professional who’s also
really fun to hang out with. He’s
really kind of taken me under his
wing and helped get me out there,
which means a lot more to me than
I could probably ever tell him.
Deke has been an enormous
influence on me, as if you couldn’t
tell! I mean, Crazy Joe and the
Mad River Outlaws had been around
a while before I ever heard of
Deke. I had written most of the
songs on “Chopped, Slammed,
& Twangin’,” we had
a bit of a fan base going, and I
thought I was pretty good. Then I
heard Deke and thought, “uh
oh, I’ve got a lot of work
to do.” I told him this
story recently and he said,
“well quit working, ‘cause
you’re already better than
me!” Obviously not even
remotely true. Deke’s like
the cool older brother I never
had.
You’re booked to
play the Green Bay festival in
2007. Do you plan to meet some
legends there?
Well, Little Richard is my idol.
I’d give all ten fingers to
be able to sing like that. And
you know who I really love? Joe
Clay! I played rhythm guitar
behind him at the Ponderosa Stomp
in Memphis last May, and he
scared me to death. You know how
sometimes these old guys play and
you think, “wow, for an old
guy, he sure has a lot of energy.”
Well, not Joe Clay…he’s
more energetic than I am at 27!
And his singing is just
ridiculously great. I love the
sides he cut in 1956.
Do you have a day job or
are you a full time musician?
By day, I’m an adjunct
professor of electrical
engineering at Wright State
University currently working on
my doctorate. I know, not very
rock & roll, is it? The good
thing is that I can take a
quarter off to tour with Deke
Dickerson and get away with it. I
don’t make squat for someone
with a MSEE degree, but being
able to play music more than
makes up for it. I’m
extremely lucky.
A last word?
Three years ago, if someone had
told me I’d soon be playing
festivals in Las Vegas, Seattle,
and Green Bay, touring across the
country in Deke Dickerson’s
band and backing up Herb
Remington in Memphis, I would’ve
said “no way.” I’m
very fortunate.
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