Betty Dylan

Reinventing American music and fiction since the turn of the century.

"The rock guys think we're country, the country guys think we're blues, the blues guys think we're jazz and the jazz guys think we're rock. Go figure." -- Vickie Dubelman, Betty Dylan

Vickie Dubelman
Vickie scouted for crawdads in the canals and hiked through cotton fields back when cotton fields covered most of Bakersfield. She fastened a blue tarp curtain to her porch, and taught her friends to sing harmony. These happy memories of putting on homemade shows are juxtaposed with memories of her parents' alcohol and drug abuse. Their "sixties" marriage included failed experiments with free love and open marriage. At nine, Vickie's parents split for good.

She moved to Carson City, Nevada, and threw herself into theater playing Alice in Lewis Carroll's classic. But Vickie's dad had to get out of town in a hurry, so they headed West to L.A.

Back in L.A., Vickie was chosen the youngest member of Southern California Conservatory Theatre and, although still in Jr. High, she entertained college audiences until she graduated high school. She also performed with the high school's elite jazz vocal group who toured the U.S. and cut four albums. She learned about jazz music and scatting, but her voice still wailed country music best. She was 23 years old before the thought even occurred to her to join a band and, when it did, she left everything behind, moved to Venice Beach and became a bohemian. Years of singing backup in L.A. for several bands inspired her to put together her own rock band, Venus Con Carne. Venus Con Carne recorded a self-titled CD, performed in L.A. clubs, received some national radio-play and appeared on an episode of "Ellen" during its heyday. She even got to record songs for children's programs and radio/tv jingles on the side.

Venus Con Carne broke up. Vickie and Dr. Dan got married and although they tried to keep their music and marriage separate, they soon found that they couldn't avoid playing music together. After singing backup in the neo-blues band, Dr. Dan & the Perscriptions, it soon became apparent that Vickie had a voice that shouldn't be hidden in the background. Betty Dylan was born out of Vickie and Dr. Dan's desire to return to their respective roots in country and blues. Like the real-life Betty Dylan, Vickie is part Cherokee. The rumor is that she and Dr. Dan had a mystical experience in the high desert. The Joshua Tree spirits were kicking up stardust. That's when they saw Betty and she gave them The Knowledge.

Dan Dubelman (Dr. Dan)
Dan grew up on a movie set. At 5 years old, Dan won a Golden Lion at the Cannes Film Festival for his role in the "Sharing" commercial for Cracker Jacks, which also featured Jack Gilford. Dan began playing music as a teenager and by the time he got to Cornell he was playing more than he was studying and still managed to make the Dean's List. Dan applied to get into Pulitzer Prize winning writer, Alison Lurie's, elite class for fiction. Accepted, he began to write "American Trash", a novella. This piece earned him a scholarship and fellowship to John's Hopkins world-famous fiction program under John Barth.

In 1988, Dan received an MA in fiction from Johns Hopkins University. Dan continued studying acting at Oxford where he concentrated on Shakespeare and Chekov. He moved to New York where he started an independent record label and toured the U.S. with his own band, Dr. Dan's Music Show. To recuperate from the road, he moved to Austin, Texas.

He returned to New York but could not make ends meet, so he joined the Rolling Stones' review, "Sticky Fingers", playing Keith Richards and touring the deep South. By the summer of 1995, he'd had enough. He moved to L.A. and put together another version of Dr. Dan's Music Show called Dr. Dan and the Perscriptions. The Perscriptions went on to play around L.A. and spent the whole summer of '97 playing on Venice Beach. He met Vickie shortly thereafter and married her. One night, Dan and Vickie were hit by a revelation--Betty Dylan. Essentially, they would head back to their individual roots in country and blues. The first gig as Betty Dylan was a smash hit with their fans.

Dan's second love is tennis. By the age of 12, Dan was hanging out on the courts with Bobby Riggs and Pancho Segoura and competing in international tennis tournaments. An avid tennis player to this day, Dan still competes in local tournaments and loves L.A. for it's constant tennis-friendly weather.