Dusty Drake

(Q)- Name, place of birth and age please.
Dusty Drake- Dusty Drake, of Monaca, Pennsylvania, I’m thirty-eight years old.

(Q)- What was the criteria for a Dusty Drake song when you began searching for material for your debut album?

Dusty Drake- As I wrote, songs just happened to come naturally. The common thread (lyrically) is on this album, we didn’t have a whole lot of fluff here.

(Q)- In what way?
Dusty Drake- The songs,based on where I’m from and how I got here, made a whole lot of sense to me. The music sort of made itself, rather then try and force something down somebody’s throat, I just recorded the songs that were speaking to me. That’s why I didn’t end up having a title for the album, we tried to find a title, but the best title is simply, “Dusty Drake”. It didn’t make sense to do anything otherwise.

(Q)- Some folks have labeled your song, “One Last Time” as somewhat of a patriotic song. Do you believe that what stands out lyrically in this overall album is in some ways also what is good about our country as a whole and country music as well?
Dusty Drake- Yes. That is a very good observation and I would tend to agree with you.

(Q)- In what way?
Dusty Drake- I think this harks back to what used to be in country music. I’m a big fan of Merle Haggard and George Jones. When I started out singing in honky tonks, the big hit country songs (early to mid eighties) of the day, were songs about where we all come from as Americans. Those songs are what really moves me.

(Q)- now that you’ve traveled throughout America extensively, what is your take in regards to who are the ‘real Americans”?
Dusty Drake- Now that’s an interesting question. I’ve been in a lot of small towns all across America and I think the most interesting thing I’ve come to realize is that while on TV, somewhere I America, that is depicted like ‘country’ lifestyle on TV, seems like a whole different world. All the years I was growing up, I thought that Kansas was another, different world. On TV, the people look different, they talk different…. it almost seems like a foreign place. But, now in looking back and having traveled there and having played for these people, it’s almost like moving my hometown into these, ‘country’, areas, Like Kansas. Except that now I realize there are these ‘country’ areas in all of all the fifty different states. People everywhere are all the same, if it’s in California or in Texas, people are all the samehard working, patriotic and they love their, ‘country’ music. It’s like home everywhere I go. People who love what is called, ‘country’, music, all make you feel at home, no matter where you are.

(Q)- For the most part do these ‘country’ folk like pop r rock or hip-hp or rap music?

Dusty Drake- No. They’re not big pop or rock fans.

(Q)- That’s very interesting.
Dusty Drake- Yes it is. I find that, people are barbecuing down the street when we’re pulling into play at some venue or they’re playing a baseball game. And, I feel like they’d welcome me wherever I am. It’s a real common thread throughout our country. It’s about people who are into a mentality of, ‘doing the right thing’ and it is also a hard working mentality. I’ve noticed that about America and that’s hopefully a common thread (lyrically) throughout the songs on this album.

(Q)- You’ve got an earring, tattoos, you’re 6′ 2″ tall and a ‘country’ singer-songwriter who rides a motorcycle. You seem to stand out a bit because you cut a rather impressive figure. You’re not a cute ‘boy’. Now, do those on your arms symbolize anything?
Dusty Drake- Yes the tattoos do. On my right arm I’ve got a tattoo of a tornado. It serves two purposes. One, I love tornadoes, I think they are awesome, if I wasn’t doing this, my dream job would be a tornado chaser.

(Q)- It would?
Dusty Drake- Yes. If I lived in Oklahoma or Kansas and I wasn’t singing full time, I’d be a storm chaser. I’d be one of those nuts chasing a tornado around with a (video) camera.

(Q)- So that (storm chaser) may be a future hobby?
Dusty Drake- Yeah you never know, I’m really looking forward to seeing one (a tornado) one day.

(Q)- You are?
Dusty Drake – Of course, I’d never want to see anyone get hurt by one though.

(Q)- When did this fascination with tornadoes begin? Was a young Dusty ever labeled, ‘a little tornado’ by his parents perhaps?
Dusty Drake- No. (He laughs.) There has been a fascination I’ve had with tornadoes since childhood actually. I remember standing in the dining room of my parents’ house when I was a little kid and my mom saying, ‘Look at those branches flying around!’ And, my dad said, ‘Those aren’t branches those are trees! Everybody down into the basement!’ and I remember thinking, ‘What could possibly make trees fly around?’. I was just a little kid.

(Q)- Back to your description of your unique tattoo please.
Dusty Drake- It symbolizes my life. I had it drawn up by a friend of mine. It also symbolizes what my life has been like, very unpredictable, the path changes daily but the same end result is in sight. Then, as time has gone by, I’ve had things that I love added, flying around in my tattoo (within) the tornado. Things that are symbolic to me.

(Q)- Like what?
Dusty Drake – I have a bow and arrow because I love to hunt with a bow and arrow. I also have a NASCAR flag, I love (auto) racing. There’s a guitar and a tire from my John Deere tractor is also flying around in there. There’s also a little farm depicted underneath. I dig it. It’s a neat ice-breaker. I don’t generally expose it on-stage but when people do see it or I’m wearing a sleeveless shirt, people tend to ask me about it. Then suddenly, there’s something to talk about.

(Q)- And, where is this personalized tornado which is your own personal work of art located on your body?
Dusty Drake- It’s on my right shoulder.

(Q)- Is there another tattoo located on your body which ahs symbolic meaning to you on a deeply personal level?
Dusty Drake- Yes I do. It’s on my left shoulder. It’s a set of lips that where tattooed on me and it is actually a set of lips (the imprint of a set of lips) that are my wife’s.

(Q)- Why is it there?
Dusty Drake – So I take her everywhere I go. (Wife’s name is Maria.)

(Q)- Why is your current single “One Last Time” a touchstone for country fans?

Dusty Drake- It seems like the reaction is….it is somewhat of an impact song. And I’ve been asked a million times what the song is about. It simply is an awesome love song. It’s about if you only had three minutes left, what would you say (To someone you’ve loved.) and there it is. All in three minutes. Then there is a big twist at the end of it and there it is, nobody usually sees that ending coming. So to me, the song is just an awesome love song and as a singer you get only three minutes to effect somebody’s life in a positive way. And that song does it.

(Q)- Do you have any friends in the music business who now have recording contracts with the major labels? And if so, did anyone of them offer advice and were a, ‘mentor’, to you while you were working to land a recording contract?

(Q)-Was there one veteran country legend who eventually became a mentor to you?

Dusty Drake- No. There was not one veteran country legend who was a mentor to me. I’ve got a lot of buddies who came up through playing the club (circuit) around the same time I did. Guys like Blake Shelton, Chris Cagle and Jeff Bates. But, I’ll tell you, Nashville is a tough gig, it’s a tough place to get started. It’s like being in Hollywood and trying to be an actor. You don’t just walk in and take over. You need to cut your teeth and take your time. So, not knowing anybody (A veteran country recording artist who became a mentor to Dusty.) at first, it was hard to find an artist who I could latch onto or get help from. I just tried to do the best that I could and as I got information, only after I’d been in Nashville for a while, I began to learn about the industry.

(Q)- Do you have a significant possession that you attach to an instrument or carry around with you that holds personal, value?

Dusty Drake- Yes. A picture of my sons. Since I cut this song, “One Last Time”, I’ve been performing the song live. And, usually I would keep a picture of my two sons right on my (acoustic) guitar (Sons name’s are Cole and Luke.) but since I’ve been singing “One Last Time”, live and of course the song speaks about the kids.Well it breaks me up so much to see the picture of my kids out of the corner of my eye on my guitar, that, I took the picture off of my guitar until this single is done because it is too hard for me to get through the song.

(Q)- Want are you aspirations as a singer-songwriter?
Dusty Drake- I don’t want to be another ‘good’ singer with another ‘good’ song. I want to effect people and you get that onstage.