Dusty Rust

Dusty Rust makes outlaw country with the grit still in it — honky tonk built for barrooms, songs shaped by long drives, and a live show that doesn't let go.

Raised in Lewiston, Idaho on Hank Williams and Merle Haggard, Rust landed in Kansas City in the early 2010s with a trunkful of songs and a sound that didn't fit anything Nashville was selling. He planted roots at the Westport Saloon — holding down Thursday nights for five straight years from 2013 to 2018 — and built a real live following one barroom at a time.

In that stretch he shared stages with Dale Watson, Whitey Morgan, Hellbound Glory, and JB Beverly, earned a 2017 Ameripolitan Award nomination for Outlaw Country Artist of the Year, and released four full-length records: Dusty Rust (2013), Kansas City Cowboy (2015), Stolen Horse (2018), and Secret Desert (2022).

He headlined Saturday night at the Jackalope Jamboree in Pendleton, Oregon in 2023 and has kept the live calendar full through the Pacific Northwest and beyond. The latest singles — The Wagon Wheel and If You're Gonna Leave Me — are out in 2026.

He's not from Nashville. He's not trying to get there. He's got a hat, a stolen horse, and enough songs to fill another decade of Thursday nights.