Strettle Street Strut
(R.Dempster)
Rick Dempster began his musical career as singer/front man with the ‘Autodrifters’, along with Peter Lillie and Johnnie Topper, in 1977.
He was drummer with Paul Madigan and the Humans in 1979, rhythm guitarist and harmony vocalist with the Rockabilly Rebels in 1980,
then steel guitarist, vocalist and front man with the Dancehall Racketeers from 1981 for the next twenty-odd years. He also played steel
with Hawaiian styled trio, the Island Serenaders during this time. In the 90s, he also played for Tom Forsell’s Moonee Valley Drifters.
From the early 2000s, he played harmonica (mostly) with the Brunswick Blues Shooters, along with ex Thunderbirds drummer Harold Frith, bassman Paul Pyle, and vocalist/guitarist Aubrey Maher. Over these same years, Rick has played steel with fellow ex-Racketeer, Peter Baylor, in rockin’ country outfit, the Roadhouse Romeos.
Since 2013, Rick and Peter have run the Railway Gang, along with Greg O’Leary, Tracey Miller and Jonno Brown, playing every Thursday at North Fitzroy’s Railway Hotel, which they continue to do, playing a wide variety of music, including, blues, Hawaiian, Calypso, hillbilly and ancient pop tunes from the 20s and 30s.
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