The Deluxtone Rockets is an American band from

Muskegon Muskegon ( ') is a city in Michigan. It is the county seat of Muskegon County. Muskegon is known for fishing, sailing regattas, pleasure boating, and as a commercial and cruise ship port. It is a popular vacation destination because of the expan ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

. It began as a punk band, but by the time of signing to

Tooth & Nail Records Tooth & Nail Records is a Christian rock record label founded by Brandon Ebel in California in November 1993. The label later moved to Seattle, Washington where it is situated today. It is home to many well-known musical acts, including Undero ...

it had evolved into a

swing revival The swing revival, also called retro swing and neo-swing, was a renewed interest in swing music, beginning around 1989 and reaching a peak from the early/mid to late 1990s. The music was generally rooted in the big bands of the swing era of the ...

outfit. Their first album, which was self-titled, was produced by Gene Eugene and

Dennis Danell Dennis Eric Danell (June 24, 1961 – February 29, 2000) was an American musician, guitarist and co-founding member of the Southern California punk rock band Social Distortion. Biography Danell joined Social Distortion in 1979 while he and ...

. They wrote their own songs, and their musical style and lyrics were often compared to

The W's The W's were a Christian ska and swing revival band, formed in Corvallis, Oregon in 1996. Success came quickly to the band and their first album, ''Fourth from the Last'', was a sleeper hit, unexpectedly having had the strongest debut of any ...

, but John Brown's lead vocals were likened to

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones The Mighty Mighty Bosstones (informally referred to as The Bosstones and often stylized as The Mighty Mighty BossToneS) were an American ska punk band from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1983. From the band's inception, lead vocalist Dicky ...

Dicky Barrett Richard Michael Barrett (born June 22, 1964), better known as Dicky Barrett, is an American singer who was the frontman of ska punk band The Mighty Mighty Bosstones. He was the announcer for ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' until 2022. Barrett is known fo ...

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. In their second album, ''Green Room Blues'', the group dropped the horn section entirely and shifted to a

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western music ...

sound. The album's title reflects the fact that both Eugene and Danell died in early 2000, during production of the album. Though Danell had not been involved in the production, Eugene had been, and was replaced by Chris Colbert. The album has a darker mood than their debut effort, though its lyrics still reflect the faith of John Brown. The album also contained a cover of

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's " Lovesong". 2000 was generally reported as a bad year for the band; they were unable to play shows regularly because in addition to recording difficulties, their drummer left, after wanting to move to a different style musically. They were able to get Rodney from the Calicoes to fill in occasionally, and thus played at Cornerstone and other festivals. Also, one night their van caught fire and was totaled, though they still managed to play that night.

Discography

* 1999 '' The Deluxtone Rockets'' * 1999 '' Happy Christmas Volume 2'' (Compilation, BEC) * 2001 '' Green Room Blues'' * 2009 '' New Material Demo''

Band members

1999

* John Brown - Lead Vocals, Guitar * Jimmy Van Boxel - Upright Bass, BGV's * Jacob Dykema - Tenor Sax, Vocals * Richard Mittwede - Trombone, BGV's * Jason Sorn - Drums * Tim Harvell - Trumpet, BGV's

2001

* John Brown * Jimmy Van Boxel * Lonnie Pease - guitar * Jason Feltman

2008

* John Brown - Lead Vocals, Guitar * Jason Sorn - Drums * Harley Obzut - Bass * Dusty Bottoms - Guitar

References

External links

* The Deluxtone Rocketsat

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

* __NOTOC__ {{DEFAULTSORT:Deluxtone Rockets, The American Christian musical groups Swing revival ensembles American swing musical groups Tooth & Nail Records artists Musical groups from Michigan Muskegon, Michigan Rockabilly music groups Musical groups established in 1996 1996 establishments in Michigan