Dorsie

During the past two decades, Austin, Texas-based singer Dorsie Calvin Fyffe, Jr., has crafted a well-curated song catalog that speaks from experience and the heart, combining Appalachian bluegrass with rock ‘n’ roll and gospel. Born in Southwestern Ohio, the son of a Pentecostal minister, Fyffe grew up listening to The Monkees and The Bee Gees, later gravitating toward the country music that played on his parents’ car radio and absorbing influences like George Jones, The Osborne Brothers and Gram Parsons into his lyrics, laying the foundation for his unique take on American country.

Fyffe is the former music director of the influential WOXY-FM (“97X”) in Oxford, Ohio, where he was nominated by Billboard magazine for its “Music Director of the Year” award in 1998. At the time, Fyffe also fronted the country-punk band Johnny Smoke, which released three cassettes, a 2-song vinyl 45, and a well-reviewed full-length CD, Launcher, whose songs No Depression’s Robert Booher called “genuine and sincere.”

During the past decade as a solo artist, Fyffe has played select markets including New York City; Chapel Hill, N.C.; Austin, Texas (as part of the legendary SXSW festival); Baltimore/Washington, D.C.; Philadelphia, Pa.; and his hometowns of Dayton, Ohio, and Cincinnati. During this time, Fyffe left behind the confrontational theatrics of Johnny Smoke in favor of a stripped-down set-up that reveals the depth and maturity of his voice. Despite having an incredible clutch of songs that garnered word-of-mouth praise from No Depression, Bloodshot Records artists and other alt-country music forums, only one new single surfaced during this time -- released when he was living and performing in Kansas City, Missouri. 

KCMO was a turning point for Fyffe. Within a three-week period, he stepped in for John Doe during a performance on Record Store Day and was scheduled to go on tour as support for Lydia Loveless. Unexpected personnel departures forced Fyffe to cancel the tour, eventually leading him to relocate to Austin and into a holding pattern … until now.

Rather than embrace the instant gratification of digital downloads, Fyffe is releasing his songs in batches, two at a time on limited-edition 45 vinyl singles through the Los Angeles-based California Salvage Company. Set to drop on The Day of the Dead (Nov. 1, 2014), the first CSC vinyl release features the song “Western Sky” on the A Side and a recording of the traditional “Amazing Grace” on the B Side. 

The sprawling “Western Sky” evokes lonesome nights against a background of shimmery guitar, a driving bassline and traditional country beat. Recently picked up for use as the commercial bed for a new social networking site called HereToMeet.com, “Western Sky” was originally recorded at Cyberteknics Studio in Dayton, Ohio.

Fyffe first sang “Amazing Grace,” the B Side, as a 5-year-old in his father’s church. This version of John Newton’s hymn, recorded 40 years later in an astonishing one-take performance at the legendary Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn., showcases Fyffe’s vocals against a forlorn harmonica, tinkling piano and gentle guitars, played by veteran session players.

These two singles are the first in this exclusive vinyl series. Additionally, a semi-fictionalized biography of Fyffe, written by former music journalist Sara Baker Farr (The Little Black Book, Music: Over a Century of the Greatest Artists, Albums, Songs, Performances and Events That Rocked the Music World), has garnered a tentative green light from Laughing Dog Press, an independent publisher in Rolling Hills Estates, California.