Cleveland's C-Level Celebrates New Single's Release with Special Show at the Winchester

The local funk/rock/reggae band C-Level began more than a decade ago when singer-guitarist Dave Deitke and bassist Coda Cross hit the open mic circuit. They were only teenagers at the time.

“I met Coda when I was 12, and he was 15,” recalls Deitke over coffee one afternoon at Rising Star in Lakewood. “We played at a place called Phoenix 2 in North Olmsted. It’s a beauty school now. We were both into the same artists. We loved Jimi Hendrix and Bad Brains and Sublime and Dispatch. We had an eagerness to do something similar.”

The group recorded its debut back in 2010 with local rocker Billy Morris,

Pete Francis. Credit: Courtesy of Pete Francis

who had a studio in a barn.

“It was a rushed thing,” says Deitke. “We put it out in 2014. We then re-recorded it at RCR Studios in Solon with Cary Crichlow. We’ve been working with him ever since.”

The album that’s due out this fall promises to be C-Level’s best yet, and the group will play a single release party with former Dispatch singer Pete Francis, who plays guitar and sings on the song, on Friday, June 13, at the Winchester in Lakewood. The concert will mark the first time Francis has performed solo in Cleveland since 2008. Francis’s set will consist of solo acoustic performances as well as fully backed rockers for which C-Level will be his backing band.

Deitke first met Francis when he was a guest on Deitke’s podcast, Zig at the Gig.

“We had a good deep conversation about music and life and songwriting and being in a band,” says Francis, who joins our interview at Rising Star via phone. “We just struck up a friendship.”

Deitke invited Francis to come to Cleveland via Zoom to collaborate with the students in a music class he teaches.

“With kids, they’re always so honest, and they’re funny too,” Francis says when asked about the experience. “I really enjoy students who are that age.”

The two began to discuss collaborating, and Deitke sent Francis a couple of song ideas.

“I was honored that pete took time to listen to them,” Deitke says. “The songs were pretty much done, so Pete asked for some demos of songs we hadn’t fleshed out. I pitched him a couple of tunes.”

Francis liked the guitar work and singing on a demo called “Long Legged Fly.”

“I love playing guitar where I can have a conversation with the piece,” says Francis. “This was music that I felt inspired to play. Sometimes, I love that Miles Davis approach of playing music with these simple lines or notes, and when I’m jamming with people, I feel like that’s a role that I can fill.”

The release show that will find C-Level backing Francis evolved out of the single.

“We’ve written a set list and tore apart Pete’s tunes in a Zoom practice,” says Deitke. “We’ll do an actual rehearsal on the day of the show.”

In addition, the single will be part of a concept record due at the fall.

“The tune with Pete is at the beginning of the album and opened up this possibility,” says Deitke. “The album features three poems and ten songs. Each song is connected with a Coltrane 2-5-1 [tempo] and builds up to a poem at the end.”

Deitke says the upcoming concert will be particularly meaningful since he and Cross used to listen to Dispatch on the way to their early shows. They always aspired to be a three-piece that could make diverse songs.

“To think that full circle later, we could make music with Pete Francis is cool and to have an opening gig is more insane and to be the backing band is just mind-blowing,” says Deitke. “It’s hard to describe how special it is because of how much the music has meant to us for our whole lives. It’ll also be our drummer’s last show, so it’ll be a send off for him too.”

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