Rick Dobbelaer Music

Demo for a new tune.All of the music here was recorded in my home studio on a Mac. I have been an Artist/Producer in the music business for a while. My early band Last Tribe was signed to NYC Indie label Energy Records and toured all over the USA in support of our releases "Substance and Soul" and "Live @ Wetlands." I mixed Substance and Soul with Grammy winning engineer Doug Oberkircher at NYC's famed Hit Factory and Rockland County NY's Bear Tracks Studios. Last Tribe broke up in the mid 90's after a final headlining show at NYC's Irving Plaza. Upon leaving Last Tribe, I recorded my first solo effort "Ballyhoo" at Bear Tracks Studios as well as Sound On Sound in NYC. Drummer Todd Cohen from Anthony and the Johnsons played on a few tracks along with a few other talented musicians like Rob Strait, Dave Ramie, Pete Jameson, Pete Mora and Christopher Thomas. Ballyhoo recieved rave reviews and was played on major radio stations on both coasts. It also caught the ear of many NY industry heavies including Avery Lipman and Fred Davis (Clive's son) Peter Lewitt, George Stein (Jeff Buckley's manager) and Ron Shapiro. Following the run of Ballyhoo, I teamed up with Last Tribe front man Smith to form Unspun, which featured Robbers on High Street drummer Tomer Danan and Benzos leader Christian Celaya on bass. Unspun released two CD's, "One" and "Souvenir." Again these releases garnered a lot of attention in NYC and Unspun eventually signed with Avery Lipman's Republic Records. I produced and wrote Unpsun's only Universal release "When it all comes down." The song recieved heavy radio play across the USA but didn't get any support from Universal and the band was dropped. For a brief while in 2002 I formed a new band called Thisday with Celaya and other Benzos member Mike Ortega. Thisday recorded a few tracks and played only one show @ CBGB's due to my failing health. In November of 2003, I recieved a heart transplant @ Columbia Presbyterian and have been living in fine health ever since. I actually got the heart of a 15 year old girl. While awaiting transplant, I put out the self produced "Interim" which is a look inside the life of a terminally ill young man. It's filled with songs of hope as well as uncertainty. In 2004 I was in the studio once again with NYC favorites Benzos producing their demos with good friend Eric Helmuth (Regina Spektor), and also doing the bands live mix at clubs like Irving Plaza, Bowery Ballroom and Mercury Lounge. Benzos signed a deal with NY's Stinky Records and "Morning Stanzas" was released in 2005. In August 2006 "Empty Town," a compilation of Last Tribe, Unspun and solo projects by myself and Smith was released to benefit the scholarship fund in the name of our fallen friend John Novotny. The video here is Last Tribe's "Sister Winter" taken from Wetlands Preserve in NYC Aug 20, 1993. The audio from this is on the Empty Town compilation.