Frank Dean Oral History

Interview Highlight

In this Amazing Indiana Music Story highlight, Frank Dean describes the wide range of music he has explored throughout his career. Although he initially looked toward country music as a songwriter during the 1970s, his influences also included Ray Charles, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Byrds, Frank Sinatra, Johnny Mathis, and Willie Nelson. That breadth encouraged him to make rock, country, R&B, blues, bluegrass, and even gospel recordings rather than remain confined to one style.

Dean also recounts an unexpected conversation with actress Meryl Streep that transformed his approach to songwriting. After meeting Streep through the owner of a guitar shop where he worked, Dean asked her to explain method acting. Her description of imagining the smallest details of a character’s life—from the appearance of the breakfast table to the kind of cup the character might use—inspired Dean to apply a similar process to the people in his songs. By understanding his characters beyond the words appearing in the lyrics, he believed he could make them feel more truthful and complete.

Complete Interview

In this Complete Interview, Frank Dean traces a musical life shaped by an early fascination with guitars, a desire to write songs, and a refusal to remain within the boundaries of a single genre. He discusses growing up in Appalachia, playing his first dance while still in grade school, performing in bars before he was legally old enough to be in them, and seeking opportunities to pitch his songs during the 1970s.

Dean recalls the development of Sindacato and the shared artistic philosophy that united him with Gary Wasson, Jon Martin, and Carl LoSasso. The musicians valued creative independence over the pursuit of a commercial hit, allowing the band to move among country, rock, blues, R&B, bluegrass, and Americana. That versatility helped Sindacato become a sought-after opening act for major touring performers from several musical traditions.

The conversation also explores Dean’s songwriting process, including the dream that produced “Mr. Lincoln’s Train,” his habit of listening to conversations in diners for story ideas, and the influence of Meryl Streep’s explanation of method acting. Dean discusses his extensive guitar collection, his work in guitar stores, the musicians and venue owners who encouraged him, and the importance of giving young performers honest guidance.

Throughout the interview, Dean reflects on the changing realities of the music business and the decline of venues devoted to live performance. He also emphasizes the importance of documenting Indiana musicians whose work may not have received widespread publicity. For Dean, preserving those stories means recognizing not only prominent performers but also the instrumentalists, engineers, producers, club owners, and regional artists who sustained Indiana’s music communities.

Biography

Frank Dean grew up in Logan County, West Virginia, in the Appalachian region that would later provide an important source of characters, stories, musical traditions, and social concerns for his songwriting. His influences eventually extended across country, rock and roll, blues, R&B, bluegrass, gospel, pop, and traditional vocal music.

Dean remembers becoming fascinated with guitars at about three years old. An uncle owned a guitar and allowed him to touch its strings, an experience Dean recalls as something almost magical. His attachment to the instrument continued throughout his life, eventually leading him to become a performer, collector, music-store owner, and mentor to other guitarists.

He played his first dance around the sixth grade at a girl’s birthday party held in a garage. The experience revealed another dimension of performing: a guitar and a rock-and-roll song could get people dancing. By his teenage years, Dean was playing in bars before he was legally old enough to enter them and looking for opportunities to pitch his original songs.

During the 1970s, Dean believed that some of the strongest contemporary songwriting could be found in country music, so he initially pursued that field. His listening habits, however, were never limited to country. He cites artists including Ray Charles, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Byrds, Frank Sinatra, Johnny Mathis, and Willie Nelson among the performers who informed his musical outlook.

Rather than make the same kind of record repeatedly, Dean treated each project as an opportunity to explore another musical form. He recorded rock-and-roll, country, R&B, blues, bluegrass, gospel, and Americana-oriented material. He estimated during his Indiana Music History Project interview that he had completed twelve albums across his different projects.

The Snake Handlers Blues Band gave Dean an outlet for R&B and blues. According to Dean, one of the group’s recordings was nominated for International Blues Album of the Year. His other projects have included Frank Dean & the Outside Agitators and releases such as Antique Finish, …And Back Again, and the career-spanning compilation Rearview Mirror.

Sindacato became the central and most enduring band of Dean’s recording career. Its core membership consisted of Dean, Gary Wasson, Jon Martin, and Carl LoSasso, with other musicians contributing at different times. Dean wrote most of the group’s material, while the musicians worked collectively on arrangements and performances.

The members shared a determination to make the music they wanted without shaping it around the pursuit of a hit. That independence allowed Sindacato to move comfortably among country, rock, blues, R&B, bluegrass, and the developing country-rock style that would later be widely described as Americana. Dean recalled that the band never formally broke up; its members simply pursued other projects while remaining available to work together again.

At a time when major touring artists sought regional opening acts capable of presenting original roots-oriented music, Sindacato occupied an unusual position in the Midwest. Word spread after engagements with artists such as Merle Haggard and George Jones, leading to further opportunities with performers including Emmylou Harris and Lucinda Williams.

Dean recalls that Sindacato opened for or shared engagements with 63 major acts during an especially active period. His list includes Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, George Jones, Hank Williams Jr., Marty Stuart, Travis Tritt, Emmylou Harris, Lucinda Williams, Todd Rundgren, Junior Brown, Buddy Guy, and Isaac Hayes. The band’s versatility allowed it to adapt to audiences associated with country, blues, soul, rock, and Americana without abandoning its own material.

Sindacato recorded six albums, beginning with the cassette Appalachian Pipeline, which was later issued on CD. Another project, Logan County, returned directly to the West Virginia region where Dean grew up.

While in Nashville, Dean visited Hatch Show Print and met Jim Sherraden, who was then associated with the historic letterpress shop. After hearing about Logan County, Sherraden offered to create artwork for the project without charging the band. Dean remembered being astonished because Sherraden’s previous album-related projects included work connected with Bruce Springsteen’s Live in New York City and Emmylou Harris’s At the Ryman. The resulting design became part of Sindacato’s visual identity and was also placed on the band’s drumhead.

One of Dean’s favorite original compositions is “Mr. Lincoln’s Train,” written for Jon Martin to sing on Sindacato’s second recording. The song concerns the funeral train that carried Abraham Lincoln’s body after his assassination. Dean recalls dreaming the entire song, waking during the night, and writing its three verses and chorus on a legal pad beside his bed. He returned to sleep without revising it, and the song became one of the pieces listeners most frequently mentioned to the band.

Other songs developed through close observation of everyday life. Dean sometimes visited diners and listened to the conversations taking place around him, recognizing that ordinary speech could reveal characters, conflicts, emotions, and experiences that might become songs. His goal was not simply to reproduce someone’s private life but to transform an individual moment into something other listeners could recognize in their own experiences.

An unusual encounter helped Dean refine that approach. While working at a guitar shop in Brazil, Indiana, owned by Jack Comer, Dean met Comer’s sister-in-law, actress Meryl Streep. During lunch, Dean asked Streep to explain method acting. She described developing a character by imagining details that might never appear directly in a performance, such as what the character’s breakfast table looked like, what kind of cup the person used, and how the person took coffee.

Dean began applying that method to songwriting. He wanted to know the people in his songs beyond the limited information contained in the lyrics, believing that a fuller understanding would allow each character to “ring true.” When asked who most influenced his songwriting, Dean can therefore give the unexpected answer: Meryl Streep.

Dean’s love of guitars also became a business. Frank’s Guitars in Franklin, Indiana, was established in 1986 and has served musicians through instrument sales, service, advice, and conversation. His personal collection has included a guitar signed by Stephen Stills and instruments associated with musicians including Doc Watson and Rodney Crowell.

Dean has also used his experience to encourage developing performers. He hosts a weekly event in Franklin that he describes as a performance stage rather than an ordinary open stage. The distinction reflects his belief that musicians improve through preparation, honest criticism, attention to an audience, and the discipline of treating even an informal appearance as a genuine performance.

His advice to songwriters centers on emotional honesty and connection. Dean encourages writers to move beyond diary-like details unless those details reveal something a broader audience can understand. A song may begin with an individual experience, but he believes it succeeds when listeners can recognize part of their own lives within it.

Dean’s work has often addressed social concerns as well as personal experience. Having grown up around racism in Appalachia, he has written songs expressing his opposition to it. Across his projects, he has returned to characters facing hardship, injustice, addiction, disappointment, and the difficult realities of making a life in music.

The changing music business is another recurring concern. Dean remembers periods when live bands could work several nights each week and when Indianapolis neighborhoods contained numerous clubs presenting music. He contrasts that environment with a contemporary landscape offering fewer dedicated venues and fewer opportunities for local performers to develop through regular work.

Despite those changes, Dean continues to regard music as the defining commitment of his life. He describes a career requiring sacrifice, persistence, resilience, and belief in one’s own work. Commercial success was never guaranteed, but choosing art over money gave Dean and his bandmates experiences and creative freedom they might not otherwise have found.

Dean is equally concerned with the musicians whose achievements have been forgotten or poorly documented. During his interview, he names Indiana performers, instrumentalists, producers, engineers, and venue owners who influenced local music without necessarily receiving broad public recognition. His reflections underscore the importance of preserving not only famous success stories but also the networks of people and places that allow a regional music culture to exist.

Image Gallery

This Image Gallery documents Frank Dean’s career through studio and performance photographs, album covers, concert advertisements, images of his longtime Sindacato bandmates, and artifacts from Frank’s Guitars. The collection also reflects Dean’s work with musicians from Indiana and beyond, his movement among several American musical traditions, and the importance of the guitar throughout his life.