.. Just a mama with a guitar who likes to sing...

Influences
The human species,myself,raising my own little humans, My band~'Walking West', Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell,Janis Joplin,Mark Roth,Monterey the band,Deleo Brothers,Army of Anyone, Nick Drake,Sparklehorse,Iron & Wine,Barak Moffitt, Infinite Monopoly,Jack's Mannequin,Chris Cornell,Indigo Girls,Amy Ray, Emily Sailors,Leona Naess,Jayhawks,Led Zepplin,Zero 7,Crosby Stills Nash & Young,Nathan Modisette,Ani DiFranco,Beck,Mike & Ruthy,The Wood Brothers,Tori Amos, Emmy Lou Harris, Patti Griffin,Nada Surf,Otis Redding, Ray Charles,Etta James(,who's that smokin' badass chick I have a fierce crush on?) Ohh yea, brandi carlile, Caroline Aiken, Peter Gabriel,Beth Hart, Talking Heads,PJHarvey, Radiohead,Ryan Adams,Big Sur, pregnancy,homebirthing,doulas,midwives,my son's,my Husband,my surroundings,nature,forces of nature.

Sounds Like
a passionate rookie...

Rusty has been making music with family and friends since he was a young boy. The blues of the Mississippi Delta is the first music he can remember pickin' on his guitar. Since then, he has added soulful guitar work to countless bands (including Remains of the Day), but it was not until he began writing his own songs did he find his love of storytelling.

Though he now makes his bed in Santa Barbara, California, Rusty will always call the mountains of South Carolina and Georgia his home. His southern roots run deep in each and every song, and he is happiest when he has given an audience a taste of his home. Don’t miss his live shows and debut release, “Devil in Drag.”

Erin Pearson is a Santa Barbara based singer, songwriter and performer. Her musical style is a cross between Adele, Eva Cassidy and Christy Nockels.

A native of Prior Lake, Minnesota, Erin graduated from Santa Clara University with a BA in vocal performance- emphasis in opera with piano being her secondary musical focus. Though she has studied voice and piano since the age of 5, it was only in her senior year of college she began taking composition lessons and realized for the first time that she had the ability to write songs.

Erin proceeded to let the music pour out of her. During this time she toured around parts of California playing her music at various bars, street fairs and coffee shops as she was working on her first 6 song album Lessons on Love.

Exhausted from the effort poured in from her music projects, in 2008, Erin was burned out and decided to take some time off to regroup. Music had become draining and she was losing that fire for the thing she loved the most- singing. Erin decided to take a full time job in sunny Santa Barbara managing the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team In Training program and give music a break for a bit, just writing on the side and singing at church.

During this time, Erin has learned a valuable lesson: you can't just stop being who you are. She is once again working fast and hard on the thing she loves, this time with more balance, discipline and a refreshed passion for music.

“These past three years have been a process of writing new material, re-writing old material, finding my essence and learning to have the courage to stand up and be as I truly am. It took me almost hating music to learn how much it's just part of the fiber of my being- just something God blessed me with and created me to for. Singing for me is synonymous to breathing- I can't be without it.” -E

The DCB is a roots-rock-reggae band with a sound that is definitively West Coast. You might say that the California coastal waters are the band's greatest musical influence, but subtle undertones of artists like Bob Marley, Jack Johnson and Michael Franti are woven into their songs as well. Singer, guitarist and songwriter David Courtenay began his performance career at the age of 17, when he tested out of high school, secured a fake I.D. and started playing music venues throughout Santa Barbara. After graduating from UCSB with a degree in Theatre, he moved to Los Angeles and performed as a solo artist at nightclubs and lounges all over the city. He released his debut CD, "Eloquent Cool," in 2007, which the Independent hailed as “beautifully crafted contemporary pop that reveals layers of classic influences” and earned him the title of “a legend in the making" by Buzzine Magazine. To continue honing his musical chops, David moved to Chicago in 2008 and formed an original band named Modern Conversation, which released three EP’s, filmed three music videos and toured the East coast. While in Chicago, David was asked to join one of the Midwest’s biggest Beatle tribute bands and played the part of John Lennon at festivals all over the country. After four icy Chicago winters, David finally moved back to his hometown of Santa Barbara at the beginning of the year and teamed up with guitarist Jonathan Brownfield, bassist Joe Rizk and drummer Jamie Haggar to form the David Courtenay Band. Recently, the band hosted and headlined the "Endless Summer Soiree," a benefit concert held at SOhO for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. They also headlined the 4th of July concert this past summer at the sunken gardens of the Santa Barbara Courthouse.

“What would our lives be like without a soundtrack?” Erland poses profound questions in life and in lyrics, paired with a positive attitude reflective of his homesteads San Francisco, Oregon, Dana Point and now Santa Barbara. “Music is the celebration of all the things in life that make us most human -- the joy, the pain, the love.”

Singing along to his parents record collection helped develop his voice at a young age. Family dinners had lit candles and music playing with regulars in the rotation such as Billie Holiday, Chet Baker and Bach engraving music deeper into Erland’s DNA. Away from the dinner table was no different, “I remember being so excited to take road trips because it meant my brother and sister and I would get to listen to the mix tapes we had put together for the drive.”

Growing up in a creative family may explain Erland’s musical proclivity. His family’s photography has been contributed to past album covers and now their videography skills are helping bring Erland’s music videos to life. Erland now has children of his own, inspiring his songwriting and music career, “My family drives me to be the best I can possibly be in both life and music, they are a constant source of inspiration.”

After moving with his wife and children from Dana Point to Santa Barbara, Erland built his guitar teaching business from the ground up teaching kids and adults to play music and follow their passion. “I eventually landed a gig working at a music store. I was sweeping the floors, breaking down boxes and changing guitar strings for close to minimum wage. They gave lessons there as well so I put my name down as a substitute for teachers that had to leave town or couldn't come in. Word eventually got around that I was a good guitar teacher and I started getting calls to do private in-home lessons.”

Erland aims for his songs to have different meaning to different people. Along with drawing inspiration from family to breath life into his lyrics, he also taps his environment. “The magnets in the ocean pull lyrics out of me, I love to put songs together while I surf.” Santa Barbara is an inspired city with appreciation for art and music.

Hundreds of songs written and hundreds of gigs later Erland’s first full length album "On Our Side" is recorded thanks to a Santa Barbara private investment and Erland’s band, which includes Nate Keezer on drum and percussion, Marko Srdanov on keys and guitar, and Mike Mooneyham on bass. This has motivated him to complete a crowd-funded Pledge Music campaign for the mastering, printing and marketing of the album.

“On Our Side” is produced by Andrew McMahon of “Jacks Mannequin” who worked fluidly with Erland to craft rich soundscapes with intricate percussion and ethereal keyboard arrangements. Co-producer Bear Erickson contributes a wide variety of tasteful instrumentation, furthering the album's melodic arrangements with grace. Erland calls his sound “Jungle Folk” and credits influencers such as The Beatles (John Lennon in particular), Bob Dylan, James Taylor, Neil Young and the original Jungle Funk connoisseur, Paul Simon. Erland’s roots also include Tupac, Notorious B.I.G., Bon Iver, Ray Lamontagne, Johnny Cash and Cat Stevens to name a few.