Dexter ‘Dex’ Romweber, Triangle NC music legend, dies at 57

Dexter “Dex” Romweber, a mainstay of the Triangle music scene, died Friday. He was 57.

His music was genre-defying, releasing more than a dozen group and solo albums that influenced the White Striples, X, Cat Power and Neko Case.

His death was announced by his family on the musician’s Facebook page Friday night. The post has garnered hundreds of comments from fans sharing memories of watching Romweber in dingy bars and nightclubs across the United States, sharing photos, posters and links to their favorite live songs.

Born in Indiana, Romweber moved to Chapel Hill as a child. He formed his first band, Gary and the Resistors, at just 10 years old, playing in his family’s cellar. The next venture was Crash Landon and The Kamikazes.

But it would be the Flat Duo Jets, the power duo of Romweber on electric guitar and Chris “Crow” Snow on drums, in 1983 that would push Romweber to national fame.

Romweber was included in a 1985 MTV documentary on Chapel Hill’s rock scene where he gave a tour of his mom’s backyard, which he’d made to look like a mausoleum, including stolen tombstones.

In 1990, The News & Observer attended the group’s band practice in an abandoned farmhouse in the Carrboro woods, past a deserted trailer park on a muddy path. The N&O called the Jets “semi-famous” for their “stripped-naked, gut-bucket rock ‘n’ roll” that got them on the college music charts and opening for the Cramps. They performed a cover of Benny Joy’s “Wild Wild Lover” on “Late Night with David Letterman.”

In 1998, The N&O described the Jets as “Chapel Hill’s fire-breathing gonzo rockabilly duo” with “rave-up-all-night-’til-you-howl-with-madness-as-the-dawn-approaches-identity.” They disbanded a year later after disappointing sales with their last album.

Romweber would go on to form other groups, including the Dex Romweber Duo with his sister Sara, who died from a brain tumor in 2019. His latest album, “Good Thing Goin,’” was released in 2023 and dedicated to his sister, according to Chapelboro.com.

Archers of Loaf, another Chapel Hill music staple, shared the news on the band’s Facebook page.

“Dex’s DNA is baked into the music community in Chapel Hill and his influence as an artist reaches far beyond NC,” according to the post. “The afterlife just got a lot rowdier.”

He died at his home, and is believed to have died of natural causes, according to his family’s statement. A medical exam is pending.