Episode 26: The Smithereens (Drummer Dennis Diken)

Journey to the Stage with Bryan Frazier

As a 35 year fan of the music of The Smithereens, it was a genuine pleasure to chat with founding member and drummer, Dennis Diken. We discuss the path the band has traveled, navigating the heights of success and the sadness of losing singer an band mate, the late Pat Dinizio. Dennis and I spend most of our time discussing The Smithereen's brand new album (out now!!!), which was recorded in the early 90s with Pat on vocals, and how it sat until recently when it was made ready for release. We play a couple cuts from the album and dig into their backstory.

If you are a fan of The Smithereens, no doubt you will love this conversation with Dennis. If you're not familiar with their music, this is a great introduction to the vastly influential band as they celebrate over 40 years in Rock n Roll.

Dennis is very down to Earth, and as you will hear in our chat, he still feels connected to the 20-something year old musicians who would sit around the dinner table in Pat's house and dream of hitting it big. Those boys from Jersey worked hard and earned their success with a lot of blood, sweat and tears.

Get tour dates, news, merch, Jim's coffee and everything in between at https://www.officialsmithereens.com/

Like The Smithereens on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheSmithereensOfficial/

Follow The Smithereens on Twitter: https://twitter.com/smithereenshq?lang=en

Follow the band on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/official_smithereens/

Check out Dennis' radio program, "Denny's Den," https://wfmu.org/playlists/DI

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Copyright Notification:

Song clips used under Fair Use for commentary and educational purposes.

"Out of This World" used by permission.

"Don't Look Down" used by permission.

Podcast theme song "Arise and Shine" by Chris Taylor used by permission.