*** PHOTOS ABOVE ARE FROM 2017 FALL TOUR & COURTESY OF @thematthewray AND @shipesphotography ***
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Who is The Dust Parade?
This is a tale of The Dust Parade, an original music group from the coastal nether-regions of Eastern North Carolina. Theirs is a unique style of blues/surf/jazz-improv expressed through, and expanded over, catchy songwriting. Their sound is dynamic. Infectious. Its entertaining and unpredictable, for all involved. It’s not “jam” and it’s definitely not jazz. It’s just music. Incredibly good music. Made in America with 100% heart.
Conceived in the solitude of a quiet bedroom during the lonely late hours of night. Guitarist/singer/songwriter and self proclaimed “clueless leader” Hank Barbee writes and writes. The ideas flow down from the heavens. There are no rules there. No parameters of genre or prose. Simply melodies and a sparsely sketched canvas of mood and message.
In the winter of 2016, Hank began to jam with bassist Matt Henderson, and the two even did a few shows. There was a chemistry. In early 2017 Barbee called up a saxophonist he was pleasantly acquainted with named Jim Durham. Hank asked him to sit in on an upcoming show. More chemistry. After several months of trial and tribulation, the trio is gifted with the awesome soul of drummer, Logan Watson.
It’s now 2018 and the new songs and sounds are rolling out. Band practice is the highlight of the week. Creation is empowerment and love and a reminder that we were all created by something bigger. Therefore we, in turn, must create.
This sound. It makes people happy. It makes the girls wanna sway. It seems to make fans and ‘repeat attenders’. This breed of ‘bluesy island surf country bossa soul’ with that little dab of ‘beachy swing jazz’ is just what this world needs. The Dust Parade.
The band sat down with Wilmington's ENCORE MAGAZINE. Check it out here:
MIXING BOWL OF MAGIC: The Dust Parade talks their first year of making music as a band