Dean “Dino” has been playing the guitar since 1975. He formed his first band “Heartbeat” at the tender age of 16 with his brother Marty in 1981. In 1984 he joined the band “Getaway” and played 5 nights a week along the east coast club circuit. After leaving “Getaway”, Dean switched to Bass Guitar to join “The Vultures” who played a lot of Beatles and British Invasion type music. After doing a couple of shows with “The Vultures” Dean left the band to join a Philly based original group (also Beatlesque) called “The Patriots” remaining on the Bass Guitar. The Patriots played some big rooms such as The Tower Theatre, The Pascal Club and Allentown’s Agricultural Hall but broke up despite the band’s massive following. In 1988 Dean formed the Top 40/Classic Rock band “Straight Up”. “Straight Up” played the local club scene steadily for 5 years. In 1993 Dean went back to his roots to form “The Hillbilly Cats” a 3 piece Rockabilly powerhouse that played gigs ranging from the Lehigh Valley to New Orleans's French Quarter. They also became the interest of Starstruck Entertainment (Reba McEntire’s management company) in Nashville, Tennessee. The Hillbilly Cats disbanded in 1996 after playing hundreds of shows. In 1998 Dean formed a new 3 piece Rockabilly band with drummer Dave Betz called “The Rockabilly Rebels” (later to become “Uncle Smiley” and change the format to classic rock). Dean played with The Rebels/Uncle Smiley for 8 years solid before calling it quits for business reasons in 2006. From April 2009 to September 2009, Dean filled in on the Bass Guitar for MV Productions Pizzaz and Shake, Rattle & Soul. In October 2009 after having a taste of playing live shows again, Dean reunited with Dave Betz & Uncle Smiley. With the addition of Mark Prestifillipo on bass in December 2011, Uncle Smiley remains a force to be reckoned with in the Lehigh Valley music scene. Dean exclusively uses Orange Amplifiers.