RIGHT HERE IN RIVER CITY

I've been in Louisville over the past few days after playing the last gig in a four week stretch of shows that started last month - I only have three more dates left before I get back to Boulder on the 28th - I'm playing an assembly tonight at the school where my friend Ben teaches, which should be a good time (it's my second such show of the trip actually) - and I'm staying with my parents, who still live here near Cherokee Park in the Highlands - it's been nice to see the old neighborhood and see some old friends for sure - on Friday I head up to Chicago for a friend's wedding, then start the last three shows on Sunday in Chicago, Monday in Iowa City, and Tuesday in Omaha before I drive more than several hours back to Colorado on Wednesday. Overall this tour has gone well, but I'm definitely looking forward to getting back home...

ANOTHER TOUR UPDATE

Everything's going well here on the road - I'm doing 5 shows in Tennessee and Kentucky over the next few days, after which I'll be able to take a few days off before heading up to Chicago and working my way back out to Colorado. The past couple weeks have included some amazing shows at some great venues - I've had some awesome conversations with people along the way too - plus I've stayed with several close friends, which has been absolutely wonderful - overall it's been an outstanding tour so far and will hopefully continue to be so through the end of the month. I thought about listing some complaints about some small things, but I don't really feel like complaining at the moment. Right now I have a very comfortable bed for the night, plus the first home-cooked meal I've had in quite a while (thanks Nick and Wendy). I'm going to write a post in detail about everything that has happened and everyone who has helped me out over the past few weeks, but for now I want to say thank you so much for being so supportive of a traveling musician...you guys are all amazing...thank you!

AT LEAST IT'S SOMETHING...

Okay I know this is brief and doesn't have much in terms of content, but I simply haven't had time to post much over the past few days of the tour - turns out that driving takes up a lot of time when I could be doing other things (like sleeping). Rest assured that I shall be posting more as soon as possible - for now, I just want to say thanks to everyone I've seen over the past couple weeks - whether you've given me a place to stay or come to a show to catch up or even met me for the first time, thank you - you're totally super awesome big time.

Okay then, off to Georgia now...more coming soon!

TOUR UPDATE

So far the tour has been going fairly well - I'm in North Carolina right now getting ready for a week of shows here before heading off to Georgia, Florida, and then Tennessee. It's been really great to see some old friends and meet some new fans along the way - the private parties have been especially nice because I have more time to hang out with everyone before and after, plus play a lot of material from the Cast Iron Filter days that people have enjoyed hearing again.

So far my only complaint is how expensive gas has been - the oil companies have made it extremely hard for people like myself who travel for work to make a living - but I'm not sure what I can do about that at the moment unfortunately. Regardless, everything is going well and will hopefully continue to go well - there are some very exciting shows coming up all throughout the Southeast, so please come out and say hello if you're not too busy.

Hope you're all having an awesome day.

All the best,

Dustin

SCOTT AND RAVEN

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.

SO IT BEGINS...

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...

GUITARS FOR VETS

Hey everyone,

I'd like to tell you a little about an organization I'm supporting called

Guitars for Vets

- 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!

TOUR PLANS

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

CALM @ THE MEADOWLARK (4.6.11)

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.

WDCV INTERVIEW

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?

THE TOBOLOWSKY FILES

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

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?