Kat Harlton
Dustin Bird recently released his debut album, “Unscripted” this past February. Dustin wrote and produced every song on the album except for the title track, Unscripted, which was co-written by Tyler Shaw, Dave Thompson and Jeff Dalziel.
Bird who also just recently signed to Open Road Recordings, has recently earned a Country Music Association of Ontario Rising Star nomination, a Top 40 Australian country airplay single and was a Jim Beam National Talent Search Finalist. Along with that, Dustin co-wrote and produced “Together We’re Strong,” a charity single in support of the Unison Benevolent Fund featuring artists Jason McCoy, Alee, Aaron Pritchett and Cory Marks.
We had the opportunity to chat with Dustin about his growth as an artist, collaborations, and what’s next.
Kat: You recently released a new album “Unscripted”, can you talk about the inspiration behind, and what sound or direction you were hoping to go in?
Dustin: Each song on this record is like a little piece of who I am, so it was important to me that I could let each song sonically tell their own individual stories. This is kind of an unusual way to approach an album, but a lot of the tracks on Unscripted were written and produced over the span of almost two years. Not only did the music develop from song to song, but I grew a lot as a person over that time. I wanted the production to reflect the depth and diversity that’s made me who I am over the past couple of years.
Kat: How do you feel you’ve progressed as an artist since your last release?
Dustin: I am always developing and growing, and with every release I become a little more aware of the impact that my music can have on people. I’ve learned to really trust my intuition on the work, and to trust that if I feel that something is resonating with me, it will probably resonate with others as well.
Kat: You recently signed with Open Road Recordings, what does that opportunity mean to you?
Dustin: I’m really excited to be a part of the team at Open Road. Their support, passion and dedication allows me to create the best work that I can with the confidence in knowing that it will have the opportunity to connect with fans here in Canada and around the world.
Kat: You also recently wrote a verse for a Reklaws song on Tik Tok which is currently at 135k+ and climbing. Can you share a little about what the concept was, and the inspiration for your verse?
Dustin: What the Truck! This song was so much fun. I wrote my little verse for it after midnight one night and posted it at like, 2 or 3am. I did not expect people to respond to it like they did, so it was really exciting to wake up to that kind of response the next morning. The inspiration was taken from the concepts in what they had already written of the song. I just put my own little bit of sauce on it.
@therealdustinbird ##duet with @thereklaws 🇨🇦 ##reklaws ##whatthetruck ##music
♬ WHAT THE TRUCK DUET – thereklaws
Kat: What’s next?
Dustin: More music, more videos, and just more of everything! I’m in the studio every day writing and producing, but in the meantime I’m really excited about our upcoming live acoustic pieces, as well as our Track by Tracks for the album that are now rolling out every week. Those pieces can all be found on my Instagram @dustin_bird
For more on Dustin Bird visit: https://www.dustinbirdmusic.com