DUSTBOWl

about DUSTBOWL

" It is an esoteric elegy of sentiments that draws us "down" with them, and signifies that the only catharsis, the one way road for Dustbowl comes from the earth…"

BUCKETFULL OF BRAINS / JEREMY GLUCK (THE BARRACUDAS)

Dustbowl founded in May 2006. In Sept. 2008 their 1st album “Troublebound & Lonesome” has been released and in May 2009 the band recorded 14 new songs for their legacy’s cross section album "Goin' Down" which features notable special guests such as Jeremy Gluck (The Barracudas), Alex Kalofolias (The Last Drive, Thee Holy Strangers, The Earthbound) & Phil Shoenfelt (Fatal Shore, Southern Cross).

Dustbowl became the first local underground band to play at Megaro Mousikis Athinon - March 2014 - "Dustbowl: Johnny Cash / The Tribute Show")

Nick & John along with Alex Kalofolias and other friends established Thee Holy Strangers (a local super-group).

With “The Great Fandango” (May 2016) the band tried and managed to made the watertight case for their music as an art form in itself. At a time when all local underground music was stringently manufactured, these Americana guitar-driven melodies and those “Mother Earth Rock”- produced whorls of sound proved that untried ground was not only the most fertile stuff, but also the most viable. It defined the past and - for good and ill - gave Dustbowl all its airs and graces.

“The Great Fandango” (like it’s “long time a-comin’” predecessor “Goin’ Down”) got raving reviews in local press and combined with the band's energetic live shows gained them a cult status and a strong following in the local underground scene.

The album’s soulful music resides not just in its compositional forms and instrumental invention, but in the elaborate vocal harmonies and lyrics that imbue these “earthy” songs with an almost heartbreaking grandeur… their “Mother Earth Rock” elegy.

In Nov. 2017 Dustbowl shared the stage with The Dream Syndicate (“How did I find myself here” European Tour @ Fuzz Club Sat. 4th Nov. ’17 Athens).

“The Story of Mr. Dandy Gasoline” is Dustbowl’s new album (October 2019). Dustbowl made the choice to direct their music head on, employing realism rather than subtext or symbolism to purge its makers’ own anger, discontent, and frustration with societal disintegration, alienation and the urban divide but in a somekinda “fancier” than ever psychedelic alt. country – rock direction.

"We don’t want there to be any doubt as to which side of this discussion we fall on, we don’t want there to be any misunderstanding of where we stand, we’re not trying to be everybody’s favourite band and we are not concerned about "fitting in" or being a part of what anybody else was doing but our "deviant chain-gang thing"

Mr. Dandy Gasoline’s considerable force can in part be credited to the sheer musical strength of the current Dustbowl’s line-up.

"It was all in our heads and just kind of bubbling at the surface," they say. "We think we knew early on that was the direction this record was going to go in."

Dustbowl's new album "The Story of Mr. Dandy Gasoline" (Oct. 2019) explores band's new sound. They have always been an inward-looking bunch, telling a distinctly desperate story via craft, character, and concept, all backed by guitars and sonic ambition. The album features Chris Cacavas (now Dream Syndicate, ex- Green On Red) among other friends.
On Sat. 26th Oct. 2019 the band played “The Story of Mr. Dandy Gasoline” album live for the 1st time with The Dream Syndicate at Fuzz Club (the closing of their "These Times" album European tour) and on Sat. 30 th Nov. 2019 Dustbowl played with Mark Lanegan Band (for Mark’s "Night Flight to Kabul" album European tour) at Gagarin 205 Music Space (Ejekt).

Dustbowl have always been an inward-looking bunch, telling a distinctly desperate story via craft, character, and concept, all backed by guitars and sonic ambition".

band members

Panos Birbas - Vocals, Guitar
Nick Fysakis - Guitar
John “Hardy” Houstoulakis - Pedal Steel
Mike Dremetsikas - Guitar, Backing Vocals
Lydia Grammatikou - Bass, Backing Vocals
Dionissis Stefanopoulos - Drums

Costas Stergiou - Keyboards, Piano, Backing Vocals
Thanos Kaleas - Sound Engineer

Ex - Members: Giotis “The Shoeshine Boy” Petrelis - Drums I Dimitris “DD Dynamite” Douranos – Lead Vocals, Guitar I Big George – Lead Vocals, Ion Nikolaou - Guitar