DUSTY JAMES & ABALONE PEARL
“Thank you so much for being part of our holiday program. I know that visitors enjoyed not only your performance, but also the storytelling and humor. ”
— Julie Northrip, Program Manager, Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site
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 Standin'” 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,” was named a Top Finalist in the 2024 Great American Song Contest. Their new CD release titled, “Dusty James & Abalone Pearl” is receiving national radio air play currently in many cities around the country. Also, Dusty and Pearl have become DJs, hosting a folk music show called, “The Folk Bag,” on the popular internet St. Louis radio station, TheRootsFM.org. This station was voted #1 by St. Louis listeners on St. Louis Magazine's readers' poll for 2025.
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 store for many years, and started and owned a national record label.
SELECTED GIG LIST
• Third Degree Glass Factory Open House St. Louis, MO 5 times 2019 - 2023
• Missouri Botanical Garden Best of Missouri Market St. Louis, MO 2 times in 2019
• Webster Arts Fair St. Louis, MO 6 years in a row through 2024 & again 2026
• Columbia Heritage Festival Columbia, MO 6 years in a row through 2026
• National Museum of Transportation Acoustic Fest St. Louis, MO 4 years in a row through 2023
• The Peers Store on the Katy Trail Marthasville, MO 25 times 2018 - 2026
• Maplewood Stringfest St. Louis, MO 8 years in a row through 2026
• Head’s Store Restaurant St. Albans, MO 8 times 2021 - 2024
• Arrow Rock Heritage Festival Arrow Rock, MO Both days 6 years in a row through 2026
• Missouri History Museum St. Louis, MO 2022 & 2023
• Jefferson County Library Concert Arnold, MO 5 times 2022 - 2026
• Cooper’s Landing Columbia, MO Multiple times 2023 - 2026
• Walk Back in Time Heritage Festival Mexico, MO 2023
• Midwest Salute to the Arts Fairview Heights, IL 6 years in a row through 2026
• Twain on Main Festival Hannibal, MO 2023 & 2024
• Champaign-Urbana Folk & Roots Festival Champaign, IL 2017
• The Jefferson Landing Historic Concert Series Jefferson City, MO 2021
• Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site St. Louis, MO 2023
• Old Time Music Ozark Heritage Festival West Plains, MO 2024
• Saint Louis Art Fair St. Louis, MO 2025
• Rock Springs Concerts at Rock Springs Nature Center Decatur, IL 2026
And Many Many More
Dusty James & Abalone Pearl
PICKIN' & A-GRINNIN'
GREAT AMERICAN SONG CONTEST COMPETITION
“Here You See Me Standin’” -- Folk/Americana Song Division 2023
"What a beautiful, lonesome outlaw tune! Really love the melancholy melody and hooky chorus that stays consistent, yet changes meaning throughout the song. Also excellent storytelling, your verse 3 is a tragic insight into an intimate moment and feels like a movie scene. Excellent job! The melody has a consistent downward motion, which works really well for the chorus. Great work songwriting, you have an obvious gift, keep going!
Comments from Judge in Great American Song Contest
“Here You See Me Standin’” 2023 Top Finalist
Folk/Americana Song Division
Hello Bookers:
We would like to provide you with information on our acoustic duo, Dusty James & Abalone Pearl. We play a variety of instruments: guitars, 5-string banjos, mandolin, dulcimer, washboard and harmonica. Our style includes folk, traditional, classic country, Americana, pop (including Beatles!) and originals-- all with humorous stories. We have performed over 350 concerts, events, and festivals over the years. And, Dusty has played on stage with Doc Watson and Roland White (Bluegrass Hall of Fame) and was a guitar competition winner at the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas.
We were so excited to be chosen as top finalists in the 2022 Great American Song Contest for the lyrics for our song “Here You See Me Standing,” and were awarded top finalist again in 2023 competition for the lyrics and melody of the same song. We competed against 1900 other quality songwriters from 42 countries, in one of the biggest song writing contests in America. Also, this song became a finalist in the international Talent Is Timeless song writing contest. Also, our newest song “Run for the Border (Mia)” won top finalist in the 2024 Great American Song Contest.
We have now released two singles from our new album and the full abum--both singles and the full album are available on dustyandpearl.com and most major platforms as a physical CD or digital download. Both singles have received national radio airplay attention and have been played by TheRootsFM (St. Louis, MO); Radio Free Nashville (Nashville,TN); Northern Spirit Radio-Song Of The Soul (Eau Claire, WI--syndicated to 35 community radio stations throughout the USA) and many more.
We have become DJs, hosting a folk music show called, “The Folk Bag,” on the popular internet St. Louis radio station, TheRootsFM.org. This station was voted #1 by St. Louis listeners on St. Louis Magazine's readers' poll for 2025.
You can get more information and see some videos at:
Website:
https://www.dustyandpearl.com
Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/dustyjamesandabalonepearl
YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@dustyjamesabalonepearl
Reverb Nation:
https://www.reverbnation.com/dustyjamesabalonepearl
Thank you,
Dusty & Pearl
Press photos
