Dewey grew up on a farm in Nebraska and as a child, his mother always had a variety of music playing on the radio. At age 10, he bought his first instrument, a ukulele. Later, as a teenager, he bought a used guitar for a whopping $8. No one in his tiny hometown gave lessons so he learned a few chords from a book. This seemed to suffice until his mid-20s. After getting a good round of applause when sitting in at an open mic night, he decided he liked the sound of applause. Soon after, he learned of a group that needed a bass guitar, so he bought one and taught himself to play it.

Dewey was soon playing in local country bands three and four nights a week, but after a few years, the draw of all the other musical styles he listened to as a kid was too much and he began to branch out. While playing in one of these versatile groups, Dewey got the opportunity to play in the backup band for The Drifters for several shows. He played Bluegrass music for several years and also played for nine years in the Motorola Dance Band, an 18-piece big band.

Dewey has now been playing professionally since the mid-1960s and, as a member of Rockin’ The Oldies band, is glad to be back to the music of his high school days.