Dusty Black Steps Out of the Office and Onto the Stage

Dusty Black is living proof that it’s never too late to chase your dreams. After years of working as CEO of Black Tie Moving, a major personal loss shifted the course of his life and set him on a path to pursue country music alongside his business endeavors. Now, with his brand-new self-titled EP, Dusty is ready to show the world what he’s capable of.

The Texas-born, Memphis-raised country singer hails from a family with deep musical roots. His grandfather, Floyd Black “Junior,” played banjo and guitar in Johnny Cash’s band. Although Floyd passed away when Dusty was young, his passion for music still resonates through him as he follows in his footsteps. Black also inherited his love for the genre from his late father, Allen Black, who introduced him to the magic of traditional country storytelling.

“My father would drive from Memphis to Fort Smith, Arkansas, and it was about a six-hour drive every other weekend. And he would just literally blare ’90s country music the whole way for six hours. And we’d both sing it to the top of our lungs, and those were some of the best memories that I have with him,” Black told Country Now.

Black says he also witnessed his dad work “endlessly and tirelessly” to provide for his family, which in turn inspired him to want to do the same for his two daughters. He first found success in California working as founder and CEO of Black Tie Moving Company, but after his father’s passing, he decided life was too short to not do what you love.

He stepped away from the business about five years ago, allowing him to pour his focus into a new passion, and then returned to his role a year ago. Along the way, at 37, he began pursuing his childhood dream of becoming a country singer-songwriter, something his dad always believed he could do.

“My friends who were artists and songwriters in the industry, I think they saw the same thing that my dad did. They knew that I wanted to do it. I just didn’t really know where to begin and felt that my prime had passed because I started this thing a little later in life than they did. But you know what? It’s never too late to chase those childhood dreams that we have,” he stated confidently.

So around six years ago, Dusty Black started to build his music career independently alongside a core group of people in the industry who saw his potential and chose to invest in him as an artist. He signed with QHMG / Stone Country Records about a year and a half ago and then dedicated his days to listening to hundreds of outside songs to find the best ones to cut for his first project under the label.

Black went in with the “best song wins” mentality and luckily, he had a lot of friends that doubled as talented songwriters in town who could write stories that he related to on a deeply personal level. This resulted in him compiling six outside cuts that introduce his signature sound, offering a delicate blend of soulful contemporary country with everything from gritty, rural rock anthems to heartfelt songs about love, heartbreak and family.

“These songs are the first songs that we really felt passionate about and that I related with and that hit home…they’re songs that definitely tell a story, and I think it’s one that most of us can relate to. And I think that’s important in country music,” he explained.

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Dusty Black opens with “Don’t That Sound Like Her,” a true heartbreak country song about a girl who steals hearts and then leaves them broken. He describes her as being an unforgettable figure in his life, someone who he thought was his best friend and the one who he’d be with forever until she decided to end it all. The sweet romance of the track’s opening verses evolves into full-blown fit of pain as Black reveals the hell she put him through.

Black admits his personal experiences with heartbreak closely align with this story, and based off the positive reaction it’s gotten from fans, it’s clear it’s hit close to home for his listeners too.

The project continues with “In That Case,” “Goodbye Drives Me Crazy,” and “Dust Off of Me” before closing out with “I Don’t Wanna Be Right,” and prideful ode to rednecks and the country way of life. In the middle also lies the incredibly powerful tribute about a father’s relationship with his son, “Curveball.”

The country singer explains he had this title sitting in his notes for around 10 years before Jordan Walker, Chris DuBois and Lynn Hutton finally brought it to life. It turned out to be his dad’s favorite song he’d heard before he died. Black recalls playing baseball growing up with his dad acting as his coach both in the game and in life.

“When he was alive, we used to sit on my back porch with guys like Jordan Walker and Mitchell Timpenney and Dylan Schneider and Morgan Wallen and Taylor Phillips and all these…We were all really good friends and we would sit on my back porch and my dad just soaked it all in,” Black explained. “And to put his favorite song out in ‘Curveball’ meant a lot to me.”

By putting out these songs and sharing his journey, Dusty Black hopes to encourage listeners with the message that no matter where you are in life, you can always change directions and start new. Aside from the millions of streams he’s racked up or the opportunities to open for artists like Rascal Flatts, Stoney LaRue and Lauren Alaina, nothing will be more successful in his eyes than inspiring his daughters, at 12 and 14, to pursue their own dreams.

“I think at the end of the day that we have to spend time with the people that we love and invest in those things and believe in ourselves … My dad always, he believed that I could do anything in this world. I passed that down to my girls.”

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This project is just a small taste of what Dusty Black has in store. He teased he is already halfway through his next album with 13 or 14 songs finished and is feeling eager to continue his momentum and build his catalog even more.

“As excited as I am about all of these songs and this project, I’m even more excited about what we have coming for you guys.”

Dusty Black EP Track Listing:   

1. “Don’t That Sound Like Her”(Houston Phillips, Kyle Schlienger, Kyler Weston) 

2. “Goodbye Drives Me Crazy”(Josh Mirenda, Gary Garris, Houston Phillips) 

3. “Curveball”(Jordan Walker, Chris DuBois, Lynn Hutton) 

4. “Dust Off of Me”(Connie Harrington, Houston Phillips, Heath Sanders, Josh Dunne) 

5. “In That Case”(Heath Sanders, Chris Stevens, Jordan Walker) 

6. “I Don’t Wanna Be Right”(Nate Kenyon, Matt Gorman, Cooper Van Bascom)