Dillon Fence was an American rock band from

Chapel Hill, North Carolina Chapel Hill is a town in Orange County, North Carolina, Orange and Durham County, North Carolina, Durham counties, North Carolina, United States. Its population was 61,960 in the 2020 United States census, making Chapel Hill the List of municipa ...

. They were initially active from the mid-1980s until 1995. The band released three full-length albums (''Rosemary'', ''Outside In'' and ''Living Room Scene'') on

Mammoth Records Mammoth Records was an independent record label founded in 1989 by Jay Faires in the Carrboro area of Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The majority of the acts on Mammoth were executive-produced by Faires and the label's general manager, Steve Balco ...

History

The group formed in 1986 at the

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the Public university, public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referre ...

, Chapel Hill, originally named the Magoos, with an initial lineup of

Greg Humphreys Greg Humphreys is an American singer, guitarist and songwriter based in New York City who performs solo and as bandleader of Dillon Fence, Hobex and The Greg Humphreys Electric Trio. Early life Greg was born and raised in Winston-Salem, North ...

(guitar), Chris Goode (bass guitar), Kent Alphin (guitar), and Brooke Pitts (drums).Mason, Stewart
Dillon Fence Biography
,

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

. Retrieved January 19, 2018 Humphreys and Goode had previously played together in a high school band. They changed the band name to Dillon Fence prior to their first live performance, derived from a regionally famous

landmark A landmark is a recognizable natural or artificial feature used for navigation, a feature that stands out from its near environment and is often visible from long distances. In modern-day use, the term can also be applied to smaller structures ...

fence A fence is a structure that encloses an area, typically outdoors, and is usually constructed from posts that are connected by boards, wire, rails or net (textile), netting. A fence differs from a wall in not having a solid foundation along its ...

made by local artists in the town of

Dillon, South Carolina Dillon is a city in Dillon County in eastern South Carolina, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Dillon County. It was established on December 22, 1888. Both the name of the city and county comes from James W. Dillon, an ear ...

.Dillon Fence finds its way back on tour
, ''Greensboro News & Record'', July 21, 2004. Retrieved January 19, 2018 Pitts was replaced by his brother, Trent Pitts, due to a broken leg, prior to the recording of the band's self-titled first EP., and then by Scott Carle after the first album's release. They were signed by

in 1991, the label issuing the "Christmas" CD-single that year, and the band's debut album, the

Ron Saint Germain Ron Saint Germain (alternate spellings Ron St. Germain, Ron Saint-Germaine and similar) is an American record producer, audio engineer, and mixer born in post-war Frankfurt, Germany, into a career Air Force family. Prior to his career in music ...

-produced ''Rosemary'', the following year.Robbins, Ira
Dillon Fence
, ''

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who, Dave Schulps, and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference ...

''. Retrieved January 19, 2018 Another EP (''Daylight'') followed, before the release of the band's second album, the

Lou Giordano Lou Giordano (born c. 1957) is a record producer and recording engineer who co-founded Radiobeat Studios. He worked at Fort Apache Studios when it was located in Boston, and was a partner in the production company Prodco, which had close ties wit ...

-produced'' Outside In'' in 1993. The album raised the band's profile, although ''Option'' magazine described it as "like a whole record of oddly matched 70s radio rock". '' Living Room Scene'' followed in 1994, again on Mammoth, with

Eastwest Records East West Records (stylized as east''west'') is a record label formed in 1955, distributed and owned by Warner Music Group, headquartered in New York City. History After its creation in 1955 by Atlantic Records, the label had its first hit wit ...

releasing it in the UK, and

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

in the rest of Europe, and built on the success of ''Outside In'' to become the group's biggest commercial success. Alphin and Goode left, to be replaced by Jim Smith and Andy Ware, and the band toured with both

the Black Crowes The Black Crowes are an American rock band formed in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1984. Their discography includes ten studio albums, four live albums and several charting singles. The band was signed to Def American Recordings in 1989 by producer Geo ...

and Hootie and the Blowfish, but the band split up in 1995 after demos for a fourth album were rejected by Mammoth.Condran, Ed (2015)
Just like old times with Dillon Fence at Cat’s Cradle
, ''The News & Observer'', August 27, 2015. Retrieved January 19, 2018 In December 2000, they regrouped for a three-date tour and recorded a double-CD album, ''Live at the Cat's Cradle''.Hanner, Zach (2001)
Dillon Fence
, ''Indy Week'', July 25, 2001. Retrieved January 19, 2018 They also did summer reunion tours in 2004 and 2005 to support the greatest hits album ''Best+''. As of the mid-2010s, Dillon Fence were still performing occasionally. Singer-songwriter Greg Humphreys' songs have been

covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of ...

by bands like Hootie and the Blowfish (who used to open for them and later vice versa) and Letters to Cleo.

Band members' other work

Greg Humphreys formed the soul-funk group Hobex, which has also featured Ware, and later the New York-based Greg Humphreys Electric Trio.Devores, Cortney (2014)
Dillon Fence/Hobex frontman back with new electric trio
, ''The Charlotte Observer'', November 20, 2014. Retrieved January 19, 2018 Scott Carle was in Collapsis (Cherry/Universal) in 2000. Later he joined the B-Sides with Ken Mosher (Squirrel Nut Zippers) and future members of The Never. Next was Marat, a heavy rock band on MoRisen records which included members of the Veldt (DesWhite), Snatches of Pink (MikeRank) and on vocals, John Ensslin from What Peggy Wants. As of 2008, Carle is playing with Bull City, a four-piece rock outfit, and also with Lost In The Trees, a 13-piece orchestra on Trekky records. Kent Alphin formed Granger after Dillon Fence and included Carle and G.Gilbert. Chris Goode was in Straddlecat while in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, WA.

Discography

Albums

* ''Rosemary'' (1992), Mammoth * ''Outside In'' (1993), Mammoth * '' Living Room Scene'' (1994), Mammoth/

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

Eastwest East West Records (stylized as east''west'') is a record label formed in 1955, distributed and owned by Warner Music Group, headquartered in New York City. History After its creation in 1955 by Atlantic Records, the label had its first hit wit ...

;Live albums: * ''Live at the Cat's Cradle'' (2001), Phrex ;Compilations: * ''Best+'' (2004), MoRisen

EPs, singles

* ''Dillon Fence'' EP (1989), NOCAR * "Christmas" (1991),

Mammoth A mammoth is any species of the extinct elephantid genus ''Mammuthus.'' They lived from the late Miocene epoch (from around 6.2 million years ago) into the Holocene until about 4,000 years ago, with mammoth species at various times inhabi ...

* ''Daylight'' EP (1992), Mammoth * "Black Eyed Susan"/"The World's A Mess" (1993), Mammoth * ''Any Other Way'' EP (1993), Mammoth * ''Living Room Scene'' EP (1995), Mammoth

References

{{Authority control Musical groups from Chapel Hill-Carrboro, North Carolina Alternative rock groups from North Carolina American jangle pop groups Musical groups established in 1986 Musical groups disestablished in 1995