After 15 years and nine albums with the the pioneering Flat Duo Jets, Dexter Romweber has spent the past several years as a solo artist.

Dexter Romweber's latest press release for his third solo album, Blues That Defy My Soul, begins with a glowing quote from The White Stripes' iconic guitarist Jack White. After claiming Romweber as a longtime influence, White says, "He seems to live the dangerous world he sings about, and it shows in his songwriting and live performances. I love him."

It's fitting that Jack White should give such effusive praise to Romweber. After all, White has made an obscene amount of money and enjoys a ridiculous level of celebrity playing whacked-out Blues in the two-person guitar/drum configuration that Romweber has been plying for two decades. Romweber is aware of the irony of White's success balanced against his own obscurity, but he clearly doesn't devote too much energy to it.

"I don't really think about it," says Romweber. "I have artists that I look to that weren't famous, per se, that influenced me a lot, people like Benny Joy out of Tampa, a fella named Bobby Roberts -- these people no one knows about -- but they really influenced my approach to music. If Jack had that with me, well, I had the same thing. As far as fame, I've got my own life to live. Whatever happened to Jack, happened to Jack. I think Jack was able to draw success to him, and that's his deal. I have my own deal."

Dexter Romweber's deal actually has local ties. Born in Batesville, Ind., his cousins were instrumental in Hillenbrand Industries and his father owned the furniture store that still bears his family name. His parents divorced when Dexter was only a year old; his mother moved him with his six siblings to Florida, then to North Carolina.

The area proved fertile musical ground for the Romwebers. Sister Sarah gigged with several local bands before turning up behind the drum kit in producer/guitarist Mitch Easter's well-regarded Let's Active in the early '80s (she eventually joined Snatches of Pink for a 15-year run). Around the same time, Dexter did similar local band internships before hooking up with a mountainous drummer named Crow in 1984 and forming a unique duo consisting of just guitar and drums. Dubbing themselves the Flat Duo Jets, Romweber and Crow embarked on a decade-and-a-half-long mission of translating Rockabilly, Blues, R&B and Surf Rock into their singular musical output.

After 15 years and nine albums -- a period that saw the Jets' profile raised by their appearance in the 1986 musical documentary Athens Ga.: Inside/Out -- personal issues finally drove a wedge between Romweber and Crow, and the Jets dissolved. Romweber had released a solo album, Folk Songs, the year before the Jets signed to Geffen imprint Outpost for what would prove to be their final release, 1998's Lucky Eye, but he didn't actually see himself as a solo artist.

"I had home recording equipment, and I was getting into a lot of different music on my own," says Romweber. "Time off the road can be boring and lonely, and I was just doing a lot of stuff on my own. It was mostly an idea of keeping oneself busy when one wasn't touring."

Although there are a great many similarities between the Jets' retro reinvention and his recent solo excursions, Romweber insists there is a tremendous difference in the elemental structure of his solo work.

"Playing with different musicians is a totally different vibe," says Romweber. "Playing with (drummer) Sam (Laresh) is definitely different than playing with Crow. Friends say, 'Dex, you're just doing what the Flat Duo Jets did.' But I say, 'No, it really sounds different.' They don't really see it, but Crow's style was different than Sam's. He was a little more heavy-handed."

That new chemistry, perhaps combined with a certain mellowing as Romweber reaches middle age, has resulted in a more expansive yet still visceral musical expression. The constant throughout Romweber's many phases has been his unwavering passion for the music he loves and the manner in which he translates it through his own filter of influence.

"I'm recording with a friend, and we've recorded a gypsy, almost Klezmer thing," says Romweber. "Surf music incorporated a lot of influences. I like everything from Classical music to The Ventures to Elvis to the early Country artists to early Folk/Blues."

So far, Romweber's solo career has been less voluminous than his Jets work. Four years separated Folk Songs and his next solo album, Chased By Martians, a record that was undone by the dual mojo of the dissolution of his small indie label and a Sept. 11, 2001, release date. The three years since then have been equally trying.

"I wanted to be working more, and I wasn't able to swing getting out there as much as I needed to, and that created a lot of sorrow for me," says Romweber. "I wasn't able to put anything together and get booking agencies or really have a label that was behind everything."

Romweber's relief came in the form of Roots Rock label, Yep Roc. After coming to terms over lunch at the Chapel Hill Café, Romweber was in the studio within a couple of months. Utilizing material that he'd accumulated after the demise of the Jets, he began to shape the swinging, stinging sound of Blues That Defy My Soul, produced by Southern Culture on the Skids guitarist Rick Miller.

"All studios are different, and all producers are different," says Romweber. "Every album has a different personality. And things change in three years, in five years. Every album I've done, they're all really different sounding. So different studios, different producers and different mindsets create a different sound every time."

Although Romweber was working with limited time and budget constraints on Blues That Defy My Soul, it was only marginally different than his previous experiences in the studio.

"Sometimes I refer to my career as a little bit like Ed Wood's," says Romweber with a laugh, referencing the famed, eccentric, low-budget film director. " 'Was that a take? Wrap. OK, move on.' Even if the amp fell over. I don't like it to be as slipshod. But sometimes you have to move pretty quick, and you've gotta make sure of what you're doing and go."