Dusty’s beautifully raspy vocals lead the band in a sound that is at once soft, flowing and beat-driven. He says, “I first got active in music when I was eight. I started playing keyboards and quickly became addicted to making music. I play, or attempt, to play any musical instrument on earth except the flute, which I couldn’t play to save my life. Music is something I have to do, like breathing!”
Dusty’s love of all things musical came naturally, “I had a very happy childhood, and I was raised by wonderful parents. They were very musical. They also had this monster vinyl LP collection. I’m not sure of the exact number, but it was well into the thousands. I used to just sit there, enamored, playing all of this different, wonderful music on these records. In fact, my first childhood memory is when I was two, I remember my Dad lovingly scolding me for trying to plug in the turntable to get some music going! So, my childhood was all about love and music, the two greatest things on earth.”
The twenty-eight year old calls his music, “eclectic and passionate.” He says, “I’m influenced by so much of the music that I grew up listening to, that they all sort of influenced me musically.
I put one hundred percent of myself into everything I do. I’m very passionate about what matters to me. Having someone come up to me and tell me that a song meant something to them, that it got them through a rough time, that they fell in love to it, that their faith grew because of it, that’s why I do what I do. I’m not really out there to make a name for myself, I’m just interested in making my music, and, hopefully, mean something to someone.”
Dusty keeps his outlook on life positive and uplifting, “My life has been a lot of ups and downs, a little tragedy here and there, but ultimately, it’s all about never giving up. My faith keeps me strong. That’s the complete essence of my core.. Everything else in my life is the icing on the cake! Each day is a gift from God, just make the very best you can out of it, live each day as if it were your last so that you leave behind a lot of wonderful memories!”
Dusty doesn’t mind taking the traditional road when he talks about how he longs for his life to be filled, “With lots of love and music. Okay, seriously, trying not to be corny, that’s what life is about to me, so I don’t really see anything else. Someday, I hope to settle down, have the proverbial house with the white picket fence and a family.”
| written by Debbie DuBois Miller
