Dustin Edge
Encyclopedia
Dustin Edge is an American
singer/songwriter
and musician
.
before graduating from Kentucky Country Day School
in 1996. While at Davidson College
in North Carolina
, he formed the bluegrass
band
Cast Iron Filter
and toured extensively before the group disbanded in 2005. In 2006 he moved to Prague, Czech Republic and soon began playing a weekly show in the cafe of a local hostel
. After moving to New York City
in 2008, he began a series of guest performances at local improv comedy shows in the EEast Village
and the Lower East Side
, including appearances at Gotham Comedy Club
, The Living Theatre
, and Under St. Mark's Theatre. His latest EP, Calm, was released on January 25, 2011. He now lives in Boulder, Colorado
.
The majority of the songs that appear on A Forest Through The Trees were written by Edge during the final months of Cast Iron Filter
, a bluegrass
and roots rock
band he helped form while living in North Carolina
in the early 2000s. After the band's dissolution, Edge approached producer Glenn Matullo at Orphan Studios in Atlanta with a set of demos
at the suggestion of music manager Russell Carter, who had managed Cast Iron Filter for several years. Heralded by Indie-Music.com as “glorious pop/rock madness”, the songs on A Forest Through The Trees are “filled with driving rhythms and captivating melodies…rich layers of instrumentation within up-tempo, energetic compositions that appeal as much to hard rock aficionados as they do to devotees of indie pop and punk…an album that becomes strangely more complex as it progresses, showcasing [Edge’s] affinity for odd time signatures and experimentation, all the while presenting songs that contain intensely addictive qualities.” Joining Edge in the studio were Gerry Hansen on drums
, Bret Hartley on lap steel guitar
, Martin Kearns on keyboards, Chris Wagoner on violin
, Mary Gaines on cello
, ‘Element’ on background vocals, with Edge performing all other instruments.
By the Numbers (2010)
While living in Prague
, Czech Republic
Edge composed a vast series of electronic
demos
without titles, five of which would be reworked to appear on his 2010 EP, By The Numbers. Shortly after moving to New York City
in late 2008, he began working with producer Brian Forbes at Gallery Recording Studios in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn
, reshaping the Prague demos into full-fledged recordings. On the recommendation of Forbes, Edge was accompanied in the studio by drummer
Aaron Steele, bassist
Dan Asher, keyboardist
Sam Barsh, and guitarist
Willie Gammell, with Forbes also recording electric guitar
on several tracks. Laden with precision, the By The Numbers EP was lauded as having a “geek-cool sensibility, with Edge using mathematical and scientific concepts as allegories for life’s experiences.”
Calm (2011)
In the spring of 2010, Edge returned to the Gallery in Brooklyn
, New York
to record a new project with Brian Forbes from a series of acoustic
demos
written shortly before the release of By The Numbers. As with Edge’s previous sessions at the Gallery, Aaron Steele appears on drums
, as does Dan Asher on bass guitar
, with Forbes also on electric guitar
. Nevertheless, as precise and methodical as were the performances on By The Numbers, the recordings from the Calm EP exhibit a complete shift in genre
, echoing at times the roots rock
Americana
of Cast Iron Filter
. In response to this transformation, Edge stated on Brooklyn
blog
Local Correspondents that, “I’m constantly trying to explore new approaches to songwriting that are different and improve upon what I’ve done in the past. Above all, I want to continually evolve as a songwriter and a performer.” A spring tour is planned to support the album’s release in early 2011.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
singer/songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
and musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
.
Background
Edge grew up in Louisville, KY and played in a variety of local bandsMusical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
before graduating from Kentucky Country Day School
Kentucky Country Day School
Kentucky Country Day is an independent co-educational college preparatory day school for junior kindergarten through 12th grade located in Louisville, Kentucky. It is located in northeastern Jefferson County on a large suburban campus. Today KCD is recognized as a regional leader in educational...
in 1996. While at Davidson College
Davidson College
Davidson College is a private liberal arts college in Davidson, North Carolina. The college has graduated 23 Rhodes Scholars and is consistently ranked in the top ten liberal arts colleges in the country by U.S. News and World Report magazine, although it has recently dropped to 11th in U.S. News...
in North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, he formed the bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
band
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
Cast Iron Filter
Cast Iron Filter
Cast Iron Filter is a band based in Davidson, North Carolina. Their genre is similar to that of Progressive Bluegrass, but Cast Iron Filter's fans call it "Irongrass"...
and toured extensively before the group disbanded in 2005. In 2006 he moved to Prague, Czech Republic and soon began playing a weekly show in the cafe of a local hostel
Hostel
Hostels provide budget oriented, sociable accommodation where guests can rent a bed, usually a bunk bed, in a dormitory and share a bathroom, lounge and sometimes a kitchen. Rooms can be mixed or single-sex, although private rooms may also be available...
. After moving to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 2008, he began a series of guest performances at local improv comedy shows in the EEast Village
East Village, Manhattan
The East Village is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, lying east of Greenwich Village, south of Gramercy and Stuyvesant Town, and north of the Lower East Side...
and the Lower East Side
Lower East Side
The Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....
, including appearances at Gotham Comedy Club
Gotham Comedy Club
Gotham Comedy Club is a venue for stand-up comedy in New York City. The comedy club is located on 208 West 23rd Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues in Chelsea.Several movies and television shows have been filmed at the club...
, The Living Theatre
The Living Theatre
The Living Theatre is an American theatre company founded in 1947 and based in New York City. It is the oldest experimental theatre group still existing in the U.S...
, and Under St. Mark's Theatre. His latest EP, Calm, was released on January 25, 2011. He now lives in Boulder, Colorado
Boulder, Colorado
Boulder is the county seat and most populous city of Boulder County and the 11th most populous city in the U.S. state of Colorado. Boulder is located at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of...
.
Discography
A Forest Through the Trees (2008)The majority of the songs that appear on A Forest Through The Trees were written by Edge during the final months of Cast Iron Filter
Cast Iron Filter
Cast Iron Filter is a band based in Davidson, North Carolina. Their genre is similar to that of Progressive Bluegrass, but Cast Iron Filter's fans call it "Irongrass"...
, a bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
and roots rock
Roots rock
Roots rock is a term now used to describe rock music that looks back to rock's origins in folk, blues and country music. It is particularly associated with the creation of hybrid sub-genres from the later 1960s including country rock and Southern rock, which have been seen as responses to the...
band he helped form while living in North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
in the early 2000s. After the band's dissolution, Edge approached producer Glenn Matullo at Orphan Studios in Atlanta with a set of demos
Demo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
at the suggestion of music manager Russell Carter, who had managed Cast Iron Filter for several years. Heralded by Indie-Music.com as “glorious pop/rock madness”, the songs on A Forest Through The Trees are “filled with driving rhythms and captivating melodies…rich layers of instrumentation within up-tempo, energetic compositions that appeal as much to hard rock aficionados as they do to devotees of indie pop and punk…an album that becomes strangely more complex as it progresses, showcasing [Edge’s] affinity for odd time signatures and experimentation, all the while presenting songs that contain intensely addictive qualities.” Joining Edge in the studio were Gerry Hansen on drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, Bret Hartley on lap steel guitar
Lap steel guitar
The lap steel guitar is a type of steel guitar, an instrument derived from and similar to the guitar. The player changes pitch by pressing a metal or glass bar against the strings instead of by pressing strings against the fingerboard....
, Martin Kearns on keyboards, Chris Wagoner on violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
, Mary Gaines on cello
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
, ‘Element’ on background vocals, with Edge performing all other instruments.
By the Numbers (2010)
While living in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
, Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
Edge composed a vast series of electronic
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
demos
Demo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
without titles, five of which would be reworked to appear on his 2010 EP, By The Numbers. Shortly after moving to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in late 2008, he began working with producer Brian Forbes at Gallery Recording Studios in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Williamsburg is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, bordering Greenpoint to the north, Bedford-Stuyvesant to the south, Bushwick to the east and the East River to the west. The neighborhood is part of Brooklyn Community Board 1. The neighborhood is served by the NYPD's 90th ...
, reshaping the Prague demos into full-fledged recordings. On the recommendation of Forbes, Edge was accompanied in the studio by drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
Aaron Steele, bassist
Bassist
A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...
Dan Asher, keyboardist
Keyboardist
A keyboardist is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instruments with keyboards have come into common usage, requiring a more...
Sam Barsh, and guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
Willie Gammell, with Forbes also recording electric guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
on several tracks. Laden with precision, the By The Numbers EP was lauded as having a “geek-cool sensibility, with Edge using mathematical and scientific concepts as allegories for life’s experiences.”
Calm (2011)
In the spring of 2010, Edge returned to the Gallery in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
to record a new project with Brian Forbes from a series of acoustic
Acoustic music
Acoustic music comprises music that solely or primarily uses instruments which produce sound through entirely acoustic means, as opposed to electric or electronic means...
demos
Demo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
written shortly before the release of By The Numbers. As with Edge’s previous sessions at the Gallery, Aaron Steele appears on drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, as does Dan Asher on bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, with Forbes also on electric guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
. Nevertheless, as precise and methodical as were the performances on By The Numbers, the recordings from the Calm EP exhibit a complete shift in genre
Genre
Genre , Greek: genos, γένος) is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or culture, e.g. music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time...
, echoing at times the roots rock
Roots rock
Roots rock is a term now used to describe rock music that looks back to rock's origins in folk, blues and country music. It is particularly associated with the creation of hybrid sub-genres from the later 1960s including country rock and Southern rock, which have been seen as responses to the...
Americana
Americana
Americana refers to artifacts, or a collection of artifacts, related to the history, geography, folklore and cultural heritage of the United States. Many kinds of material fall within the definition of Americana: paintings, prints and drawings; license plates or entire vehicles, household objects,...
of Cast Iron Filter
Cast Iron Filter
Cast Iron Filter is a band based in Davidson, North Carolina. Their genre is similar to that of Progressive Bluegrass, but Cast Iron Filter's fans call it "Irongrass"...
. In response to this transformation, Edge stated on Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
Local Correspondents that, “I’m constantly trying to explore new approaches to songwriting that are different and improve upon what I’ve done in the past. Above all, I want to continually evolve as a songwriter and a performer.” A spring tour is planned to support the album’s release in early 2011.