Singer-songwriter Dean Strickland was most recently seen performing under the name Roland Numbers in the bluesy rock duo Chemical Diary alongside his brother Dudee. But when his sibling went missing last November, he decided to go it alone.
“I hadn’t seen my brother in about 26 years, but I looked him up because he was a real good guitar player,” Strickland says. “I located him and then we put together a band. We bought a camper trailer, I hooked it up to my van and we made plans to go out to Hollywood. In 2014 we made the trip out here. Last November, he said he didn’t want to do it anymore. I miss him a lot and I don’t know where he is. I have a missing person’s report out on him.”
Strickland has now been in SoCal for over five years, writing songs in a style that he describes as bluesy soft-rock, putting them out online and gauging the reaction.
“I’m a loner, because I like playing my guitar as much as I can during the day,” he says. With a rudimentary studio set up in his camper trailer, Strickland’s DIY score is high. He spends his days practicing, writing and recording.
“Since it is a Do It Yourself world for me, I really don’t even know how to get the songs across,” he says. “Fortunately there’s YouTube. I don’t have distribution, although I do have a record label. My brother and I were able to record a CD. I came up with a label, Never Die Records, when I was at the Musician’s Institute.”
For music and info, visit deanstrickland.com. For more info, contact [email protected].
