Pete Dio and The Old & Dirty are a free-flowing band.

With Dio as the constant, the band has a core with Felix “The Monster” Moxter on viola, John “Banjovi” Warner on — you guessed it — banjo, Dustin “Rockin Randy” Riley on standup bass, Steve “Cherry Boy” Rief on electric bass, Diamond Wyrembelski on vocals, and newest addition Mitch “The Man” Fraizer on guitar. However, that doesn’t mean you’re going to see all of them on stage.

“It’s very rare that we’re all actually at a gig,” Moxter said. “So, sometimes when we show up for a gig, it’s like, ‘Oh, you’re here. Oh, you’re here. Cool.’ ”

You can see who shows up to play when the band performs at an “Unofficial Release Party” for their upcoming album Hoosier Honky Tonk on Saturday, April 15, at Trubble Brewing.

Not wasting time

With busy schedules and Warner in Muncie and Wyrembelski and Rief in Detroit, The Old & Dirty make due, and that goes for the recording process.

On their upcoming release, Hoosier Honky Tonk, hitting set for release on April 14, Dio got the ball rolling as soon as their debut record, Ya’ll Trying to Kill Me, went live in April 2021.

“We actually recorded it about the same time the last album was coming out,” he said. “My philosophy is, get as much in as you can when you have the people around, because you don’t know when they’re going to be around again.”

Dio was also in a rush to record because his favorite recording studio was about to be sidelined for a while. 

“What put a fire under our butts was that Off the Cuff was relocating,” he said. “We knew there was going to be some downtime before the new studio was set up, so we wanted to get in there and get a little bit of the last mojo in that studio.”

After the album was recorded, Dio waited until Off the Cuff was set up at its new spot on East State Boulevard to mix it.

Whoever is available

What Dio made is an album he jokingly says might be familiar to fans.

“It’s not very different at all,” he laughed when asked about how Hoosier Honky Tonk compares to Ya’ll Trying to Kill Me.

“It’s got a little more soul feel to it,” Warner chimed in while we awaited our wings on a crowded night at The Tower.

“It’s a progression from the last record,” Dio admitted. “Diamond, who is our singer, she was around for the first recording, but she wasn’t in the band yet. Her and Cherry Boy were a couple, so she was present for the whole making of the first record. We didn’t know she could sing until the record was done.”

Along with the core members of the band, other musicians that can be heard on it including Dillon “Barstool” Brown (lead rhythm), Kyle “Kyletron” Morris (steel guitar), Jason Davis (guitar), and Mark Vela (guitar). 

“Whoever can nail the part best gets it,” Dio said. 

“It’s been two years, so I can’t even remember who did what,” he added.

The record also includes one track with Fraizer of Squirrel Cage, Piques, and a number of other local bands.

“Who doesn’t want Mitch in their band?” Dio said. “Same with Felix.”

Like many of the other members, Fraizer’s inclusion began, like Moxter, as a fill-in for a live gig. However, that soon changed.

“That’s how it always starts,” Dio said.

According to Fraizer, joining The Old & Dirty was predicated on his wife’s approval.

“I came home and I was really amped up from the show because I had a great time playing,” Fraizer said of that night. “I said, ‘Don’t worry, I’m not going to be joining more bands.’ She was like, ‘No, Mitch. I see you’re happy.’ ”

Only Dio Knows

Regardless of who is in the band, only one member knows what’s on Hoosier Honky Tonk: Dio, who lays the foundation of each song with vocals, guitar, and drums before expanding on it.

“During recording, I would only know what I heard through the headphones,” Moxter said.

“It will be a surprise,” Warner said. “There’s some songs I have not heard at all.”

“I don’t think anyone’s heard it but me,” Dio said.

One song they all know is the first single off the record, “Temptation Is.”

“It’s kind of a very personal song for me,” Dio said. “It’s actually a song that I was working on for a long time. I had the chord progression to start it, but I sat on it about two years until I had the right melody. 

“The song basically is about all my dead friends, our dead friends. It actually busts me up when I hear because it makes me think of my friends quite a bit.”

We can all get a listen to what else the album has to offer when it’s released, before the April 15 show at Trubble. However, you might want to get a real good feel for the record before you do see them live, just to see how different each sounds.

“The recorded songs and the live versions are drastically different,” Dio said, mentioning he still has not found a drummer he likes, although his son, Carter Thomas, does join the band from time to time. “They’re also drastically different because there’s always a different lineup on stage. We have three bass players, three lead guitar players, but we only have one viola and banjo.”

“We structure our shows around who’s there,” Moxter said.

Regardless of who’s there or who’s playing on the record, you’re sure to enjoy what you’re hearing.