Music fandom takes on many forms. There’s the completist who collects every note of a band’s recorded legacy or the obsessive tour-follower who boasts dozens of live experiences or the religious zealot who constructs a devotional shrine to the object of their worship consisting of buttons, stickers, bobbleheads, bandanas, ticket stubs and any other ephemera/detritus relating to their musical deity.
That said, very few can say that their geeky love of an artist has resulted in the formation of a tribute band devoted solely to the work of their heroes. Local scene icon Wes Pence, veteran of the much-beloved Middlemarch, the sorely underrated Ready Stance and current member of the New Usuals, can honestly say that this one goes out to the one he loves, as he and his respected bandmates bring Dot.Dot.Dot., their R.E.M. tribute, to the paying public for the first time this Saturday at the Village Theater on Covington’s Mainstrasse.
“This will be our first ticketed performance,” says Pence in a recent phone conversation. “The funny thing is, we could probably play, and I’m not exaggerating, for two hours. We’re trying to figure out what a reasonable cut-off is for the show on Saturday. The guys wrote a ridiculously long set and I was like, ‘We’re not really them. People will be pissed if we play that long. Why don’t we cut it off at like 50 minutes, and if they stick around, we can play two more songs.'”
Rather than taking their name from a direct R.E.M. reference (they could have leaned into “Talk About the Passion,” just saying), Pence notes that the quartet christened themselves from a quote in an old interview with the band in the early ’80s. A writer asked about the motivation behind naming themselves after the acronym for rapid eye movement, the sleep state when dreaming occurs, and received a rather startling answer.
“I would have sworn it was Peter Buck, but it turns out that it was Michael Stipe who said, ‘We just like the dots,'” says Pence with a laugh. “So Dot.Dot.Dot. We thought that would be better than using a song title.”
Dot.Dot.Dot. shimmered into existence last year when Pence’s longstanding tradition of having his band du jour provide entertainment for his neighborhood’s massive block party was jeopardized by the overlapping of a schedule change and the vacation absence of New Usuals drummer Brian Kitzmiller. With their stellar beatkeeper away on vacation, the remaining trio — Pence, guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Justin Lynch and bassist/vocalist Aaron Zlatkin — were left to devise an alternate musical plan for the party.
“Messing around one night, we realized we’d all been obsessive R.E.M. fans in our formative years,” says Pence. “We found that, if I played drums, we could spontaneously play virtually any song in the catalog at the drop of a hat. No prep, no discussion of arrangements. It all just flowed, and having the right instrumentation gave it a really accurate, authentic vibe. After maybe a dozen songs, it became downright startling. When we played the block party, we practiced twice and we had to cut songs to play for just 45 minutes.”
At the start, it was just Pence, Lynch and Zlatkin fooling around with R.E.M. songs and realizing there was some alchemy in the air. The one missing element was the vocals, but that was quickly provided by Lynch and Zlatkin, who had worked with Kyle Knapp in the past.
“They had the buddy who could sing, and they were lobbying for him,” recalls Pence. “I remember being really skeptical. I knew it would be great if we had somebody like that, but who could do it? Then Kyle showed up and fucking did it. Midway through the first song and I was like, ‘Oh my God! He’s one of us!”
There are certainly people who might question the validity of seasoned musicians who have found a fair amount of acclaim playing original music suddenly shifting gears into the tribute realm, particularly this group. Lynch has been involved with a variety of bands over the years, including Filthy McNasty, Poke, and Wojo, and Zlatkin was a member of Wojo as well, while Knapp has a long band history, most notably with the heralded Turkeys. It’s worth noting that the personal passion of each member and the organic way the project evolved makes Dot.Dot.Dot. shimmer with the unbridled excitement of any of their original bands.
“The odd thing for me on drums is I just know how they go,” says Pence, who is not a drummer by trade. “I don’t know how I know. Justin feels the same way about the guitar parts. It’s not like he’s a cover band guitarist and can change the settings and sound like this or that. He’s playing guitar through an amp with really no pedals and it sounds like Peter Buck in the era, and it’s got that jangly Rickenbacker/reverb thing. And Aaron is such a good bassist and that’s what it takes to cover Mike Mills because he’s the secret sauce; he’s the genius of the thing. Aaron can sing those backing vocals that Mills does that are usually countermelodic and it differs from what he’s playing on the bass, but for Aaron, it just comes naturally. And with Kyle’s vocals, he’s doing the same stuff. It’s weird, man, it’s just weird. There are plenty of cover bands that sound like everything, and they always sound right somehow. We couldn’t cover anything else. We only sound like this. It just sounds right, and it feels right. I know all the shit about only being in original bands, but I don’t know if I’ve ever had more fun playing anything — maybe Middlemarch — but it comes out as naturally as anything I’ve ever done. We all get that same kick.”
After assembling Dot.Dot.Dot., the band became aware of the existence of other R.E.M. tributes, including Dead Letter Office, who often visit Cincinnati, and actor Michael Shannon’s band, Driver 8, and the UK’s vaunted Stipe.
“I was almost disappointed someone else was doing this,” says Pence. “We weren’t jumping on any bandwagon — we’re just very happy to do it. We don’t have any aspirations to go anywhere with it — I just think people will dig it. I would love to see this, so I hope people will come, but who knows?”
Whittling the set list down to a manageable size is a challenge because Dot.Dot.Dot. has an enormous repertoire from which to choose. While Pence admits his personal passion for R.E.M. waned after Life’s Rich Pageant, he’s quick to clarify that the band can handle any era of R.E.M.’s catalog.
“The guys insisted we give everything equal shrift,” says Pence. “I favor the early stuff and we probably play more of that and are better at it, but there’s no shortage of the later hits. It’s just that my true sweet spot is Life’s Rich Pageant. I’m such a dick when that comes up. I act like I’ve never heard the other records.”
Dot.Dot.Dot. is obviously the by-product of the foursome’s deep-seated love of Athens’ greatest musical export. Pence’s personal journey began in high school and continued through college and well into his tenure with his own bands.
“You would meet people who were affected by R.E.M. and you knew it immediately,” says Pence. “It wasn’t that many people, but you’d find each other. You knew the people that, the first time they heard it, everything changed for them.”
Dot.Dot.Dot. plays the Village Theater in Covington’s Mainstrasse this Saturday at 7:30 p.m. with opening act Counting the Wet Blossoms. More info: facebook.com.
This article appears in May 28 – Jun 10, 2025.
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