Dusty Saxton

Dusty Saxton (born February 4, 1986 in Lorena, Texas) is an American touring and session drummer based in Austin, Texas. He is currently on tour with country singer, Brandon Rhyder. He was the drummer for alternative rock band, Ember, from 2007–2011, during which time Dusty did two tours with Ember and the USO to Europe to perform for US troops overseas, and was the drummer featured on Ember's only nationally distributed album, 'Embrace', released by EMI/VSR Music Group in April 2010. During 2011's SXSW music festival, he performed with Austin, Texas based, Alpha Rev. He has also performed with Austin, Texas pop rock band, Tucker Jameson and the Hot Mugs, and most recently indie/alternative rock band Language Room.

Biography

Early life

Dusty Saxton was born and raised in rural Lorena, Texas. At the time, his father was a country fiddle player and worked at a power plant and his mother worked as a nurse. Dusty's first drum set came as a Christmas gift from his parents when he was only 2 years old. While Dusty's mother was pregnant with him the drummer in his father's band walked by and dropped a cymbal causing Dusty to kick so violently inside his mother's womb that her jumping stomach caught the attention of all those around her. This comical event was reciprocated anytime Dusty's mother would attend live music events while pregnant, particularly during drum solos or drum soundchecks. Nevertheless, it was obvious to his parents even before birth, that Dusty was going to be a drummer. Dusty grew up in bars and dance halls all over Texas with his mother sneaking him in often to see his father's band play on weekends. Due to his father's long shifts working at the power plant for many years the only time Dusty would get to see his father would be on stage. Dusty lived with his mother in a small country house full of musical instruments out of reach of cable TV, with no video games, and few neighbors his own age. He spent all of his free time as a child teaching himself to play each of the different instruments around the house but keept much of his musical talent secret from his parents until age 10 when his mother came home early and walked in on him playing Imagine by John Lennon on the family piano. Upon being discovered, Dusty revealed to his parents that he had also taught himself to play his father's acoustic guitar. At age 11, his parents bought him a bass guitar. He would later go on to further endoctrine himself as a bassist playing upright bass in college and electric bass at a black gospel church in Waco, Texas from 2005-2007. In high school Dusty caused his band director to establish two jazz ensembles in order to utilize him on both drums and bass guitar. Also during high school, Dusty was a member of the powerhouse Lorena High School drumline, a drumline which he would later groom into PASIC Small Ensemble national champions after returning post-graduation as an assistant instructor and substitute teacher. From his line of former students, Lorena High School has produced three PASIC Snare Drum National Champions, an unprecedented feat never done by any high school ever.

Early Musical Career and Hero Records

Dusty began writing and recording his own music with a 4 track tape recorder at age 14. He began recording his friends music and music for bands that went to surrounding schools using his bedroom and eventually his parents' entire house as the studio. His ability to produce decent quality demos for that time led Dusty to establish an indie record label, Hero Records, the day after Christmas in 2002 (his junior year in high school). Running Hero Records started as Dusty's cure for teenage boredom and eventually his tenacity led him to become one of the most infamous punk rock show promoters in central Texas at only age 17. Music venues and civic centers began refusing to host Hero Records produced events due to the overwhelming crowd size associated with them. This caused Dusty to enlist his very close circle of friends and local music scenesters to establish a music venue under the guise of a record store at 1319 Austin Avenue in Waco, Texas. Dusty signed the lease agreement 7 days before his 18th birthday while still a Senior in high school. The record store, under the business name 'Hero Records', opened on February 14, 2004 and housed the office of the record label of the same name further establishing the store as a retail business thus curtailing the stringent dance hall restrictions for music venues. This loophole in city law allowed live music events to be legally held in the store to crowds far exceeding the applicable occupancy limit of a concert venue of the same size. The store also stocked nationally distributed CDs and vinyls and provided a retail outlet for local bands' CDs and merchandise. Hero Records became a popular stop for bands travelling between Austin and Dallas and played host to many nationally touring bands during 2004 including Two Gallants, Plain White T's, and The Triggers. The success of the record store due to ever increasing attendance at live music events led to increasing harassment from Waco police. This combined with the stress of his parents' divorce, narrowly graduating high school, working an additional part-time job at an after school daycare center, and looming college plans prompted Dusty to abandon his enterprise and terminate the record store on August 8, 2004 using all leftover funds to take himself and all his friends involved in store operations on a beach vacation. Dusty attended McLennan Community College as a Music Business Major from 2004-2006 but never graduated.

Move to Austin

In 2005 Dusty responded to a MySpace ad for a guitarist spot in Dallas, Texas based rock band, Analogue, fronted by eventual Jonathan Tyler and the Northern Lights bassist, Nick Jay. Dusty auditioned and was hired as the guitarist but quit the band after playing only one show with them. Analogue disbanded soon after this. From 2005-2007 Dusty played bass guitar for reggae/folk band Shelter and also played bass at the Greater St. Stephen Missionary Baptist Church in Waco, Texas. After spending nearly 3 years as a bassist and/or guitarist and a relationship fallout, Dusty felt called to return to his first and most natural musical calling, Drums. He purchased a drumset and set his sights on Austin, Texas again responding to an internet ad for a drummer for Ember. Dusty drove to Austin to meet the members of Ember and in May 2007 was hired even without having brought his drums with him. With Dusty as their drummer from 2007–2011, Ember toured the US, did 2 USO tours in support of US troops overseas in Europe and Asia, and played shows with major rock acts such as Theory of a Deadman, Blue October, Black Stone Cherry, Hinder, Disturbed, Avenged Sevenfold, Halestorm, Stone Sour, and Hell Yeah. Dusty continued to teach drumlines in Austin teaching private lessons and clinics at high schools and junior high schools. The financial stresses of being a full time musician forced Dusty to cancel his lease where he was living in Austin and sleep on friends' couches, in his car, or stay with family when he had many days off. Sleeping on friends' couches, though uncomfortable, allowed Dusty to continue to pursue his musical career without the financial burden of paying rent and helped him to still be available for gigs when musicians with more financial commitments would have been forced to abandon their music career for a day job. After Ember went into hiatus in early 2011, Dusty soon became a valuable fill in drummer playing shows with Tucker Jameson and the Hot Mugs and Alpha Rev as well as many other Austin regulars.

2011 and Beyond

During his brief stint with Alpha Rev Dusty was called to fill in on drums for Texas country artist Brandon Rhyder for a few dates including Lone Star State Jam and later became Brandon's full time touring and studio drummer. In January 2011 Dusty rehearsed with Austin indie rock band Language Room during drummer Caleb Kelly's brief absence but never performed with the band until April 2011 following Caleb's resignation. Dusty will be touring with Language Room on select dates as well as recording new songs with them in the spring.

Equipment

Dusty is endorsed by Gretsch Drums,^[1] Sabian Cymbals, Vic Firth Drumsticks,^[2] Gibraltar Hardware,^[3] Audix Microphones, and JH Audio in ear monitors. On tour with Brandon Rhyder he currently plays a 6 piece Gretsch Renown Maple drum set in Silver Slate Sparkle finish with a custom Gibraltar rack system.^[4] He also currently uses 17" and 18" Sabian AAX Xplosion crashes, 19" and 20" Sabian Vault Artisan Crashes, a 16" Sabian HHX Evolution Ozone, 21" Sabian AAX Raw Bell Dry Ride, and 14" Sabian AAX Fast Hats. His stick choice is the Vic Firth 3AN ^[2] and he currently uses JH Audio's JH13 model 6 driver in ear monitors.

References

1. ^ Dusty's Gretsch Drums Artist Page
2. ^ ^{a b} Dusty's Vic Firth Artist Page
3. ^ Dusty's Gibraltar Hardware Artist Page
4. ^ Dusty's Custom Gibraltar Rack System

External links

• [1]

Persondata
Name	Saxton, Dusty
Alternative names
Short description	Drummer
Date of birth	February 4, 1986
Place of birth	Lorena, Texas, United States
Date of death
Place of death