Dillon’s guitar playing comes across as effortless but has a seasoned, road worn soul that leaves you wanting to hear more. His songs draw the listener into each story and engages the mind and heart. I caught up with Dillon at one of his recent acoustic gigs and he reluctantly agreed to answer a few questions. Dillon’s humility is as admirable as his talent.
Hub: How long have you lived in Wichita Falls?
Dillon: I was born and raised in Wichita Falls.
Hub: The whole time? Lived in any other places?
Dillon: I’ve lived in Henrietta, Nocona but mostly Wichita Falls…. that’s about it. Those three cities.
Hub: How long have you been playing music?
Dillon: About 13 years now. I got my first guitar when I was 11.
Hub: What all instruments do you play?
Dillon: I play the guitar, mandolin a little bit, a little bit of banjo… uh, Dobro stuff… and I sing, of course.
Hub: What would be your ideal guitar/amp set up?
Dillon: If I had the money I’d pick a Fender Princeton Reverb and I’d pick me a nice little Tele or Strat.
Hub: As far as your songwriting, what is your inspiration?
Dillon: Just real stuff that I go through. I don’t write fictional stuff except for one song. I have a song called Mexico that’s about a woman I met in Mexico and we did our little thing in the sand and all that good stuff, but really I mostly write about real life stuff that I go through.
Hub: Who are some of your musical influences?
Dillon: The old stuff. Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, all them good boys.
Hub: You’re one of the few players around here that really play the “chicken pickin” style. That’s not an easy style to play. What encouraged you to learn that style?
Dillon: The Merle Haggard Live at Billy Bob’s record really inspired me. After hearing that type of guitar playing… it was just like “wow!” and I just decided I wanted to do that.
Hub: What are you listening to right now? You put your headphones in today, what will you be listening to?
Dillon: I’ve really gotten into the singer/songwriter type stuff so a lot of Ryan Adams, Amos Lee. That type of stuff.
Hub: You were playing some Ryan Adams earlier and I was digging that.
Dillon: I really like that “1989” cover he came out with. It’s all Taylor Swift songs but re-done.
Hub: I would like to know why he covered the entire album.
Dillon: I don’t know but it really blew up. Even Taylor was promoting it.
Hub: Any projects that you are working on at the moment?
Dillon: Right now I’m kinda just doing my own thing. I was playing bass with Kyle Park for a little bit. Now I’m just doing my own thing. Playing some coffee shops. Playing lead guitar for Walkin Johnny.
Click to hear some of Dillon’s music
www.facebook.com/dillon.pirkle
