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Cherry Dillinger
In The Beginning...
Cherry Dillinger was formed in 2006 in Greenville, SC. Jenny, Tom and Martin met at “open mic” nights at The Attic, a club in Greenville. Loren was a good friend of Martin’s and joined Cherry Dillinger when it was time for a drummer.
When searching for a name, Jenny mentioned that she played in a band called Cherry Dillinger about 10 years ago. The name had a ring to it…the sweetness of cherries blended with the hardness of a gangster, a very popular gangster that the public really loved…so after getting the “blessing” from the former members…Cherry Dillinger it was!
To become a good band, Cherry Dillinger knew they had to get out there and play live as much as possible. This was not an easy task, since the majority of venues available in the Upstate South Carolina area were relatively small, and they couldn’t really haul a drum kit and a backline of amps to the 99% of the gigs. For this reason, Cherry Dillinger started as an acoustic cover band. With this approach, there were many venues to play. Soon, Cherry Dillinger was and remains one of the most frequently booked bands in the area. The band became tighter, and better with every gig.
Jenny’s vocal range, and the guitar plus bass guitar arrangement allowed Cherry Dillinger to test a wide range of cover material. They were not uncomfortable with being a cover band. After all, most bands start out playing covers (heck...the Beatles and the Rolling Stones did). Over time, some songs stayed in the repertoire, and some were taken out…and an original sound began to take shape. With Cherry Dillinger, an “Alt-Country” style developed naturally and organically, that mixed acoustic and electric sounds, with a jazz/funk/rock flavor to it. This made sense. Influence-wise, Jenny is an R&B/Jazz/Blues singer, Tom is a Classic Rock/Punk/New Wave 80’s guitar player, Martin is a Hard Rock/Metal/Blues Bass player and Loren is a Rockabilly/Hard Rock drummer. Throw it all in a blender…and you get Cherry Dillinger.
Cherry Dillinger
Fishin' Tunes...
There was always a plan of writing originals. Tom and Martin began building a library of recorded ideas. Everyone started working on some lyrical ideas…but they really had nothing completed.
And then one day, there was a Cherry Dillinger gig in Downtown Greenville on Friday, February 22, 2008. An opportunity arose from the least likely place. The Bassmaster Classic was in town at the BI-LO Center, the biggest event of the ESPN/BASS season. The winner was awarded a $500,000.00 prize…not too shabby. Two ESPN/BASS executives, Tom Ricks and Jamie Wilkinson came out for a brew or two, and happened to walk into the gig. They liked what they heard and invited Cherry Dillinger to attend the Classic as guests on Saturday and Sunday. The Cherry Dillinger team quickly realized that music was a huge part of the BASS scene.
Soon after, Cherry Dillinger were booked to play at two upcoming Tournaments, The Pride Of Georgia in Evans, GA and the Carolina Clash at Lake Murray, SC…but what to play? Well...they got together and wrote, produced, rehearsed, recorded, mixed, mastered and manufactured an original CD of songs with a fishing theme...in less than 45 days. Cherry Dillinger received the CDs on a Thursday, loaded them in a car the next day, drove to Evans, GA on Friday night and played the songs live on the next day. Talk about a tight schedule!
Fishing has always been a part of the members of Cherry Dillinger’s life. Loren and Martin fish in lakes and streams of Upstate, South Carolina regularly, when time allows. Tom grew up in Rhode Island on the water, and some of his best memories of his youth were fishing with his father…flatfish, mackerel and stripers. The guys are not pro anglers, but they knew how to bait a hook and reel something in!