“I don’t have a big beard and I never worked in a coal mine but I can write a country tune,” laughs Dustin Elliott. “But my daddy was a stock car racer in Tennessee and my mama was a drunken waitress in Colorado….so I’ve got that goin’ for me.”
Born to a home where his single mother spent more time partying than with her young son, Elliott learned to take care of himself by scraping by on the merits of his own hard work and will to survive. After becoming a ward of the state, Elliott was relocated through foster care to Tennessee, where he found himself a kid without a country, a Colorado boy who found himself in love with the sounds of Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, and Waylon Jennings. Further influenced by an uncle that drove and roadied for Willie and Waylon, Elliott pursued the music tooth and nail, sometimes driving into the wilderness of other music but always returning to the beauty of country and western music.
These days, in between running his own business, Elliott plays with a group of musicians calling themselves The Broken Radio. A ragtag cast of characters featuring Robbie Eugene Smuts on Rhodes & keys, Cody ‘Ol Sawbones’ Isaman on bass, Chris ‘OG Cletus’ Heinz on guitar & mandolin, Pete Durrance on the tubs, and Patrick David Dechant on Steel & Dobro. “Somehow I got together with a group of real outlaw types who are all amazing musicians. It’s great to be out here rollin’ in the middle of the mountains creating our own version of Country & Western”
Dustin Elliott and The Broken Radio are influenced by greats such as Waylon, Hank, and Del Reeves just as much as by the modern sounds of Sturgill, Hank 3, and Charley Crockett, all seen through the eyes of a one-time kid playing punk rock. “Punk rock and the outsiders of country music have always been strange bedfellows. They pave their own way and follow their own path. Our main goal as a band is to carry on that independent spirit and classic tradition of Country & Western music. Seeing hard working people forget the work week and dance the night away is success in our book."
Elliott is currently working on his debut album, Nickels & Dimes set for release in early 2024.