During my three years in Provo, UT, I was fortunate to work with several people at MyFamily.com who were embedded in the local music scene: Duane Call of Guapo Records and Chris Peterson of Sunfall Festival iTunes. Guapo was the label of choice for an eclectic group of local bands, ranging from grunge, to punk, to rap. Their line up included Clover (featuring Jamen Brooks), Magstatic iTunes, Mr. Fusion, and The Numbs. I managed to spend around six months brainstorming with Guapo’s team on ways to elevate the label through use of the web, though unfortunately none of the ideas came fruition.

JerrytownSunfall Festival gained national recognition in 2001 by winning the best song contest at Garageband.com. It was through Chris and Sunfall Festival that I came in touch with Dustin Christensen and Jerrytown. I first heard Dustin as part of a sing around circle that several of the local bands would put together on a semi regular basis. Basically a few members of each band participated and they would go around and someone would lead off a song and the others would jam in. Chris was the drummer and Dustin joined on piano and vocals. The first song he lead was a cover of a lesser known Counting Crows song, “Colorblind,” iTunes and I was floored by the depth and intensity of his baritone. I picked up a copy of his debut CD, Gone, which he performed under the name Jerrytown, and it instantly became one of my all-time favorites. Gone mostly consists of brooding ballads featuring piano, acoustic guitars, light percussion, and Dustin’s deep crooning. Highlights include “Trepidations” and “See Right Through You.” It’s also great when Dustin picks up the pace on songs like “Isabel” and the title track.

As much as I like Gone, it pales in comparison to Jerrytown’s follow-up, Way Out Waiting iTunes. The musical growth on the album is significant and widespread. Way Out Waiting features a more electrified sound with better writing, better tempos, more complete arrangements. This time around, Dustin was joined on the album by bassist Clarke Jackman, and the album was produced by Sunfall Festival’s Scott Wiley at June Audio and mastered in LA by Tom Baker (Alien Ant Farm, Fuel).

For anyone who get’s the chance to see Dustin perform live, definitely take advantage. He was a featured performer at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. He’ll evidently be on TV in the Provo area on March 3rd and playing live at the Scera Theater on March 7th. From recent blog posts on the Jerrytown site, it appears he’s gone back to drawing board for his band. Soon after announcing that he and the current Jerrytown lineup would be moving forward under the name Wires, the band broke up and Dustin is returning to his Jerrytown roots. Luckily for us, Jerrytown has a new EP on the horizon, Wires Meet the Sky.