Swinging Dick Tracys

In the Summer of 1998, at the height of the Neo Swing era, a couple of young upstarts, Lee Emerson and Chris Ducker, had the crazy idea to form a swing band of their own here in Pensacola, Florida. The members of the band may have changed over the years but the fun and excitement of playing great music hasn't. The Swingin' Dick Tracys have played countless festivals and venues over the past decade and continue evolving into what some have called, "The best party band on the Gulf Coast!"

The original lineup in 1998 was:
Lee Emerson - Tenor Saxophone
Chris Ducker - Guitar & Vocals
Dustin Bonifay - Trumpet
Chris Gardner - Piano
Justin Vickers - Alto Saxophone
Wess Hillmann - Trombone
Steve Ferry - Drums
Jim Remsburg - Bass

During that first year, drummer Steve Ferry wrote the band's signature tune, "Dick Tracy's Got a Gun". You can find an early recording of it on our "MUSIC" page.
In the past few years, The band has been adding more and more music outside of the "swing" eras to include music from the 50s to the 2000s with such diverse styles as Classic Rock, Motown, Country, Disco, Funk, Modern Pop and good 'ole Party Tunes! We haven't gotten rid of the Swing music that started this ride, though; we'll always have that. Besides, if we stopped playing those tunes we'd have to change our name to the Rockin' Dick Tracys or the Boot Scootin' Dick Tracys and that just wouldn't be right, now would it?