Born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, DennisI got his first guitar while in high school, and taught himself how to play so he could play folk music with his banjo-playing buddy. They added a washtub bass, and the "New River Ramblers" were born, playing folk music at school gigs. Folk music gave way to R&R, and in college he played electric bass in a R&R band.
While in the Air Force Dennis played electric guitar with a country band, and also attended his first bluegrass festival where he heard Bill Monroe.
After the military he decided to buy a dobro and give it a shot. He was inspired to learn dobro by seeing the late Uncle Josh Graves with the Flatt & Scruggs band on TV.
After learning the fundamentals of music theory, Dennis sat at the piano and taught himself enough to get thru some basic country or blues jam sessions.Moving to Dallas in 1975, Dennis soon hooked up with the "Salt Creek Express" , playing dobro, recording on their first album, and playing area bluegrass festivals.
Along the way he hooked up with a great vocalist, Debie Babcock, and had an acoustic blues trio playing under the name "Crying Shame". Most recently, he joined some other great local musicians and vocalists in a group called "Swing Roulette" playing old blues, jazz, and western swing.
He has done studio work and taught dobro workshops sponsored by the Garland Square Pickers and at Gerald Jones' Acoustic Music Camp.One of his greatest pleasures is his volunteer job Veteran's Administration Hospital in Dallas - teaching a recreational therapy guitar/music class every week.
Dennis believes you will never learn everything about whatever instrument you play - this is the beauty of music. He is still learning dobro and guitar licks after all these years. And you will always find new musical styles that will catch your attention. His latest interests are gypsy guitar and Hawaiian steel guitar.