Dusty James & Abalone Pearl

DUSTY JAMES & ABALONE PEARL

From St. Louis, both Dusty and Pearl began playing as teens in folk venues and coffee houses where they honed their instrumental skills and the art of crafting tight vocal harmonies. Each possesses in-depth knowledge of the music in their repertoire. The styles are varied and include traditional folk, roots, singer-songwriter, classic country, finger style (finger picking) guitar. Americana, original songs and surprises. They invite the audience in by conveying the joy that goes with performing tunes that hold special significance for them. The duo was named Top Finalists in the 2022 Great American Song Contest for the lyrics to their original song, “Here You See Me Standing” and were named Top Finalists again in the 2023 contest for the lyrics and melody to the same song. The Great American Song Contest is one of the biggest song writing competitions in the USA, with 1900 songs entered from 42 countries. The same song was also a finalist in the international Talent Is Timeless contest. The newest song, “Run for the Border, (Mia)” was named a Top Finalist in the 2024 Great American Song Contest.

Dusty James (guitar, banjo, mandolin, harmonica, vocals) started playing and singing when he was very young. His influences included Lead Belly, Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, Doc Watson, Mississippi John Hurt and Merle Travis. Over the years, he has appeared in numerous settings, both locally and nationally, including A Prairie Home Companion and CBS Radio and he has had the privilege of performing on stage with the likes of Doc Watson and Roland White, among others. He was also a winner of a national guitar competition at The Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, KS and winner of various other regional guitar competitions.

Abalone Pearl (guitar, banjo, autoharp, dulcimer, washboard, vocals) started playing guitar at age 12 when she was inspired by Bob Dylan, Jean Ritchie, Mike Seeger, Memphis Minnie, The Carter Family, Robert Johnson and the folk movement of the 1960s. She became a professional musician at age 15, playing in coffee houses and other venues. Prior to the current duo, she was a member of various country rock, folk rock and oldies bands. She has also had a long and abiding interest in music history, owned a popular record/CD store for many years, and started and owned a record label.