Carrboro

LIMITED EDITION Deluxe LP is on 180-gram vinyl and includes digital download card.

"This record is simply a sum total of my whole life and what I’ve become as of right now. Josh White, Django Reinhardt, Big John Taylor, Elvis ... I mean they all LIVE in me!" --- DEX

Get off at the Carrboro station.

Full Description

Dex's progeny, impacted by his wild and wildly influential work in Flat Duo Jets, his Duo and solo, includes the White Stripes, the Black Keys, Ty Segall, the Kills, Man or Astroman? and dozens of other bands that have stripped down, turned up, and cut loose.

Carrboro, with its cover shot of the railroad tracks that run through his hometown, where on a grey day or a dark night you'd find a young Dex immersing himself in the music of his idols, is his fourth record for Bloodshot (and his first for us a solo artist). Through 13 originals and far-ranging covers, Dex reaches into his steamer trunk of influences and inspirations, and fabricates an enthralling sonic quilt. As Dex describes his approach, “It doesn’t matter to me what genre—if I like a song I might record it.” It’s all different, but all of one piece.

On Carrboro, Dex assumes several musical mantles (and uncharacteristically plays all or many of the instruments). There’s the sparse and jumpy hillbilly liveliness of “Knock Knock (Who’s That Knockin’ On My Coffin Lid Door?)” with help from Rick Miller of Southern Culture On The Skids; “Lonesome Train,” originally recorded by Cecilia Batten in nearby Chapel Hill in ’57; and a take on the T. Bone Burnett-penned “I Don’t Know,” sung by The Dude and Ryan Bingham for the film Crazy Heart (says Dex: “the lyrics seem to be so much about my own life… damn I just had to record it”).

Dex’s last-call crooner persona kicks off the album with a surprising contemporary cover, that of English singer-songwriter Findlay Brown’s “I Had A Dream” (“It affected me deeply personally when I first heard it,” Dex explains).  He embraces “Smile,” a Charlie Chaplin tune (yeah, you read that right) and the Jerry Lee Lewis obscurity “Tomorrow’s Taking Baby Away” with Waits-ian levels of resignation and weariness. And no Dex Romweber record is complete without some instrumental wizardry. There’s the tiki surf of “Midnight at Vic’s” and the sunset dreamscape of “Out of the Way.”

Short Description

It’s one of his strongest efforts—a terrific collection of original songs and covers that seems like a snapshot of his entire career, from primitive rockabilly to haunting instrumentals to vintage-sounding surf to gorgeous ballads.

— Premiere Guitar
Carrboro would fit well on rotation at any punk bar, country saloon or even formal event, and much like everything he’s been a part of (Flat Duo Jets), there is exactly zero filler here.

— New Noise Magazine
There’s a folk-inspired sweetness to the whole thing, a nod to a vibrant, influential career, and a timelessness that confirms what fans have always known: Romweber will be an indie icon for years to come.

— Connect Savannah
So glad to see that this unsung legend (yes, legend) is still out there fighting the good fight… On Carrboro he shows off a bit more of his soulful side, especially in the vocal department, and guess what, the dude’s got some pipes.

— Dagger Zine
Dex Romweber = Nick Cave + Link Wray + Heavy Trash

— Slug Magazine
Anachronistic twangfest of ramshackle rockabilly, sax-blasted noir, reverb-sprung garage and more. Make yourself at home.

— Sun Media
Carrboro is modern rockabilly at its finest, in all its twang-embracing, hip-shaking glory, with a little surf guitar added in for good measure.

— New Noise Magazine
Though he’s known for rockabilly workouts and seat-of-his-pants guitar playing, Romweber demonstrates on Carrboro that he has wide-ranging taste, and a matching ability to make almost any song into a perfect fit.

— Paste Magazine
Fierce and singular in all aspects of musicianship, he’s a performer you should make a point of seeing.

— Philly Voice
Between his deep, baritone croon and predilection for dimly-lit rockabilly, spaghetti-western surf and back-alley, rain-drenched tones, it’s only a matter of time until some enterprising film director latches on to Romweber’s stylized music for a soundtrack. And they can start with any of the 13 tracks on this album.

— American Songwriter
Dex Romweber has been creating music for so long- and so effortlessly- that one can forget just how good he really is.

— Ink 19