About Dustin 

 

​My name is Dustin McCray and I'm a solo acoustic singer/guitarist.  I play songs I've written and songs written by others, some are well known and some are hidden gems.  Singer/songwriter, acoustic rock, folk, Americana, country folk, classics, and covers, are a few keywords that will hopefully give you an idea of what I do.

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I grew up in Ireland, WV.  I had no siblings, but had plenty of ornery cousins and uncles to hang out with.  Listening to music was a big deal for all of us.  I heard everything from rock n' roll, to classic country, to bluegrass and gospel.  

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One of my earliest memories was pulling my moms acoustic guitar out from under her bed and being fascinated by it.  It was unplayable at the time but that didn't stop me from trying.  Soon after, I got my own guitar.  I don't remember my exact age but I was probably around 7 or 8.

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A year or two later, I moved on to electric guitar, but never abandoning the acoustic.  I connected with other local musicians and formed a few bands.  l was always the youngest band member and would often be chaperoned by my grandma since I was too young to get into the bars we were playing.  She would do the booking for some of these bands too.  She was known as the "rock n' roll grandma".   

 

During a band gig at a private party, I was introduced to a guy that would become my biggest musical influence, a West Virginia singer/songwriter by the name of Mike Morningstar.  He played after our band that evening and I was hooked from the very first song.  It was kind of an unlikely attraction, Mike was a Vietnam Veteran nearly twice my age and me barely a teenager.  I guess it's true that music has no boundaries.

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For the next 12 years or so, I performed both alone and with various local bands before joining up with a national touring group.  Though I didn't mind my day job, I was more than happy to turn in my notice to be a touring musician.

 

Eventually, I made my way back to performing solo.  I recorded an album of original material called "The Song That You Sing".  It was an honor and a full circle moment when my musical hero Mike Morningstar made a guest appearance on the album.

 

With a little perseverance and good fortune, I'm still at it these days.  In between gigs and life, I'm currently in the process of recording new original music. 

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See you out there.

 

 

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