The band has been a work in progress for the past 5 years. After going through the motions of a rebellious teen you tend to go back to your roots. That's what happened in my case. I turned back to those old Motown records mom used to play. I turned back to the old southern fried rock my dad used to play. Mom loved the love songs (Diana Ross, The Supremes, The Four Tops, Lionel Ritchie, The Commodores, etc.). Dad loved the songs that had soul to them but still fucking rocked (Grand Funk Railroad, J. Geils Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, ZZ Top, etc.). I went back to what I was brought up with. Learned how to play harmonica at age three. Mom and Dad would put one in my Christmas stocking damn near every Christmas. Dad worked a lot and mom stayed home...we got by, but money was tight. Harmonica's were a cheap gift, but kept my ass occupied for hours. Grandpa played Johnny Cash, Del Reeves, Hank Williams, Waylon Jennings while he babysat my brother and me. Just hearing all those old records that my family listened to, all those memories pop up of the better times in life where you're not worried about bills, money, car's, gas, cell phones, work, and how you're gonna eat the next day.... that music is an escape from the ugly face of reality...but it's still homely in a good way...I call it humble.

I've worked every job from being an inspector for an engineering firm making the big bucks to digging graves in a bone yard for a dirt wage. I would take Dixie highway home rather than taking ol' I-75. There is more trees, more scenery, and was good to unwind after pulling a 12 or 14 hour day. Well one day I was going home and I saw this woman in the car next to me, in the left lane. I smiled at her. She smiled back. A mile or so farther up, she waved, I waved back. Another mile, another smile, (yeah it's a Dixie Hustler lyric) and after that, I wanted to meet her. So I pulled into this party store and, well, she followed suit and pulled in behind me. I went in without noticing her of course, grabbed my soda and a thing of jerky and she came in and got her drink...think it was pink lemonade. Anyways, I ended up getting her number and then hanging with her for a bit after wards. She had a great body, and was just a fantasy come true. Well, I told the guys at work about it and my boss at the time called me a straight up hustler, hustling on Dixie. That night, and a couple of Pabst's later I remembered what my boss said; Dixie Hustler.

The music is a tribute to my family, my friends, my foes, my fears, those I've lost, those I've gained, and those I'll always remember. Every day of your life is an influence, if you only know how to look at it that way. Simple things are what make me happy. A good song with a good backbeat that makes me tap my foot. A lyric that I can relate to that gives me chicken-skin for a few minutes, those are the things we need to get back to. Line up changes have happened, styles in songs have changed, friends have come and gone, but the one thing that stays within this band is the heart of the music.

Dixie Huster's first album, available this winter, is produced by Aaron Julison (Kid Rock / Twisted Brown Trucker) & Cody Dickinson (North Mississippi Allstars), and engineered by Al Sutton (Kid Rock, Hank Williams Jr., Sheryl Crow). Dixie Hustler will be touring this fall with The North Mississippi All-Stars.