All Photos: Alan Mercer
Summer Dean is as authentic as they come. She recently won the Ameripolitan Outlaw Female of the year award. She puts on a heck of a good show! Her raw lyrics, a bare-boned honest voice, and approachable confidence is evident on any stage and set her apart from other women of today’s country music scene.
From full theater seats to a packed honky tonk dance floor, Summer’s audience falls in love with the country songstress and quickly become loyal fans. Summer has released her debut EP, ‘Unladylike,’ with plans to release a full-length this year.
She and her band play numerous venues from legendary dance halls to beautiful theaters, while establishing a firm-foothold in the thriving music scene of Fort Worth. Summer has opened for numerous buzzy artist such as Marty Stuart, Dale Watson, Gary P. Nunn, Sam Outlaw, Max Stalling, The Derailers and more.
Alan Mercer: Summer, I had never heard of the word “Ameripolitan’ until I saw your web site. What is that all about?
Summer Dean: Do you know Dale Watson?
AM: I love Dale Watson.
SD: Dale started Ameripolitan. It’s his thing. He is the Granddaddy of Ameripolitan music. It’s designed to set certain music apart when it’s not mainstream Country. It’s original music that is roots influenced. It’s a place for musicians like me to fit in. There’re four categories of Ameripolitan, Outlaw, Honky Tonk, Western Swing and Rockabilly.
AM: I think you are a blend of all of that.
SD: Totally, it’s been amazing for me. It gave me a place to say that’s what my music is.
AM: Have you been playing music your whole life?
SD: No, not really. It’s yes and no. Music has always been in my family. My Mom played piano in the church forever. I played piano for a long time and I sang in high school and college. Then I started thinking that I needed to be a wife and a mom, so I started going down that path, but it never worked out. I did always write and play on my own. Finally, later in life, I said to myself I was going to do this.
AM: I love that.
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SD: I’m 39 so that’s kind of late for the game, but then again, it’s not. I’m not young and dumb anymore.
AM: It’s absurd to think you are too old. I’ve talked to artists who are 29 and they were told they were too old. I say don’t believe it.
SD: I feel like I wasn’t ready then and I am ready now. Now I have something to say and I have a point of view.
AM: Your EP, ‘Unladylike’ is SO good. After the six songs finish playing, I want six more.
SD: Thank you, I’m working on that.
AM: All six songs are unique and phenomenal.
SD: It’s nice to hear that. That was just me and my friends making a record. There wasn’t an album concept. I just said I needed to put some of my songs down and we did it.
AM: So, you are going to record some new songs soon?
SD: I’m going into the studio with 25 or 30 songs and we will cull it down from there.
AM: Your song, ‘Alabama’ has one of the most infectious melodies I’ve ever heard.
SD: (Laughing) It’s pretty fun isn’t it?
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AM: Did you write all six songs?
SD: Oh yes, there are a couple co-writes, but they are all my babies. I don’t feel like writing is my strongest talent. I’m not prolific. Some people can just sit down and write. That’s hard for me. You must practice. You can’t just sit and write when you feel like it. You have to do it all the time.
AM: I’ve talked to people in Nashville who go to an office and write from 9 to 5 every day. It forced them to get better.
SD: It’s been fun to write outside of my personal experiences. I’ve found a different point of view or no point of view where you are having a good time writing a song.
AM: I also love your song, ‘Maryanne.’
SD: I was in a different state of mind when I wrote that album. I was struggling with not being what I thought I was supposed to be. I was feeling I wasn’t proper enough or ladylike enough. I wondered what was the matter with me, because I never married and didn’t have kids.
AM: How did you cope with those feelings?
SD: I have always turned to the bible when I feel those things. I was studying Revelation at the time as well, so it was a real reflective time. Now I feel way more like myself.
AM: Are you a deeply spiritual person?
SD: Yes! I feel like when every rock is going to be upturned, all that will be left is my soul. That’s important to me.
AM: Are you booking yourself?
SD: I do everything myself.
AM: That is getting a lot more common now.
SD: There’s a lot of ways to do it. I could use some help sometimes and then sometimes I like the control of doing it myself. It’s tit for tat.
AM: It is more like you are doing three or four jobs.
SD: Yes, it’s a whole lot. No one ever said being a musician is easy. (Laughter) No one EVER said that!
AM: At least people LOVE your album!
SD: It’s done really well. It was surprising because we never expected that. We just went in and recorded it without thinking of how it would do. (Laughter) I just called some friends and said, “Hey, I got some songs. Do you want to record them with me?”
AM: I love that!
SD: I think part of doing it yourself is it allows the artist inside to come out. If it’s really your baby, you want to be involved in every corner and turn in all of it.
AM: I have fallen in love with the Texas Music scene. It’s a whole new world.
SD: It is, you can make a living only playing in Texas. Sometimes when we tour outside of Texas it’s just not as easy.
AM: I am so grateful to Dale Watson for setting up Ameripolitan music to give all of you a platform.
SD: That’s what Ameripolitan has done. It’s also linking people up internationally who do this kind of thing. We help each other out, we play with each other, write with each other.
AM: You’re going to end up going to Ireland or somewhere like that very soon.
SD: I hope so. Wouldn’t that be fun? That would be so cool!
