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Ohio has many musical sounds running through its 88 veins with rockabilly being one of them. Some might be surprised that the genre isn't just for folks in the valleys and hollows to the south, but there's also a whole of of city folks who like the style that the trio called Haywire presents. Touring on their first 14 cut disc, "Movin'," Westlake guitarist Dennis "Rockin' Denny" Petti traded some thoughts with OhioOnline music correspondent Peanuts over the sound and direction of the group and why things haven't gotten crazy yet for them. |
| OO: |
Who first got you interested in music?
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| DP: |
"I was probably first exposed to rock and roll by The Beatles, but in the 1980's, when I heard the Stray Cats, I became a huge rockabilly fan. There's something about rockabilly that really gets to me"
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| OO: |
Besides those two, who has influenced your music?
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| DP: |
"My wife Cathy Jo is also in the act, playing guitar and we are the songwriters of the band. We're both influenced by some greats like Buddy Holly, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash. We also have a lot of varied influences from Dwight Yoakam to Robert Gordon to the two other previously mentioned acts"
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| OO: |
In that case, describe Haywire's music
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| DP: |
"I call it rockabilly. Sometimes the definition can be widely interpreted, but to me it's like country, blues and maybe a little western swing mixed together. Then you give it a good rocking beat and, viola, you've got Haywire music."
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| OO: |
What national act would be a good match with this band?
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| DP: |
"Off the top of my head, we would match up with Wayne Hancock. We came close to opening for Wayne awhile back"
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| OO: |
Anyone in the state of Ohio match that description?
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| DP: |
"We opened for Hillbilly Idol out at the Barking Spider on the campus of Case Western Reserve University awhile ago. That was a good match up."
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| OO: |
As for the disc, where was it recorded?
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| DP: |
"We recorded it at a small studio near Mentor-On-The-Lake. It's owned by guitarist Al Globokar."
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| OO: |
How did the recording go?
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| DP: |
"They know what they are doing as far as the recording process, but we had to help them understand the particular sound that we're looking for. Actually, mixing the cd was the most challenging part"
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| OO: |
I understand you play an unusual guitar.?
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| DP: |
"My primary guitar is my 'Elvicaster.' It's kind of like putting a telecaster and a stratocaster together on the same guitar"
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| OO: |
Are you an Ohio native?
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| DP: |
"I was born and raised in Cleveland. Went to Mentor High and attended Tri-C for college. Cathy and I live in Westlake and the third member of the band, stand up bassist Rick Santon, lives in Macedonia"
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| OO: |
Favorite Ohio venue?
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| DP: |
"I'd have to say the Barking Spider"
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| OO: |
Long term plans?
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| DP: |
"Write and learn new material and possibly a live disc"
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| OO: |
Any final thoughts?
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| DP: |
"Our disc is available at www.cdbaby.com or
many local stores like the Exchange and Borders and at our shows. We've played places as varied as someone's dining room to the Cuyahoga County Fair and it's always cool to see people enjoy our music. Sometimes we even get couples dancing to the Jitterbug while we're playing."
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