"THE DUSTY ROADS BAND ROCKS AUDIENCES AND SHATTERS THE DANCE FLOOR!!!
At The Age of 19 with $20 in his pocket and a guitar on his back,
Dustin Harder hitchhiked from the North End of Winnipeg busking his
way to Dawson City, Yukon to pursue his grandfathers dream of panning
for gold. When he arrived he found more than gold. A career as a
performing artist.
FOUNDERS OF THE ANNUAL " 8 Days in May.Eh! Urban Gatherings" FESTIVAL SHOWCASE...Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
The Dusty Roads Band from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada is a blues-rock outfit that positively sizzles onstage. Led by the hard-edged passionate vocals and intense guitar of Dustin Harder, this band has all the ingredients for a great night of live entertainment: Totally infectious tunes that you can't help but feel like dancing to... a tremendous high level of musicianship that commands your attention... and a stage atmosphere that is as much theatre as it is music. You can't take your eyes off this band once they're in a groove. The passion in Harder's vocals and guitar work, especially on his outstanding original tunes, will leave you awestruck. He sings and plays with total commitment and confidence. His skill on guitar is tremendous - his vocals are perfectly suited for blues with an edge you can't ignore. (Interestingly enough, I've also heard Dustin sing solo with material that lends itself more to folk - which just shows how versatile a composer and performer he is. …
"THE DUSTY ROADS BAND ROCKS AUDIENCES AND SHATTERS THE DANCE FLOOR!!!
At The Age of 19 with $20 in his pocket and a guitar on his back,
Dustin Harder hitchhiked from the North End of Winnipeg busking his
way to Dawson City, Yukon to pursue his grandfathers dream of panning
for gold. When he arrived he found more than gold. A career as a
performing artist.
FOUNDERS OF THE ANNUAL " 8 Days in May.Eh! Urban Gatherings" FESTIVAL SHOWCASE...Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
The Dusty Roads Band from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada is a blues-rock outfit that positively sizzles onstage. Led by the hard-edged passionate vocals and intense guitar of Dustin Harder, this band has all the ingredients for a great night of live entertainment: Totally infectious tunes that you can't help but feel like dancing to... a tremendous high level of musicianship that commands your attention... and a stage atmosphere that is as much theatre as it is music. You can't take your eyes off this band once they're in a groove. The passion in Harder's vocals and guitar work, especially on his outstanding original tunes, will leave you awestruck. He sings and plays with total commitment and confidence. His skill on guitar is tremendous - his vocals are perfectly suited for blues with an edge you can't ignore. (Interestingly enough, I've also heard Dustin sing solo with material that lends itself more to folk - which just shows how versatile a composer and performer he is. And he doesn't stop there... he has a couple of synthesized-guitar instrumental tracks on his MySpace Solo Music Profile that are ambiently captivating - so much so that I think of them as being part of some IMAX nature-documentary soundtrack. He humbly says he was just "noodling" when he recorded them. Some noodling!!) Jess Rae Ayre's sirenesque singing and appealing presence and range of vocals create the necessary counterpoint to the often-frenetic male activity around her. An alluring pillar of stability, Ayre will nonetheless surprise with different vocal stylings - gut-wrenchingly soulful in a powerful piece like "Ocean Of Tears"... silky-smooth 'n sexy in a jazzy little number like "Goin' Away"... or letting it all hang out with some rockin' blues such as in "This Dog" (her very own composition). The Dusty Roads Band has developed the perfect stage formula to delight audiences, and they seem at home in any type or size of venue, playing before any size of crowd. And their formula extends to the music, as evidenced by the tracks on their debut CD - "Searchin' For A River". Blues is the motif throughout, of course, but there's nothing even remotely repetitive from song-to-song... there's blues with a gospel touch, blues with a jazz feel, blues with playful pop stylings, blues with a little bit country and blues with a lot of rock 'n roll..Of the debut album "Searchin' For A River" here is what the people have to say:
"This group of young talented musicians has hit a homerun ,first time out."
Manitoba Blues News Magazine
"Wow! I was blown away!"
Lynn Munilla, Festival du Voyageur.
"The passion and intensity that Dustin Harder pulls through his guitar is immediately apparent.,
Matt DuBoff Artistic Director Brandon Folk Music and Arts Festival.
"As leader of The Dusty Roads Band, Dustin Harder is working hard to carve out a unique niche for himself in a glutted musical landscape and his debut album Searchin' for a River finds him perfectly situated to make a big impact on that scene. What keeps him suspended above the more commonplace 12-bar dudes is his ability to create a stylish guitar tone that evokes the masterful attitude of cats like former Fleetwood Mac-er Peter Green, and that alone is a rarity."
Jeff Monk, Winnipeg Free Press
"Versatility is like personality: It goes a long way. It goes even farther when you have both, like this eclectic outfit led by singer/songwriter-guitarist Dustin Harder."
Darryl Sterdan,Winnipeg Sun
Allman Bros Band, Eric Clapton, Pink Floyd, Doobie Bros, David Gray, Neil Young, Cat Stevens, Ray Charles, Willie Nelson, Canadian Content, Dan Frechette, Blue Rodeo, Peter Green
