Hey everyone. The DC-based music blog The Freelance Musician posted a review of my show at The Wonderland Ballroom this past Wednesday - you can read the review right here - many thanks to Ben Potok for all the kind words!
I've spent the last two days on Capitol Hill in Washington DC waiting for the start of the tour on Wednesday. This past weekend I was very fortunate to attend the wedding of Scott Shupe and Raven Owen-Beyer, two very good friends. Scott was the tour manager for Cast Iron Filter, a band I was in during the early aughts - he kept everything organized and safe, taking care of us on the road and allowing us to concentrate on the music at hand - I've thought a lot about him while arranging this tour, about all the responsibilities he heaped upon himself over and over to help us live our dream one show at a time - if I can muster just a sliver of his ever-present tenacity on this journey, I think I'll be alright. Thanks again for everything Scott - may you and your wonderful wife have many happy days ahead.
I've left Colorado and set out on the road for the tour. The bad news is that Kansas still sucks to drive through. The good news is the 5:30 Kickback at the Drury Inn in Kansas City. Three free drinks, plus snacks? Oh yes of course. Chicken fingers and mac & cheese? Here you go. Hot breakfast with waffles and biscuits & gravy? Ummm ok. But yeah - Kansas - sheesh...
So we drove up to Idaho a few weeks ago to visit my sister-in-law Kate and her boyfriend Ross, an awesome trip to say the least. They have a 1-year-old Griffon named Steve who took quite an interest in my guitar playing...
Hey everyone,
I'd like to tell you a little about an organization I'm supporting called
- they're a non-profit charity that provides veterans with guitars and musical instruction to help combat Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
In the words of the organization,
"Whether we agree or disagree with the decision to go to war, one thing is for certain: there are men and women who bravely fight for and honorably represent our country. As a consequence of war, many of our soldiers come home with physical and emotional injuries. They need our help."
If you would like to support this important institution, just click on the image below to be taken to their website - they accept donations as well as guitars to give to the veterans participating in the program - thanks for any help you can offer!
WYOMING - PHELPS LAKE @ GRAND TETON
IDAHO - CRATERS OF THE MOON
UTAH - DELICATE ARCH
COLORADO - HANGING LAKE
I’ve been working on putting together a tour for late August through September, researching venues all the way from the far reaches of Washington State to the coasts of Florida.
To be honest, it’s a rather daunting undertaking, finding places to perform that have the semblance of conduciveness to what I do musically – there are countless venues out there, but a precious few that actively support independent artists hailing from far and wide that may not have the highest draw.
But that’s not the point exactly – what I really aim to accomplish is to reconnect with as many friends and fans in as many places as possible before fatigue and budget force me to do otherwise. When it comes down to it, going on the road is really one big plan to repay the kindness that you’ve shown me over the years – it’s you who takes the time to listen to my music, to read these blog posts, to watch the videos of performances, to support my creativity through your donations – I don’t take any of that for granted – not for one millionth of a second.
And since I’m under no pretext that I can do all this by myself, I humbly ask for your help through whatever means you can muster, whether that be a suggestion of a place to play, an idea for an inexpensive place to spend the night, someone who might host a house concert, any advice on how I can bring you a great show and honor your support.
If you have any thoughts, please, by all means, let me know.
Thank you as always,
Dustin
Photo courtesy of Crick Helfrich
Hey everyone. So I just finished my first music video yesterday. I know it's absolutely ridiculous but I don't care. Hopefully it's at least somewhat entertaining. Anyway thanks for watching...
This is a music video.
Here's the audio from my set at Independent Records last week. I already posted the video, but the audio from that had too many clips in it, so here's a better version.
I captured the audio from the show at the Meadowlark last Wednesday with a new digital recorder I recently purchased so I can share said audio with wonderful people like you. Unfortunately I'm still in the process of learning how to use this confounded device properly, which resulted in me setting input volume way too high, ultimately leading to 90% of the set sounding distorted and unpleasant. I did manage to get a good recording for Calm though. I promise I'll figure this out for future shows so I can post entire sets and not just one measly tune. In the meantime, you can view most of the set through a series of videos I posted on my YouTube Channel - I think there's 13 songs total amongst the four videos...Thanks for listening/watching/reading.
Hey everyone. Here's an interview that the nice folks over at WDCV conducted with me last week in case you're interested:
WDCV: What is your sign?
D: Sagittarius
WDCV: Who is your favorite Beatle?
D: John Lennon
WDCV: What’s the last thing you listened to in the car?
D: Panorama by Birds & Batteries
WDCV: How did you first get into playing music?
D: When I was in middle school in Louisville, KY I started going to lots of local underground punk rock shows, which is where I first felt the desire to create my own songs and perform them. So many amazing bands came out of that scene in the early 90s that I count myself very fortunate to have seen: Slint, Endpoint, Crain, Sunspring, the list goes on and on and on. It was a special time in Louisville music history to be sure…
WDCV: What is the songwriting process like for you? What are you most inspired to write about?
D: I usually find a chord structure and then choose words that seem appropriate. As far as what inspires me, it obviously depends on what has recently transpired in my life, how I’m feeling at that particular point in time, and what I feel called to expound upon – lately it’s been the search for truth and asking questions about the meaning of life.
WDCV: Who are your greatest musical influences?
D: There have been so many over the years, but a very short list would include Talking Heads, Neutral Milk Hotel, Prince, Peter Gabriel, Fugazi, The Magnetic Fields, Cole Porter, Uncle Tupelo, John Lennon, Brian Eno, King Crimson, Richard Buckner, Slint, Nina Simone, Modest Mouse, Steve Earle, Little Richard, Oingo Boingo, Vic Chesnutt, Freddie King, Sunspring, The Gourds, Dan Bern, Minor Threat, Sam Cooke, The Cure, Howlin’ Wolf, and George Gershwin.
WDCV: Here at WDCV we are famous for our bluegrass show (no, really), and we heard a rumor you have some bluegrass in your past. Is that rumor true? Is that something that still influences your music?
D: Oh absolutely – I love bluegrass music. In my opinion it has a lot of rhythmic similarities to punk rock, so perhaps the bands from my early Louisville days paved the way. I’d love to make a bluegrass album someday actually.
WDCV: Where is your favorite place to play live?
D: Anywhere people come to see me…
WDCV: Calm seems like it has a very different sound from your previous releases. Is there a story behind this change? How do you think your sound will evolve in the future?
D: The songs on my previous EP, By The Numbers, were primarily written on a computer – they were very rigidly structured and laden with effects. The opposite was true on Calm, which was written mostly late at night in the tiny confines of my basement apartment in New York – I guess it was a way of bringing myself into balance with the multitudinous activity of the city that surrounded me.
WDCV: Along those lines, you also have a release called “By the Numbers” with songs called “The Golden Ratio” and “Easy as Pi.” Are you, sir, a not-so-secret math nerd?
D: Well it’s true that the study of mathematics is something I’ve always been fascinated with since I was very young – I believe most musicians possess some basic connection to numeric qualities, although it must vary from person to person. Aside from the meaning we attach to emotion, I believe that there is definitely truth in numbers too…
WDCV: Do you have any big future plans for the world of music?
D: I’m going to rob all the major labels and distribute their assets evenly to every independent musician in the world.
WDCV: State your life philosophy in seven words or less.
D: Be nice. Keep learning. Don’t panic.
WDCV: Okay, Bonus Question: If you had to choose between being a deciduous tree and a coniferous tree, which would you choose and why?
D: That’s an amazing question. It would depend on many factors, but if I absolutely had to choose, I’d be deciduous. I’d be ugly in the winter, but who’s beautiful all the time, right?
We’ve been re-watching Deadwood over the past few weeks, which has been excellent following going through the entire series of The Wire again through the winter. There’s an actor named Stephen Tobolowsky who appears in Deadwood who I’ve thoroughly enjoyed in a myriad of films over the years, from Spaceballs to Groundhog Day to Memento and many others. My wife, a far more reliable source of all things media, turned me on to the Tobolowsky Files (www.tobolowskyfiles.com), a series of stories read by the actor. Here’s a link to one of the most recent, “The Time Machine Deconstructed” – many thanks to Stephen for telling these wonderful tales.
CALM
CALM, WHEN YOU’RE ALL ALONE
WARM, WITH THE VINYL TONE
SAFE, WHERE THE TURF IS KNOWN
REST, FOR YOUR WEARY MIND
FREED, FROM THE TIES THAT BIND
SOLVED, WHAT YOU WERE ASSIGNED
AND INTO THE NIGHT
YOU SET THE NEEDLE DOWN
YOU SET THE NEEDLE DOWN
YOU SET THE NEEDLE DOWN
WORK, IT’S JUST ANOTHER YEAR
WITH THOUGHTS, OF A NEW FRONTIER
OFF, WHERE YOU CAN DISSAPPEAR
INTO THE NIGHT
AND SET THE NEEDLE DOWN
AND SET THE NEEDLE DOWN
AND SET THE NEEDLE DOWN
WORN WHEN YOU’RE ON THE WING
TORN FROM THE WORDS THEY SING
REBORN FROM WHAT THE SPEAKERS BRING
BUILDING PROGRESS FROM DECAY
AND ORDER OUT OF DISARRAY
HOME, WHERE WE’RE OUT OF VIEW
I HOPE WE CAN FOLLOW THROUGH
AND OWN WHAT WE CAN’T UNDO
AND INTO THE NIGHT
WE’LL SET THE NEEDLE DOWN
WE’LL SET THE NEEDLE DOWN
WE’LL SET THE NEEDLE DOWN
WE’LL SET THE NEEDLE DOWN
WE’LL SET THE NEEDLE DOWN
WE’LL SET THE NEEDLE DOWN
WE’LL SET THE NEEDLE DOWN
I LET IT LIE
HAVE ALL OF THESE ACTIONS BEEN DECIDED?
ARE THESE OPERATIONS MANUFACTURED BY DESIGN?
OR IS THIS ALL RANDOM AND UNFORESEEN?
IS IT NATURAL OR SOME MACHINE?
WOULD WE ACT THE SAME IF WE KNEW WHAT IT MEANS?
WARM AT HOME, I FAIL TO THINK ABOUT IT
COLD AND ON THE ROAD, IT ALWAYS SEEPS INTO MY MIND
AND BRINGS ME LOW BECAUSE I CAN’T EXPLAIN
WHAT ALL THIS IS MEANT TO ATTAIN
AND UNTIL I DO, I’LL GRIN AND BEAR THE PAIN
OH, I LET IT LIE
OH, I LET IT LIE
ALL IS ALL & WHY IS WHY
OH, I LET IT LIE
THERE ARE TIMES WHEN I DON’T SEEM TO MIND IT
THEN IT SPOTS A WAY TO REAPPEAR AMONG MY THOUGHTS
WHERE IT’S BEEN WAITING PATIENT FOR A LULL
SHOWING ME WHAT’S CRUCIAL AND WHAT’S NULL
KEEPING TRACK OF THINGS HIDDEN WITHIN MY SKULL
OH, I LET IT LIE
OH, I LET IT LIE
ALL IS ALL & WHY IS WHY
ARE WE FATEFUL DEVOTEES?
OR SAILORS ON AN ENDLESS SEA?
I RECKON THERE’S NO USE IN BEING FRIGHTENED
I RECKON THERE’S NO REASON TO BE STRESSED OR OVERWROUGHT
BUT STILL, IT’S TOO IMPORTANT TO IGNORE
THOUGH IT ALWAYS LEAVES ME WANTING MORE
CAN I SHUT OFF ALL THE AFTERS AND BEFORES?
CAN I STRIP IT BACK TO SEE WHAT’S AT THE CORE?
WHERE I HOPE TO FIND THE TRUTH I’M LOOKING FOR?
DIG DOWN
ARE THEY KNOCKING IT DOWN
AS YOU’RE LAYING THE BRICKS?
ARE YOU WAITING OUTSIDE
AS THEY’RE WORKING BETWIXT?
IS YOUR BODY IN MOTION
AS THEY’RE ALL TRANSFIXED ON THE HYPE?
COME ON NOW, SPEAK UP!
ARE THEY HIDING THE CRUMBS
AS YOU’RE CHASING THE CLUES?
ARE THEY DOUSING THE FIRE
AS YOU’RE LIGHTING THE FUSE?
DO YOU WANT TO BE CHOSEN
OR DO YOU WANT TO CHOOSE YOUR SIDE?
DON’T YOU KNOW?
YOU GOTTA DIG DOWN
WHERE IT ALL GETS FOUND
COME ON DIG DOWN
WHERE IT LIVES
DO THEY ALL LOOK CONTENT
WHEN YOU’RE FEELING APPALLED?
ARE YOU SEARCHING FOR FACTS
AS THEY HAIL THE SO-CALLED?
DO YOU STRUGGLE TO SOAR
WHEN THE ENGINE HAS STALLED ON HIGH?
COME ON NOW SPEAK UP!
DO YOU FEEL MORE YOURSELF
WHEN YOU USE THAT NAME?
IS ACQUIRING THE ANSWERS
THE AIM OF THE GAME?
IF THE PAST AND THE PRESENT
AND THE FUTURE ARE THE SAME, OH MY…
GATHER UP YOUR WITS
AND DIG DOWN
WHERE IT ALL GETS FOUND
COME ON DIG DOWN
WHERE IT LIVES
HAND ME THAT SHOVEL
DON’T YOU KNOW?
YOU GOTTA DIG DOWN
WHERE IT ALL GETS FOUND
COME ON DIG DOWN
WHERE IT LIVES
YEAH RIGHT NOW!
WE’RE GONNA DIG DOWN
WHERE IT ALL GETS FOUND
COME ON DIG DOWN
WHERE IT LIVES
SEEK IT OUT
SHOULD I
SHOULD I STAY AND FIGHT OR SHOULD I RUN?
SHOULD I TALK PLAIN OR TRY TO MAKE A PUN?
SHOULD I ASSUME THAT,
WHATEVER IT IS THAT I AM,
I’M THE ONLY ONE?
SHOULD I LET THEM FEUD OR MEND THE RIFT?
SHOULD I JUMP OR CLING CLOSE TO THE CLIFF?
SHOULD I PASS THE TIME WITH MAKING RHYMES?
OR SIT AND PONDER THE WHAT IFS?
OH, I KNOW…
OH, I KNOW…
SHOULD I WORRY ABOUT THE BY AND BY?
SHOULD I LAY IT BARE OR KEEP IT ON THE SLY?
SHOULD I ACQUIESCE WITH SKEPTICISM?
OR CONTINUE ASKING WHY?
SHOULD I SWITCH OR SEE THROUGH WHAT I PLANNED?
SHOULD I LET IT GO OR KEEP IT CLOSE AT HAND?
SHOULD I EXIT BEFORE THINGS GET VICIOUS?
OR PREPARE TO MAKE MY STAND?
OH, I KNOW…
OH, I KNOW…
SHOULD I KEEP IT ALL INSIDE MY HEAD?
SHOULD I RISE TO ACTION OR PLAY DEAD?
SHOULD I HAVE WRITTEN SONGS
WITH STUPID QUESTIONS
OR LEFT ALL OF THIS UNSAID?
You guys are awesome.
So I know most of you don't live in Colorado - but if you do, I wanted to make you aware of the Colorado Public Radio Instrument Drive that's happening now through the end of March. If you have an instrument that you don't play please consider donating it - all the instruments go to classrooms around the state for kids to learn and appreciate the craft of music. You can find a donation center close to you right here. If you donate a theremin you receive one billion extra cool points.
HIGHER GROUND VETERANS ASSISTANCE
Hey everyone - I just wanted to make you aware of a very important organization called Higher Ground - a veterans rehabilitation program that combines sports, family, and coping therapy to restore and rehabilitate men and women of the armed forces who have been severely wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. Over the following week, 100% of sales at dustinedge.com will go to support Higher Ground. Or if you'd prefer to contribute to them directly you can do so through their website.
BOULDER SHOW
I'm playing a FREE show this Friday in Boulder at the Laughing Goat at 8pm - plus it's National Hug a G.I. day, so please please let all your friends in the military know how much you love them.
The Laughing Goat
Boulder, CO, 1709 Pearl St. MAP
3.4.11 @ 8:00pm
Thanks as always for reading - hope to see you soon!
Dustin
Last night I went to a lecture on the history of the Denver music scene from the mid 80s through the mid 90s - I learned quite a bit and now have tons of music I need to listen to in order to get caught up on that era. For some reason, I feel as if knowing what was before provides a greater appreciation of what is current or what might be yet to come - the whole past is prologue thing I reckon.
