As the intoxicating strum of a guitar melds with the raw honesty of a country ballad, we welcome Dusty Rust to our sonic stage. He's not just another musician; Dusty embodies the rugged spirit of country music paired with the practical hands of a commercial contractor. Strap in for a wild ride through Drywall dust to the twang of steel guitars, as we explore Dusty's unique dual existence, juggling the demands of fatherhood, his recording studio, and the quest to leave an indelible mark on the music world.
Dusty's tale is a testament to staying true to one's artistic soul. Amid stories of ice storms and unexpected collaborations, we peel back the layers of inspiration that shaped his sound—starting from his father's guitar riffs to the life-altering discovery of Gram Parsons. The studio walls reverberate with laughter and memories as Dusty recounts recording sessions with friends and the warmth of music created in the most unlikely circumstances.
Fasten your seatbelts for a glimpse into the future, where Dusty balances the anticipation of a new child with the thrill of live performance. We discuss the practical side of music marketing without losing the essence of what it means to be a musician. Dusty's commitment to crafting that one masterpiece album that satisfies from start to finish is as infectious as his music. So, come along and get inspired by the dedication, artistry, and authenticity that courses through the veins of Dusty Rust's musical journey.
Instagram:
@dustyrust
https://www.instagram.com/dustyrust?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
Listen to Dusty’s music on Hypeddit.com
https://hypeddit.com/dustyrust/thewagonwheel?fbclid=PAAabmug-_0RwROT-q9DtBRn9hrOg2L7bShWPZiUSdX4wrHqYpyPt8e8-QJbU_aem_ATvxTAc_pK2X5kdKteaLFcnq71cJu8R8A_mH3AU5CfOAJH-hO6P9GSfMTwuqUCeUfOg
Shoutout to:
Dusty Rust
Dusty Rust Family
Marty Bush
Justin Wells
Alter Ego Ambassador: https://alteregorunning.com/
Miles & Mountains Promo Code: MMyr2
As the intoxicating strum of a guitar melds with the raw honesty of a country ballad, we welcome Dusty Rust to our sonic stage. He's not just another musician; Dusty embodies the rugged spirit of country music paired with the practical hands of a commercial contractor. Strap in for a wild ride through Drywall dust to the twang of steel guitars, as we explore Dusty's unique dual existence, juggling the demands of fatherhood, his recording studio, and the quest to leave an indelible mark on the music world.
Dusty's tale is a testament to staying true to one's artistic soul. Amid stories of ice storms and unexpected collaborations, we peel back the layers of inspiration that shaped his sound—starting from his father's guitar riffs to the life-altering discovery of Gram Parsons. The studio walls reverberate with laughter and memories as Dusty recounts recording sessions with friends and the warmth of music created in the most unlikely circumstances.
Fasten your seatbelts for a glimpse into the future, where Dusty balances the anticipation of a new child with the thrill of live performance. We discuss the practical side of music marketing without losing the essence of what it means to be a musician. Dusty's commitment to crafting that one masterpiece album that satisfies from start to finish is as infectious as his music. So, come along and get inspired by the dedication, artistry, and authenticity that courses through the veins of Dusty Rust's musical journey.
Instagram:
@dustyrust
https://www.instagram.com/dustyrust?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
Listen to Dusty’s music on Hypeddit.com
https://hypeddit.com/dustyrust/thewagonwheel?fbclid=PAAabmug-_0RwROT-q9DtBRn9hrOg2L7bShWPZiUSdX4wrHqYpyPt8e8-QJbU_aem_ATvxTAc_pK2X5kdKteaLFcnq71cJu8R8A_mH3AU5CfOAJH-hO6P9GSfMTwuqUCeUfOg
Shoutout to:
Dusty Rust
Dusty Rust Family
Marty Bush
Justin Wells
Alter Ego Ambassador: https://alteregorunning.com/
Miles & Mountains Promo Code: MMyr2
Blunt Le mano, shb Dusty Rust. How are you Good? How are? You, I'm doing all right, man? No, is Rust your real last name?
Speaker 2:No, it is not.
Speaker 1:It's a performing name.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's actually a moniker that came from a. It was years ago. This is probably close to 20 years ago. I worked on this job site. I was an apprentice at the time. I'm a drawball finisher by trade. I was serving my apprenticeship. This gentleman at the time he'll probably actually watch this or listen to it. He was not keen on my abilities in the early part of my apprenticeship. He kept walking by and going Dusty, you're pretty fricking rusty. I'm like, oh damn, that's just Dusty Rusty, that sounds like a shitty country singer name. After I really started doing solo country music stuff, I was like man, that shitty country singer name, that could be a shitty country singer too. I could use that. That's what I did. I love self-depreciating humor. That one stuck. I told about it just a couple of years ago because we actually work at different companies. Now we're both forming at a company that we work for. I told him that story because I was working on one of his jobs after he fired me Years later and now he wants royalties.
Speaker 1:That's funny, that's funny, that's funny, that's going to happen. Tell him you get a life.
Speaker 2:Pretty much, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Like I said before, man, I'm excited that you're here, I'm surprised that you're here. Just the sound it's, just the quality of your music is top notch. I really appreciate that. I haven't even heard of you until Marty Bush episode when he's like hey, or even afterwards I was like hey, man, who's the guy? Who's the guy? And you mentioned you. I looked you up and hooked. I plugged in, hooked. Where have you been, man? Why aren't you a household name? Why do I only hear about people word of mouth?
Speaker 2:I don't work. Probably I work a lot. I work for one of the biggest commercial contractors in the Northwest and then I have a side company doing the same thing where I do drywall. And then, you know, and lately I have a new endeavor which has kind of been fun. I built a recording studio out of all the years and stuff of construction and actually doing a couple professional recording studios. I actually worked on some of the bigger commercial ones in Portland Oregon over the years. I have built my own in my basement and so I've been having a lot of my artist friends come over and record some demos or singles or whatever. I haven't done a full record yet here but done a couple singles, getting great results.
Speaker 2:And you know I've just been really busy living life, man, and it's kind of a weird thing. I mean I guess at this point in my life you know because my wife and I, my wife Chelsea, she played bass for me. Anybody that sees us and is aware of you know myself as an artist is going to know Chelsea, my wife. You know because you know, for the better part of over a decade she played bass for me and you know she's actually in some circles. Some circles is more popular than I am with my name, of any stretch. And you know, yeah, we just kind of decided to live our lives and you know, we're parents now and just you know, like, we still tour, get out a little bit. But I just, you know, I love creating art, making great music. Sometimes it's for myself, sometimes it's just help my buddies out because I want to make sure that they're able to make the best music possible. Yeah, that's it, man. Other than that I'm not. I've started getting the music marketing more because I've seen the benefits of that a little bit. I guess it helps, you know, sell a couple records here and there and you know, it's helped grow. You know, our online presence a little bit, which is fun. But and it's kind of fun because marketing is its art, it's kind of an art form in its own right. But at the end of the day too, you know, like you know, I'm just a big of a fan of music because I am an artist. You know, like you know I love music, I love. You know, musicians and artists that you know come up with a killer song that'll just, you know, drive you nuts. You know, like, you just can't stop listening to. I love that more than you know anything really. You know, I just I just happen to have the ability to play a little bit too. But you know, I mean it's kind of like I was getting out early before we started this thing.
Speaker 2:I, you know I'm one of the most fortunate parts of my life was just getting to meet a lot of incredible artists over the years. You know, like like Marty Bush and my friend Tyler Giles, you know my buddy Chad Graves. I mean you know Leroy Virgil from Hell About Glory. You know we've been hanging out a little bit. I mean it's just like. You know James Honeycomb. I mean it's an endless list. I mean it just goes on and these people are my friends. It's remarkable, you know. It's like you know, and they're just super talented. You know, and I somehow, instead of being the front row, I got like on the side stage view. You know I got to see these people play. It's just it was. You know, it's one of those life experiences when trade for nothing, so why anybody wouldn't know my name? I mean, I don't know, I don't, it doesn't. Well, the reason why I ask is because your first your first album came out 2013,.
Speaker 1:Right, how long you been playing.
Speaker 2:It was actually probably recorded two years before that. Geez Like music in general. Yeah, well, I start. So my dad was a musician and he bought me my first drum set when I was about two or three years old. It was an old Ludwig Vistalite. I still have it, I still play it. It's the house kit in the studio.
Speaker 2:And so I've been playing drums for a long time and then eventually got the rock and roll bug and picked up a guitar. He still has it. He's got an old 1968 SG Custom beautiful guitar. I mean, it doesn't get played at all, it just sits in this case, but it still has the original case too, which those are worth quite a bit of money too, just the case alone. So I started playing that and it was kind of funny.
Speaker 2:I used to get in trouble all the time because I just leave it laying on the floor. You know, imagine that, just like this vintage relic that people wouldn't believe I just used to pick it up. But he was a guitar player and he never let me. It was kind of funny. He never. He never showed me how to play, nothing. He wouldn't give me lessons or nothing like that.
Speaker 2:You know, you just say you got to learn how to live. You know, get on the record and listen to it. I was just no good at it. You know, I was like God man because you got to pick up the needle and, like you know, that's how they used to do it back in the day. You know, like you want to learn a lick, you got to figure out how to drop the needle right in the right spot. You know, on the vinyl and I could never get it right, never figured it out.
Speaker 2:And then, you know, and then, but I did have Credence Clearwater's live album on cassette, so that made it a little easier. You know I was able to pick up some of those credence risks and stuff like that. And I think at the local elementary school they had a library and you know I went in my first DCG and A, you know course there and then some of all was just kind of naturally been in it because I never, never really got formal lessons when I was younger than, and then high school was kind of when things changed because I used to practice a lot. You know, like I grew up in the logging town out in the woods, there was nothing else to do, so I'd play and play and play, and my dad had a band and sometimes they'd let me play with them once in a while and then kind of shoot me out of the room, like you know, because I just sit there and watch him for hours.
Speaker 1:And then practice on my own.
Speaker 2:And then and then, yeah, and then it changed for me because I got into the high school band and that's where my whole world got kind of blown up musically, because Greg McKelvie was my band instructor. You know he's like the six foot eight black dude in the middle of, you know, a complete Hick Town, you know I mean you're talking about it's all loggers and hillbillies at this point you know that's grown quite a bit. Greg. Like he goes okay, man, let's let the rookie freshman, let's let him play this one. So he puts on tower powers. So very hard to go. You know which? Tower powers, just awesome. You know Bay Area Brad span, you know. So you know I'm like, oh, I know this one. And he just like he.
Speaker 2:We played the intro and I just nailed it and because there's this, it's just the simplest thing, because it's good. And then there's this break and it's just the simplest fill, but it's all soul just goes to do, to do, and it just got that rim shot thing. Yeah, he stops the band, he goes whoa, like what, what did they like? Yes, like, like, what the hell is this? Like a white kid from a logging town is like playing tower of power, fuck. And so he put me in the advanced jazz band and I didn't know what the hell jazz was. You know I was like what? And he's like next thing, you know it's like buddy rich and Max Roach and I'm like.
Speaker 1:I don't know what, any of this stuff is.
Speaker 2:And then, and then all of a sudden I start practicing and working on it and then I got the fortunate. I mean he just he brought in all these heavy hitters from the Portland jazz scene like Mel Brown. Mel Brown was Diana Ross's personal drummer for 11 years, back through late 60s, early 70s. We played on all kinds of countless Motown. He's a Motown session guy for years and and then also a professional tax accountant by day and just and just a just a. When you think of a professional gentleman, mel Brown is like exemplifies that. I mean that guy's all business all the time and just you know.
Speaker 2:And then, on top of being an incredible drummer, and so I got to study under him a lot and so, yeah, that happened, for you know that I got a formal education and music playing drums, and then I just kind of branched out and everything else I did. And then, you know, so I started working on nails. You know a little bit of piano, but mainly guitar and drums, guitar drums, and then you know a little bit of bass. Here, just because you know, everything just kind of coincides. And then, yeah, and then I went to college playing drums for a couple years and and then eventually rent, just got tough to make and all that. And you know I had a quick, quick excursion and a real brief young marriage out to North Dakota and that failed.
Speaker 2:And then got back to town in Portland Oregon and then found a craigslist ad. There was somebody needing a guitar player and a bass player and a local rock and roll band that was doing really well. They were all over the in RK and had a hell of a falling Seattle, had a national tour coming up and I'm figured out what the hell. Throw my hat in the ring for this. You know just doing drive also with the hill. They they picked me up and they're like yep, yep, within you know couple songs like yep, you're our guy, so yeah, so I got to go meet these guys and and then ironically, that band kind of fell apart after a while.
Speaker 2:But some of the bands that we toured with on that first tour, like theettes, great freaking like garage beat, beat, punk I guess you'd call it just amazing three piece out of well, they were out in LA at the time. They moved to Nashville. I don't think they exist anymore but yeah, they went on to do really good. They put like the tonight show and all this crazy stuff and but I don't know, lots of things went by and then, you know, I just I've had a really diverse musical background but you know there's a lot of people that go to the show and country music, you know, in my background, like amongst tons of influences, and then, and then I don't know what happened after a while, like I just kept trying to get into a band in Portland, you know nobody, to hire me, like I wanted to play some of the stuff and I was working real hard at my style of the chicken picket and I know nobody. You know everybody's kind of like no man.
Speaker 2:You know the scene, like you know, just, we got our scene, you know, like yeah, yeah, one of the cool kids, and so I couldn't get anybody to let me play with them and so I got in with some other band that was you know another kid. That was Craig's deal, you know. And, mind you, this was 15 years ago or so at this point. So I was like, all right, well, craig's a stole thing. And yeah, they picked me up and I went up going on a two and a half month tour around the country with them and met a couple like the root sacks and stuff you know, around the country, urban pioneers, hellbound, glory, you know, fifth on the floor, you know we just played shows with all these cool bands that were you know, and then and then we got back in a town and some things kind of went on the tour and I just decided, you know what, like I've been with enough projects that have failed over the years that I'm just going to start working on my own.
Speaker 2:I don't want to be part of anybody's band, I just want to. I just want to do my own thing and be my own person and that way when things go wrong it's all on me and and I know I'm not gonna fail myself because you know, like the biggest thing I've seen happen to bands is Ego. I've seen bands just it's just, it's just always an ego thing and I just got tired of that shit. You know, just, time and time again and I'm like I don't have an ego, you know, like not about this kind of shit. Anyway, we're just, we're not astronauts here, we know we're not. We're not, you know, we're not creating, you know, nuclear actors here and we're just, we're just trying to play some honky-tonk. Yeah, so that's when I decided to do dusty rest full-time and that was, yeah, probably about six months before that 2013 release date on that first record.
Speaker 1:When do you know it was time to go on your own?
Speaker 2:It was probably right. After that tour I was like you know, because we just got back into town and it was weird look like we should have made money. On that tour. We did really well for the band I was playing with and then it just it, I don't know.
Speaker 2:I just we got in town and and uh, I just I saw the way the band was kind of interacting and and there's just a lot of like Spitefulness and stuff and there's this whole thing that they have this whole energy about the pop country scene. We got to be railing against the pop country and I'm like who cares? You know, like, like you got to agree with this. I'm like I don't give a shit whether you listen to pop country or not. You know like what is it? It's not none of my business. You know Like I'm not here like to convince you that you shouldn't listen to pop country. You only just need to listen to Hank three you know which is not that way to go.
Speaker 2:But I just, but you know, like I'm like I don't care, I don't care what you listen to, like I make this music because I love it. You know, like it speaks to me in a certain way and if I can convey that or communicate that to you and you catch on, hey, that's, that's all the better. But yeah, um, you know, I'm not out there trying to like thinking that I'm going to create some kind of Ponzi scheme by running a political campaign against pop country, you know. So I got you, I got you. But that was, that was about the time man, I, I, I had been, I had recorded that record on an old task cam 388, reel to reel. You know, I just was by myself, I just multi-tracked it, you know, played all the parts and I was still working on my chops at the time, you know, and thinking, you know it wasn't super all that great at the time either, I was just learning it. You know, just because, uh, I had a oh, that was the other thing there was, there was one last kicker there and uh, that's when I moved from the northwest to natural for a little bit with my wife, we, uh, the company I was looking for at the time, my boss, who runs like All these draw all finishers, like he, you know, decides he works and who doesn't, and stuff, and he, uh, he calls me down the corridor one day and he's a dust and I need to talk to you. I'm like, uh, you know, I'm thinking I'm getting laid off. I'm like shit, here we go. Oh, like, so I just start packing up my tools, you know, and he kind of comes around the corner like hey, what are you doing? Like well, I just kind of figured, I'll just start packing up now I know where this is going, you know and blah, blah, and he goes, oh, no, no, no, that's not what I want to talk to you about. I wanted to see, I heard a room and you play guitar and I was wondering if I could take a lesson or two from you. I'm like, oh, okay, so I don't want to look at, nevermind, this is not where I thought I was going at all.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, about a week or two later I showed up his house and you know he has a couple beers and we pull out the guitars and he's got some beautiful guitars, you know, he's got like a Gibson and like a vintage epiphone, you know, and just just just killer acoustics and in a vinyl collection, you know, and and he, uh, he puts on, uh, he puts on, uh, flying burrito brothers he puts on I think it was burrito deluxe and it was the first time I'd actually listened to like grand Parsons and all that stuff and and it just floored me. I was just like man, what this is. This is incredible. I mean this is, let's like, rock and roll and country music fusion, like why don't people do this more? Like not like, not like you know, not like death led by rock and roll, but like you know, real like soul and rock and roll country. Why don't people do that fusion more? Like it just feels like such an unexplored genre, like you could do so much with this and uh, just like they were doing back in the day and experimenting and he, uh, he's like you know what, dustin? You know what you need to do. You need to quit doing drywall and you need to like move you and your wife down in Nashville and something. Just just go play, man. Like, just make enough money to afford a cheap bottle of wine and maybe a couple cigars and you'll be doing life right and like. So my boss is telling me this. I'm like I think it didn't take another. No, no, six months to a year and that's what we wanted to be doing. And uh, we got to Nashville. We were there for a couple months and then we just were like you know, this is Wasn't for us, because we kept running to people we knew in Portland that moved to Nashville and people in Nashville and new people we knew from Portland, from this whole music scene, yeah and uh. But on our way down there we had landed in Kansas City and we wound up getting like four or five shows right there in that area and making really like Some of the folks that we met on that trip but we're still really close friends today.
Speaker 2:I mean it's just Uh, you talk about an incredible and a vibrant music scene. I mean you know, and just I mean amazing artists and like one of the most um Open music communities I've ever seen. I mean you're talking about world-class musicians that have absolutely no problem getting on stage and playing with the absolute. Somebody that just started playing a dober over fiddle that week. I mean these people. It was just it's incredible. It's incredible so organic and just so like it's incredible, and so that that was a life-changing event. So we moved to Kansas City and were there for about five years, hosted a honky tonk jam there at the west port saloon, which is no longer in a round but was pretty pivotal in the roots music scene for quite a, quite a number of years there. Um yeah, that's actually where I met marty bush, so okay.
Speaker 1:Yeah small world.
Speaker 2:Sorry, I apologize for my long-winded answers. I just uh.
Speaker 1:No, no, I mean, dude, quite the story, man, quite the story. So my my next question is who influenced you Music wise?
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, you know it probably started with my dad, because you know he was, you know he was a guitar. He was like the first time, you know like, just since I was came out of the womb, I mean he had a guitar on his hands and he'd play in and show me and, like you know, it was just, it was amazing, you know, and he had these bands. It was, it was incredible. It was like. You know, there's a newspaper article that somebody took in somewhere out in Idaho. I was born out of Idaho, so we grew up and grew up in Luz, idaho, and there was like a like a little camera as a camei day or something and I got my picture taken in the newspaper. I was like my dad still got the, the paper, their frame somewhere in his house buried and some stuff. But it was kind of funny. It was just like you know, like the reaction. You know like being a kid, a child, and then seeing people like react to you on a stage when you're like waving and people just think that's amazing. You know like, like, look at that little kid like playing a little toy guitar up there and it was the, the squealing, it was like like, almost like a drug. You know, you're like whoa. So yeah, my dad kind of introduced me to that, that part of it. And then I'd say Greg McKelvie, my band teacher, because I don't know if you're in the jazz world at all or modern jazz, but you know, Greg McKelvie was the biggest thing in his claim to fame. And also, like, kind of another part of my music poster was a our connection to Esperanza Spalding, who was a Grammy award winning jazz musician of a couple. She actually beat out Justin Bieber for New Artist of the Year a couple years ago, and I mean a couple years. It's probably been a decade now but you know it feels like yesterday. But anyway, yeah, we were like all the same like youth band and stuff.
Speaker 2:But during my jazz training stuff, but that was he was probably the most inflect because he was like the guy that was like this is you like you're working out that you have like you know he kind of showed me that. He showed me that I had a voice, but he kind of showed me how to hone it and improve it and how to get keep getting better. And it was kind of there like realize that like music. You know, yeah, you have a choice whether that you can play it or not. But if you're an actual musician, you know like, and it's part of it.
Speaker 2:It's not really, you know, you know fame, fortune, whatever, like. It's really just about the constant improvement and it's just a lifelong journey. You know I'm I'm a far better guitar player, far better drummer, far better singer than I was 20 years ago. No doubt I mean hands down. I mean I've just everything's improved with me because I've just I don't practice quite as much as I used to, but I'm conscious of getting better and improving and that's that alone has helped. And just then just taste, you know, just just. You know trying to be tasteful and mindful of those kinds of things and then playing with better musicians all the time. You know like I've just my journey has been improvement, for you know, I mean you can hear it in my records. I mean, honestly, if you listen to my first one, I you know like I can't stand, hardly stand to listen to it. You know like I sound like a different person. You know, versus like you listen to the last thing that we put out right on, I mean it's it's a completely different animal.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, but but the, your albums, man, over the years have progressed, but the, the, the sound. It ranges though. Yeah, your sound ranges. It goes from honky tonk to outlaw. Sometimes it goes outlaw to honky tonk and then, dude, you got that Bakersfield sound to it. So when I, when I asked it, influence what sound influenced you the most, or what made you be the country singer you're today?
Speaker 2:It probably started with grandparsons originally. Like that triggered it bad, because growing up the Jimmy Dean was kind of huge, like you remember the no big big, you know, like that was A huge, like my grandparents used to listen to AM radio and and they play gold, country, gold, right, jimmy Dean, and then Marty Robbins, and you know, and you know Merle Haggard, and, and then you know, and then that's so that I think that that triggered it, but I I hadn't seen Merle Haggard play about six times because I used to. They used to do show horses in a fair up here in the Northwest and cause I was trying to get in the rodeo stuff but my parents never wanted to get into it, cause you know it's a, it's a little bit brutal, so like you could just ride horses and rope, but you can't go past that. Then I was like okay, fair enough, and so I saw Merle Haggard at that fair that we'd show horses, that because he'd come like damn near every year or every other year. And the first couple of times I saw him I didn't really get it. You know, it didn't really. I was like everybody kept talking about Merle Haggard. Merle Haggard and Roy Clark came through a couple of times. And then, and then it was like the fourth or fifth time I saw him, it clicked, you know, and I think it was like last away, love goes, babe. And it just like I was like what I don't know. Just something happened, you know, I'm like, oh, now this makes sense. And then I started listening to him sing and you realize his range of vocals and the dynamics he sings with and the, the emotion that comes through then. Then you understand, you know, and then it kind of branched off from there.
Speaker 2:But yeah, I mean, and that's the thing too, the beautiful part about you know, I'm always learning. You know, like I would never claim to know, you know more than anybody about. You know anything like any. I'm no music encyclopedia, you know. Like I mean my, my drummer, shit, he does most of my, my discovery for me. You know, I don't really go on to, I'll still listen on Spotify, but I listened to what I want to listen to. But yeah, my drummer, tyler, he'll, he'll send me things, you know, and then so I usually get on the same kicks he's on, you know, which is funny, just because I'm kind of busy during the day. But God, I'm just, I'm just starting to think of you know, god damn, there's just so many, so many things that just you know we get. You know these things? I think the exact one, but I don't know even Lee Greenwood. He had some really early stuff. That was pretty crazy.
Speaker 1:I would never thought like Lee.
Speaker 2:Greenwood, what about all people? But I found a couple things I liked in her catalog. But yeah, del Reeves, holy crap, del Reeves. I've been going down that catalog a lot, you know, and then I'm trying to think for some odd reason this is a waiting year right now. But there's a country singer out of Texas. Gene Watson has been a big, big thing I've been into lately just because he's a very technically gifted vocalist. Gene Watson's got some incredible records, incredible output still doing it. I mean he's been out at 50, 60 years, which you think of about the lifespan of any artist. I mean that's incredible. I mean he doesn't for a living. I mean he's not. He's not building houses or anything like that. He's singing country music and yeah.
Speaker 1:If somebody had? If you had to promote yourself or market yourself, what song would you tell someone to listen to to get the full like gist of who you are as an artist? What song of yours and your catalog?
Speaker 2:The catalog. Yeah Well, that mean there probably need to be a little bit of everything in there. I'd probably say Countryside Ride probably be a good example of that.
Speaker 1:Countryside Ride. Ok, what's your favorite album of yours?
Speaker 2:Of mine. Yeah, probably the one that's coming out here in a couple of months OK, I'm still working on it, nobody's heard it yet, but it's the fifth record and so we redid five tunes from the first two albums as kind of a homage to the number five. Yeah, and then we got some new ones. You know, they're all so different, you know, because I mean the first one was obviously just very exploratory and was fun because it was a done on old analog reel reel, you know. Then the second one was done in a studio apartment in Kansas City, you know, in a big, tall building. Yeah. And then Secret Desert was fun because that one was pretty fun, I mean, as the released ones I like.
Speaker 2:Secret Well, that's, that's hard to say, that's a toss up Stolen Horse and Secret Desert were both fun to make. We did. They're both so different stories, you know, and they both mean different things to me these days. I mean, you know, for a whole number of reasons, but Secret Desert was done over a four day period in Kansas City in a house we were renting on the Kansas side and we got snowed in. It was like an ice storm and snow and my buddy Gravy was in the house with me. It literally was like negative five degrees outside or negative ten in the evenings and we just we couldn't go anywhere. It was just like two inches of ice over all the streets and so nobody could go anywhere. All everything was shut down, except for like some.
Speaker 2:There's a little Irish pub just up the street which we go to about 10 o'clock at night just to get a couple beers. Get out of the house for a second and there was a. It was just. It was just like there was some I think it was like folk fest or something just happened and there was a bunch of musicians kind of coming through and going out of town at that particular time and one of them was a guy named Pat Fiddle.
Speaker 2:I actually don't know his name, but he's like a real awesome bluegrass musician and he happened to crash his car in the ice storm and he called Gravy because he knew Gravy was staying in Kansas City and he's like, hey, what are you doing right now? Blah, blah, blah. And I'm like he's like, well, I'm actually at this guy, dusty's house, recording the record. You know, you want to come over. It's like, yeah, and so this guy just shows up, sleeps on my floor and just helps us work on these. He's plays all these incredible fiddle parts on this record and I can't remember exactly what else he did was you know been a few years and a couple of whiskies ago.
Speaker 2:But he, uh, yeah, him, gravy, chelsea and Betsy and myself like just we're at my house recording and working on this record and then, uh, and then that was the first one we printed the vinyl Well, the only ones at this point has been printed vinyl and, uh, my friend Angela Baxter, she, she's a radio promoter. It was the first time I've hired somebody outside of my initial circle for promotion. Yeah and uh, you did an excellent job. Like got us all kinds of radio shows While we're doing our tours, you know, we go to a radio station and play and then sing and then talk to the local DJs and stuff. It was a lot of fun. Um, we got to play like the blue plate special in Knoxville and, um, a couple of other places up in Pennsylvania. It was pretty cool, um, but so, yeah, that was cool for that regard.
Speaker 2:Um, secret desert was fun because it was a location recording where we, we rented out John Fogarty from Creed's Clearwater. It was his old cabin he's to own out in Eastern Oregon. It's his old fishing town called Troy, oregon, on the ground round river and uh, so I looked it up and it's now it's an Airbnb, cause I always heard like we had this big ranch and blah blah, and I've heard all these different stories. And well, it turns out it's not really. It's like a five acre parcel and just like just neat little cabin with a couple of fireplaces in it that just sits on the river and, uh, it's not hard to find. You know what I mean.
Speaker 2:The town's hard to find cause you know you're, you're a long ways away from anywhere and there's no cell service, um, but yeah, uh, yeah, I took the band out there and same thing was about a five day stretch and uh, yeah, we recorded that whole record down there.
Speaker 2:Uh, it was, it was. Uh, there was the first, first record. I did that. I didn't play everything. Like you know, my drummer, tyler, played drums. You know. Like I think I did play the bass on that one, but then a couple of guitar things and then, you know, my, my friend Lizzie, played all the piano parts and sang. You know, some of the students and my buddy, jesse, actually played steel on that one, jesse Cunningham, he's one of Portland's main main dogs for playing steel up here.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:Like you ever do, a steel player, Jesse Cunningham's the man.
Speaker 1:So okay, all right. Yeah, the secret desert man at the solid album. There's no bad song, so, but what I would say for the listeners if you want to check him out, check out secret deserts. That's solid album, solid album. I listened to a lot of this stuff, uh, during during my runs, and I listened to it for a bit. Oh man, I just couldn't get enough. And that that one went into repeat and man rose without a home. That yodel, that yodel yeah, it's not even a yodel, it's like a oh so genuine man. It was like, oh my God, is this guy for real? Yeah, yeah, so solid sound man. So, yeah, solid sound. Who are the singers that basically got you going, man?
Speaker 2:Hmm, well, merle Haggard was definitely like, well, the early years, obviously, like Robert Plant, roger Daltrey, you know the classic rock, you know, when you're 12 years old, you know Elvis and the Beatles. Before that, when I was, you know, probably seven or eight, but yeah, when I was getting in my older years, you know like a lot of rock and roll, and then and then Merle Haggard happened to me and so that was that was a game changer, like grandparsons, merle Haggard. And then, and then the education started again and then and then I discovered Marty Robbins. You know which is, you know, you talk about a guy with a voice. I mean really dug into Marty Robbins quite a bit. I mean he's just super versatile. And then, yeah, just God, the list never is, I mean, I'm just it's always changing, you know, yeah.
Speaker 1:It changes throughout your album too. So, the three, the three. When I was listening to it, when I listened to it, I hear three Waylon, that, that, that that steel guitar man, white Yocum I heard Yocum a lot too. And then I did have Murl Hagger down as the third one. So yeah, all right, we're on the same page. We're on the same page. What are your plans for 2024,? Man, you got an album coming out?
Speaker 2:When is that gonna?
Speaker 1:be out.
Speaker 2:I don't have a hard deadline yet, but it will be soon. It's pretty close to complete. I mean there's only, like, because we did most of that record live, which that was a real interesting thing, Like it wasn't. There's a couple overdubs on it, but it's not. It's mostly live, so it's gonna be unique in that sense. Right on is part of that. It's gonna be the highest fidelity record, like as far as my, in my opinion, the quality of the recordings and stuff is gonna be, you know, head and shoulders above even secret desert, just a little bit bigger, you know, like a little more open and bigger sounding. It's, I would imagine, depending on the press, is. I think it'll be going to press, probably, I'd say no later than late January. So I'd probably be ready by June, June to August somewhere in there, depending on that. But it'll probably be streaming before that, I would imagine, Cause I'm just I can't keep secrets too long, you know, I'm like we'll pull out a couple more tracks about that record and then I'll just be like, oh, here it is, you know, yeah, Cause, yeah, vinyl, vinyl, I know.
Speaker 2:For a while it kind of fell on a like where it's hard to, which is kind of why secret desert didn't come out, Cause I mean, vinyl was well over a year wait and I was just like I can't I want to put up the money for a product that can't have for over a year. I don't think anybody wants to. You know, pre-order something that they know is going to be more than a year out. So if we recorded it all during the pandemic and stuff, so that record kind of sat for a little bit.
Speaker 1:So what about a tour man? I talked to Marty asking him if he's ever going to go west coast and he was like hey, I got a buddy. He was like you, you know. He said your name would. If he was up for it, would you go, would you do it with him?
Speaker 2:Oh sure, yeah, that might go to use some tunes. Yeah, yeah, you know I'm I'm definitely going to be doing. I got a couple. There's a great little. It's like a Texas dance. I'll drop the middle of Seattle, washington and that's kind of like the main place I play these days, and it's usually a Friday, saturday night and we do all the originals plus, plus a bunch of covers, you know, of Marty and Wayland and all that.
Speaker 2:Merle and I've been playing drums for another band called Country Side Ride, just cause it's fun. I haven't played drums in the group forever, so I've been sitting with them quite a bit and I think there's plans to do. We are going to do one one run out to her through the Northwest as a whole, maybe in the Colorado, probably in June, and we were talking about that and then maybe, maybe this winter we might go down to Arizona late in the year, but it turns out I actually have a newborn on the way. So Congrats, man. But thank you, yeah, I'm really excited about that, but it's going to be that's going to eat up the middle of my summer, so I'm really excited about that.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, maybe in the fall or something in the winter. I think we're going to get busier later in the year for sure, cause we've been talking about playing Arizona, new Mexico, for a while and we've got a couple of folks that have been hitting me up and bought vinyl from me down there for years and I've been they. You know people send emails when they're unhappy with you, you know like hey, motherfucker, we'll get down here and play some songs.
Speaker 2:You said you were going to be down here and you never came, so yeah, Well, you do have that Southwestern, that that feel man, that vibe.
Speaker 1:So I, I got them, I got you. When do you, when do you play and where do you mostly play? You said Seattle, but that's what that band. But do you go in and around Portland, what not?
Speaker 2:Not as much. I mean, just down the street from my house there's a place called Ashtrayon Brewing. They got a great little stage in there I was trying to do once a month there. It's just kind of hard, you know, like just with you know they have their own events going on, stuff, and but I kind of do that just to kind of keep my chops up a little bit. But yeah, when we're in Portland I really haven't played for them that much. I mean, the scenes change quite a bit down there. There's a couple of new venues that have opened up.
Speaker 2:But I've been doing a lot of solo acoustic stuff, which is not something I've used to do like ever, and after the first, first couple of times of doing it I realized like, oh, I don't have to have a band, and so I've been kind of doing more of those things and I may do more of that in the future as well, you know. But but you know it's also tough because I mean you know, yeah, well, the guys in the band too, I mean I just more than anything and that's half the fun, like when I get on the road. I one of the best parts about my band is I love every one of those guys with, like you know they're just, they're great to travel with, it's their brother. Yeah, yeah, my bass player, leonard right now.
Speaker 2:I mean Leonard actually played my dad's bands, what they used to tour up in Canada back at the 70s, and so he's been doing a long time, you know and and that's awesome and he's he's really changed our band and like he's kind of the one that's he's organized us in a way we've never been organized in, probably the last year, like he started playing with me about a year ago and he's really I mean it's hard to. It's hard to put it in the words like how much he's like just he just changed the game for us. I mean he's just got so organized like you know that's cool. He's got a function like an actual business. So we meant actually like move forward to some regards than more than we ever thought. We were just based on Leonard, so OK, what keeps you going?
Speaker 1:Because it seems like you got a job, a side job, and then would you say this is part time, full time, half time, half time. What, um?
Speaker 2:yeah, you know it's, it's full time. The sense I'm always thinking about it. It never is, you know, not on my mind, that's for sure. Um, I mean part time in a sense. Yeah, I'm not to her in the road, I'm not being the bush, I mean I was shit. I mean before I came back to, before we moved to the Northwest, I probably played. We played 280 dates in one year and and I mean it was a lot.
Speaker 2:But it was also realization that whatever I'm doing wasn't working. I mean, you know we're playing these places and they're just like here's a check, just get out of here, you know, and and it's like man, I guess it's paying your dues, but really just kind of felt like I was like I don't feel like I'm doing this smartly or something. You know. Yeah, like you know. And then there's certain times, there's certain shows I play where I was like man, I'd rather be standing drywall right now because, like you know, nobody cares about what we're doing. Or they got my favorite ones where they got the decibel meter on the back wall and if you go past that, you know, like you hit a wrong note where things, just you know, go just a little too loud, like we're going to have to turn you down, like, ok, you know we're going to kill the vibe and you know.
Speaker 2:So I just you know the thing that keeps me going with it. It's just like I said, it's just I have to do it. I mean there's just no like I cannot not do it. I mean, it's just, I'm always going to make records. You know, until I'm dead I'll be doing something, you know, in this vein, just because you know there's just nothing else. It's just such a part, it's like an imprint on my jeans I just can't like if I don't create it. I like it's like, it's like almost like a, like a disease, it's like creeps up, like it just like seriously like depression and shit. You know, like you got to exercise some of the stuff or it was just. Yeah, it's hard to explain, not everybody would get it or understand and I wouldn't expect it to. You know everybody's different, but for me, you know it's it catapults me to places that you know I probably might not otherwise get to. You know, yeah, that's probably the best way to put it.
Speaker 1:What's your favorite part of the scene? Man of making music, you know.
Speaker 2:It's like the electricity, like when you're performing. It's like crowds into it and they're really enjoying what you're doing. There's a there's a certain electricity and vibe that you get. Like, you know, if there was a drug that made me feel that way, you know, I might, I might quit and just do that full time. I might just, you know, we want on the streets of downtown Portland, but yeah, I mean, that's, that's just it, that there's that's part of the addiction to it. You know, like I do love performing in that regard, like when people really vibing with what you're doing and you're communicating well with them and things are. You know, and we've been doing that more and more lately Like I've noticed an uptick in shows lately. I don't know what it is, but I've noticed that this seems, like the last year or two, like it's come pretty naturally that people just pay attention. I don't know what it is, but you know it's been fun.
Speaker 1:Yeah, good, good, OK, every day music man. Yeah, listen to what's what's on your playlist right now. Top three oh shit.
Speaker 2:Well, depends on what I'm doing exactly. I've got activities that require a certain, you know, substance and music. If I am on a side job and I'm already worked my eight to 10 hours on my normal job, then I'm in somebody's pole barn trying to get that thing knocked out. You're probably going to hear some Dr Gray. You know we put Dr Gray on and sometimes we put on Slayer, you know, just because it's like we. Just, you know, it depends on who's with me too, you know, like you know, we just try to keep the keep it grooving, and you know so.
Speaker 2:I don't work, I'm a rhythm guy. I like to just get the rhythm going. If I'm in my studio, you know, like, I'm in front of the mains, I'll probably put, I'll probably put some fun on it. I like to go down the wormhole. Sometimes, you know like, I'll hear something, something new, and then it'll remind me of something else and I'll go back and re-list that again. Ok, Intervisions from Stevie Wander is probably one of my top three records. All right, Intervisions is pretty incredible. Stevie Wander was an incredible is an incredible musician. That record got stuck while the CD got stuck in an old Fort Ranger I had. I couldn't get it out. So it played for like almost a year before I finally figured out how to get it out there.
Speaker 1:And yeah.
Speaker 2:So that that that record probably top three. And then, yeah, after that, you know, and then if I was in the studio, if I found grilling or something, it's definitely going to be classic country.
Speaker 1:OK yeah, if.
Speaker 2:I got the smoker going or something you know, it's like Christmas is coming up, definitely going to be smoking a primary roast, so I'll probably be doing yeah, there'll be some. You know there'll be some. Earl, there'll be, you know. Ok, there'll be some Waylon. You know I try not to over listen to that stuff because I also get, like I'm aware of my habits to. You know, you know as much as I love it. You know you can definitely, you know, burn yourself on or something. You know.
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah, all time singer Any genre.
Speaker 2:Holy crap, oh wow.
Speaker 1:You're number one, you're go to man, You're go to all time singer that's, that's a, that's a very unfair.
Speaker 2:There's just so many man, that's, that's, that's, that's gonna blow. Yeah, and it could change too. I mean, but yeah, the best, like if I was the best singer of all time, in each genre. I mean God, this, and there's so many ways to sing to. I mean, you know, claus, no me, no me, brilliant claus, claus, no me, kl, kl, a us nom. I like a space vampire, early 80s, very heavily associated with Bowie opera singer opera singer buddy.
Speaker 2:He converted into rock and roll but was a showstopper in theatrics and with his voice it was just the. I heavily recommend you tubing that.
Speaker 1:You're gonna think I'm nuts, but you'll be like whoa, I was gonna tell you mine's Freddie Mercury, man.
Speaker 2:So yeah, okay, yep, I guarantee you, with sometime those guys cross paths. Another for sure? No, I see if the New York scene for sure yes, dream tour.
Speaker 1:We're almost done. So, dream tour, man. Who would you like to tour with if you had a choice or an option?
Speaker 2:like and this would be like an actual thing that could happen right, like yeah, yeah, cuz like I wouldn't go like past bands that are already, you know, got done and gone, but oh, ours I'd like to play with in a dream tour, and I'd probably say, you know Charlie Crockett, probably one I'd like to go on the road with. I've only met him once, a couple years ago it was before the pandemic is during Dale Watson's, the mayor, paulton ords, real brief, just, you know not at him, but you know, dude, seem real legit. You know talking to him like huh, like I noticed him because I know he put out a couple records and stuff, but it was during the pandemic. Man, he just started putting out records left and right and man, people took notice and oh yeah, and he's done really well for himself and that's pretty awesome. But yeah, I'd probably say Charlie Crockett, or or, you know, justin Wells from fifth on the floor, that'd be fun yeah, oh yeah yeah okay, yeah, charlie Crockett's playing jackalope this year oh yeah, yep, yeah, I saw that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I know, I was crazy.
Speaker 1:I think that's the best part to see him too. You know, not too big, not too small venue, just oh yeah, so.
Speaker 2:I was surprised, yeah, like I was like damn. I mean cuz, yeah he's, he's gotta be one of the hardest-working guys. I mean he seems like he's always on the road. I mean, yeah, so okay two more questions.
Speaker 1:What's your ultimate goal, man? I know you have a baby on the way so you gotta have time for, you know, family, but music wise.
Speaker 2:Ultimate goal you know, I, I would like to make, I would like to make one full record that I am absolutely content with, top to bottom. I would like to make one record that, where I like, I am happy to listen to that thing from the top to bottom and I don't have to skip any tunes ever like it's just like, you know, my personal masterpiece. If I were to do that which, let's you know, probably won't happen but I, I do think that I think I have one full record I would like to make where it's just like. That's it. Like, I would like to make one that's just like. That's it. That's that's like the record that defines everything I ever did. You know, whether anybody listens to or not, that's beyond me. I don't care about that stuff as much as I. Just I would like to make myself happy where I'm like, this is it. I don't think I could possibly top this. I'm not gonna be able to do any better than this. That is definitely that.
Speaker 1:Yes, that, that is definitely my goal with music last question what advice would you give your younger self in the business?
Speaker 2:yeah, in the business side, yeah, pay attention to marketing, marketing. I would definitely go back down the marketing road because that's not something I cared at all about for years. And actually my friend Angela Blackstrom she's the first one that brought to my attention we had an hour long conversation on the phone. I remember, like dusty, you know, she's got a real thick Australian accent. I won't even try to mitigate, but she's kind of shitting me like you, just you gotta promote your music. You don't understand, like you know you're doing it wrong. And and I, even at the time I just didn't understand, like yeah, yeah, you know, and it wasn't even, it wasn't even like a snobbery thing, like I'm an artist, it was just like you know you, just you don't know, you don't know, and and that's just it. I would definitely like tell myself like you need to pay attention to the marketing side of things you know. And then, and just keep working hard, you know, don't get complacent, you know, because that's a dangerous place to be you want to add anything?
Speaker 1:did I leave anything out?
Speaker 2:I don't think so, man. I just I just like to say thank you again for taking the time to. Yeah, man, it's always great to meet new folks and take the time to talk about. You know, like said I, sometimes it's a little funny to talk about myself. You know, it's not to not a natural thing for me to do, but I greatly appreciate you listening to the music and and again, thanks for the opportunity to get come on your show and and bullshit with you, man oh, yeah, yeah, absolutely anytime to when that new album comes out.
Speaker 1:I want you back on so we could. We could market that or promote it your your way sure, yeah, I'd look to. I'd absolutely love to you bet, and when do you have a date on your next performance anywhere?
Speaker 2:I think it's the second or third. It's a Friday and a Saturday night up in Seattle at the Little Red Hen, so that'll become that. Yeah, the little red hand that's. Yeah, it was a long set. Some in there they're five hours a night, so we'll be playing and people will be dancing.
Speaker 1:It's always good time, so all right, so we're done, but I want to leave this. Part time, half time, full time. Dude, all I know is the albums that I listened to the past couple weeks been solid. You got a full-time gig. I know family comes first. I know that.
Speaker 1:Hello, this is part time I'm. I don't even market myself. Other people market for me. You know word of mouth, right, I love what I do. People can't get enough of it. I've been 11 days shot like 11 days out of publishing. I finally published like five episodes the last day. People are like just climbing on it. Nice, what you have, man, it is great. Now I'm telling you I wouldn't have you on if you weren't great. This, the music that you have, the, especially the latest album. I can't wait for the new album, but do keep doing what you're doing, man for all, because got a fan and I'm pretty sure you're gonna get it more fans after listening to this, because a lot of people like, okay, don't really like country music, but hey, man, these guys that you suggest or you have on are pretty decent, you know pretty good, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:I appreciate that. Nick really appreciate that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, no like, said I. It's just one of those things like we've just that last song right on. I mean I had no idea. Like it, just like we did a little marketing with it on Facebook. Whatever it. Like it, it's not like Taylor Swift numbers or anything, but it did it's outperform any record I've ever put out. Really, I was like it was just it blew me out of the water. I was like and I'm so busy, you know anymore like that half the time I look around I'm like I don't even know, I didn't realize it happened.
Speaker 2:You know, like I had 10,000 streams in a month and I was like what the fuck? You know that that's kind of crazy, but you know it's exciting, you know. But it's like you know, at the same time, you know like well, I still gotta get the rest of record done, because I'm still worried about that, and you know I don't. It's like it's one song I thought came out pretty well, but I'm like I don't want to fuck over the rest of the record either.
Speaker 1:You know, make sure they're keep it up, man, keep doing it and stick with it. Have that baby still. Have fun, dude, and let us know when you're playing, man, since we're in the same state. Just let us know yeah, I'll be there.
Speaker 1:I do support the locals and everything else. Yes, you are local because you're in the same state. Sure, yeah, you know, I supported red clay strays going to Vegas and they didn't have the biggest set of them all where you look at it up, try cities oh okay, oh right on, yeah, you play you want to play around here, play the long branch. Just saying the long branch.
Speaker 2:Okay, all right, y'all look into it. Yeah, don't even talk about that. Try to try to pick up some shows. You know, like, like said, I'm trying to do a June run and it's I. There's a couple venues I definitely have to hit that I've. You know I haven't played there, probably close to well before the pandemic, so it's been a while and I'm close friends with the venue owners and they're just like you asshole, you'd get out here and I'm like I'm sorry, but I don't know where the venues are anymore either. You know I'm getting old and I don't, I don't pay attention who closes down, who opens up, so but you know.
Speaker 1:Well, if you come out this way, let us know, man, and yeah. I do appreciate your time or appreciate the music you put out. Continue doing that and in the meantime man enjoy making new music and supporting that baby mama yeah, absolutely, that's what she's, that's what we're all about around here, right?
Speaker 2:well, nick, it's been absolutely. Yep, absolutely, all right, man, thank you so much, right, thanks, nick, appreciate it.