Ex-Dexter Bassist Doug Smith Has New-Aged Well

They were one of those bands that seemed to have all the right ingredients but never got the big break.

Long-in-tooth followers of the local music scene in Orange County may recall the group, Dexter, which back in the ‘80s proffered a melodic brand of techno-pop in the Depeche Mode vein. Dexter did well enough to get named Best Unsigned Band In America by Musician magazine in 1986, and to sell out the Coach House as headliners in 1987.

But the record deal never came. And so, a disheartened Dexter disbanded in 1989, another forgotten rock ‘n’ roll statistic.

“We were really big on the club circuit,” Doug Smith, Dexter’s bassist, recalled during a recent phone conversation. “We came really close every once in a while, but then we basically just dissolved. We were all doing other projects. We were all into it in the early years, but toward the end we started drifting apart, doing other things.”

Smith, in fact, had recorded a solo album for American Gramophone records even before Dexter broke up. He is still recording and touring as a solo act. But instead of the poppy, commercial sort of music he played with Dexter, he now works the New Age market, where he has become a respected guitarist with three original releases and a compilation under his belt.

“My first two American Gramophone albums are now out of print,” he pointed out, “but they graciously gave me all my master tapes back. Really, that’s almost unheard of. So my new company, Honest Entertainment, took what we thought were the 10 or 11 best cuts from those albums and put out ‘The Best of Doug Smith.’ It really tickles me that I have a ‘best of’ album out!”

Smith is in the middle of a tour of Borders bookstores and will be appearing in Mission Viejo and Brea on Thursday and Sunday respectively.

“Deep Heart,” his latest album, showcases his gifts for composing, arranging and performing melodic but difficult pieces for the steel string acoustic guitar. His writing runs the gamut from peaceful and introspective (“Mystic Morning”) to jaunting and exuberant (“The Jig Is Up”). He also tackles clever new arrangements of old chestnuts (“I Only Have Eyes for You,” “Ebb Tide”).

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Smith, 40, grew up in Garden Grove and studied classical guitar at Cal State Fullerton. Always an eclectic listener, he was a fan of such singer-songwriters as Harry Chapin and Gordon Lightfoot and of such progressive rock groups as Jethro Tull, Genesis and Yes. But listening to fellow guitarists always was his main passion. He is a longtime fan of such varied virtuosi as Chet Atkins, John Renbourne and Pat Metheny.

Smith moved to rural Oregon in 1991 and, when he isn’t performing or recording his own material, busies himself doing session work in the Portland area and running a kennel for stray dogs. He said he is looking forward to playing again in Orange County, which he still considers home.

“I lived in Orange County for 35 years. I know a lot of people there. I’m staying with my parents, and it’s nice to be coming back.”

* Doug Smith plays Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at Borders Books and Music, 25222 El Paseo, Mission Viejo ([714] 367-0005) and Sunday at 2 p.m. at Borders Books and Music, 429 Associated Road, Brea ([714] 672-0120). Both concerts are free.