John was on the keyboards and Dicky Betts (of the Allman Brothers) and Stephen Stills were on guitars,” he marvels.
“I walked in and there was The Band on stage and Dr. Besides Clemmons’ Red Bank Rockers band, the lineup included Bob Dylan, The Band, Dr. This included performing at one of the celebrations for President Clinton’s 1993 inauguration in Washington, D.C. Through him I got to play with all these heroes of mine.” Clarence got his work ethic from Bruce, and he really impressed that upon me. “I spent a decade on and off with him right up to his death. “I became his musical director and started writing and singing as a lead singer in his band,” he says. Meeting Springsteen’s saxophonist Clemmons was a pivotal moment in his life. “We played all through the ’80s in the Bay Area and toured with the Beach Boys,” he notes. The popular group included Lorin Rowan of the country-rock group the Rowan Brothers and Van Morrison/Jesse Colin Young keyboardist Ozzie Ahlers. Marty Dread was our special guest last time.”ĭillon’s storied career has seen him touring the world with Bruce Springsteen’s saxophonist, the late Clarence Clemmons, opening for the Beach Boys, jamming with Carlos Santana, playing before President Clinton onstage with The Band and producing a musical, “Ascension of the Blues,” which explored the African origins of the blues.įirst inspired to take up music hearing someone play Marty Robbins’ classic “El Paso,” Dillon grew up in Southern California and Michigan, and eventually settled in Northern California’s Marin County where he co-formed the Mill Valley band, The Edge. It’s high-energy dance music, and we have different special guests. “It’s acoustic and I love that,” he enthuses.Īnd every third Sunday, he performs at Casanova with his group. “It helped me to make enough money to buy land in Olinda.”Ĭurrently Dillon can be heard playing Thursday evenings with Brooks Maguire at Mulligans on the Blue in Wailea. “He came to Maui and asked me if I would like to collaborate on his first solo album, ‘The Promise,’ “ Dillon explains. During this period, he ended up teaming on a recording project with Moody Blues’ founding keyboard player Michael Pinder.