Fayette, Alabama native Dexter Roberts has had a busy year since finishing 7th on Season 13 of American Idol. He released his debut EP ‘Dream About Me’ in March and his debut album will be coming out in July. Dexter recently spoke with New England Country Music about the many instruments he plays, how his life has changed since Idol, and the process of completing his EP.
Growing up, Dexter was heavily influenced by bluegrass and was probably due to his grandparents who would often listen to bluegrass. He would go to festivals with his granddaddy and “these old guys would be up there just tearin’ up guitars and banjos and stuff. I thought ‘man I’ve gotta do that.’”
Dexter learned his first song on the guitar when he was six (or seven, he can’t recall for sure) and says that song was either ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ or ‘Folsom Prison Blues.’ Since learning the guitar, he has also learned how to play piano, bass, drums, banjo, mandolin, and the harmonica. Dexter said he doesn’t read sheet music he plays entirely by ear. “I just listen to a song and try to find the keys and there I go with it. It’s just something that I feel.”
“I’m a farm boy from the country. I had never been outside that.” And going on American Idol changed Dexter’s life dramatically but he said the best advice he has gotten came from his mom who told him, “just remember where you come from and don’t forget who you are.” He really took that advice to heart and describes Idol as an amazing experience and “I’m just really blessed. God has blessed me, I can’t go a day without thanking God for putting me in the position I’m in.”
When we asked Dexter what the best experience he has had since American Idol, there was no hesitation when he told us about getting to go to New York to a Children’s Research Hospital. He said it was amazing getting to go and meet these kids and sing to them. “They teach you a lot. You just walk in there and they’ve got a smile on their face. You never know this could be their last few days and they’ve still got a smile on their face.”
On March 24th, Dexter released his debut EP ‘Dream About Me,’ and said that starting the process from ground zero was ‘crazy’ and he really enjoyed seeing it go from nothing to a finished product and it was even crazier hearing his music on the radio. Dexter describes, “I wished I could’ve videotaped it,” when recalling the first time he heard his single ‘Dream About Me’ on the radio. He said he was driving with a buddy and another friend called him and said, “hey dude, your song is on the radio.” Dexter rushed to turn on the radio and just caught the tail end of it, but he got to hear the radio jockey talk about him and his new single and he was like “oh my gosh, that is crazy.”
Dexter co-wrote three of the four songs on the EP, and while songwriting is not something that is new to Dexter, he had never written more than a few songs. When he was looking for someone to write with, a friend got him in touch with Don Goodman, who is a pretty well known songwriter in the country scene and has written songs that have been recorded by artists like Alabama, Blake Shelton, and Conway Twitty. Dexter said he didn’t know who Don was when he met him and he asked him if he had any songs anybody else plays, Don said, “well, I’ve got a few. I wrote ‘Angels Among Us’ for Alabama. Then he said, ‘you know a song called ‘Ole Red?’ well I wrote that too.” And looking back at the experience, Dexter says that getting to work with Don was a great experience.
Dexter tells us that he loves country music as a whole and he loves what everyone is doing in country music.But the kind of artist that he wants to be is one that tells a story that “everybody can relate to that’s not the same riding down a dirt road drinking a beer stuff.” He wants to write stuff about life and he also said he loves the songs that talk about home, “If I’m gonna be far away from home one day, I wanna be singing songs about home.”
New England Country Music appreciates Dexter taking the time to talk to us. He is a very humble person and is definitely one to watch in the near future.
You can purchase Dexter’s EP, titled ‘Dream About Me,’ on iTunes here.