Dust is the fifth album from The Dead Tongues, the project of Western North Carolina-based songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Ryan Gustafson. Gustafson recorded Dust in nine days, the fastest he’d ever recorded anything. It was the fastest he’d ever written anything. The record was recorded at Sylvan Esso’s studio, Betty’s, in the woods of Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He built it out with help from a number of his musician friends - Joe Westerlund (Watchhouse, Megafaun, Califone) on drums, Andrew Marlin (Watchhouse) on mandolin, backing vocals from Alexandra Sauser-Monnig and Molly Sarlé of Mountain Man, among others.
Dust is meant to be listened to while taking a night drive, farflung and roving and existential. Somewhere between the expansiveness of American jamband and the banjo-centric folk songwriting of Gustafson’s Appalachia home. Gustafson explains the thematic throughline succinctly: “It’s this idea of uprooting and rebirth and cycles, and the past informing the future, and the future informing the past. There is no single story. Everything is connected.”
STREAMING HIGHLIGHTS:
On Spotify: 20M+ lifetime streams, ~500k monthly listeners, 32.5k+ followers
Cover of Roots Rising (1.8M+ followers) + Fresh Folk (600k+ followers), prominent placement on Hanging Out and Relaxing (1.7M+ followers); high placement on Fresh Folk (708k+ followers). Also added to The Wilds (670k+ followers) + Acoustic Melody Tokyo (100k+ followers)
New album Dust at 872k+ cumulative global streams
RADIO HIGHLIGHTS:
On Dust, spins from KCRW, WNCR, and WXPN, along with ADDs from AAA stations WUNC and WYCE.
Loads of great College and Community stations adding this in as well including KCSU in Denver, KDNK in Aspen, WKDU in Philadelphia, WPTS in Pittsburgh, WTCC in Boston, and WVUM in Miami.
Super strong/positive response coming from stations that typically shy away from folk and country records
TOUR HIGHLIGHTS:
Festival appearances include performances at Hopscotch Music Festival, Bristol Rhythm & Roots, and Edmonton Folk Music Festival, among others
Toured extensively in the US and Europe both headlining shows and supporting Ben Howard, Hiss Golden Messenger, Watchhouse, Sarah Jarosz, Mountain Man and more
SELECT PRESS:
“Packed with subtly brilliant musical moments, Dust finds the Dead Tongues at its most adventurous” - INDY Week
"a voice to behold as he reflects on his experiences on the road, his spirituality, and significant heartbreaks that have punctuated his life thus far." - No Depression
"Gustafson renders his woody folk music language to narrate the healing of his scarred soul." - New Commute
"An artist folk/Americana fans need to know." - Paste
"The Asheville-based singer/songwriter captures an orchestral folk sound that feels, in some ways, like a fever dream." - Bluegrass Situation
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