Dustin "Dusty" Watson is an American

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western bands that play rock, pop, jazz, or R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeeping and embellishing the musical timbre. The drummer' ...

who has played in a number of notable bands, as well as backed up famous solo artists. Earning a scholarship to Stan Kenton Band Clinics and joining the Musicians Union at age 17 allowed Dusty to become a professional drummer at a young age. He formed local California punk band

The Press ''The Press'' is a daily newspaper published in Christchurch, New Zealand owned by media business Stuff Ltd. First published in 1861, the newspaper is the largest circulating daily in the South Island and publishes Monday to Saturday. One com ...

and by the end of the 1970s he was also an original member of Jon and the Nightriders and The Stepmothers. After leaving

The Runaways The Runaways were an all-female American rock band who recorded and performed from 1975 to 1979. The band released four studio albums and one live album during its run. Among their best-known songs are " Cherry Bomb", " Hollywood", " Queens o ...

Lita Ford Lita Rossana Ford (born 19 September 1958) is an English-born American guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. She was the lead guitarist for the all-female rock band the Runaways in the late 1970s, before embarking on a successful glam metal solo ...

asked Dusty to join her original line up and he recorded her debut album, '' Out for Blood,'' and toured with her from 1980 through 1984. After that he joined the band

Legs Diamond Jack "Legs" Diamond (possibly born John Thomas Diamond, though disputed; July 10, 1897 – December 18, 1931), also known as Gentleman Jack, was an Irish American gangster in Philadelphia and New York City during the Prohibition era. A boot ...

, whom he would play with until 1993. During this period, Dusty did side work in a number of bands, including

Concrete Blonde Concrete Blonde was an American alternative rock band from Hollywood, California. They were initially active from 1982 to 1995, and reunited twice: first from 2001 to 2004, and again from 2010 to 2012. They were best known for their album ''Bloo ...

, Channel 3, Laureen Ellis, The Boss Martians and talk show host Wally George. After leaving Legs Diamond, he played drums on hip hop group Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E.'s albums ''Metally Disturbed'' and ''Angry Samoans'' and toured

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

with them. He went on to join Sugartooth, but the band quickly broke up after they were dropped by

Geffen Records Geffen Records is an American record label established by David Geffen and owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M Records imprint. Founded in 1980, Geffen Records has been a part of Interscope Geffen A&M since 1999 and ...

. Shortly after this he started instrumental surf band Slacktone with co-founder Dave Wronski and started touring with

Agent Orange Agent Orange is a chemical herbicide and defoliant, one of the "tactical use" Rainbow Herbicides. It was used by the United States Armed Forces, U.S. military as part of its herbicidal warfare program, Operation Ranch Hand, during the Vietnam ...

(whom he would continue to work with through 2009). In 1997, he joined Dick Dale's backing band

The Del-Tones Richard Anthony Monsour (May 4, 1937 – March 16, 2019), known professionally as Dick Dale, was an American rock guitarist. He was a pioneer of surf music, drawing on Middle Eastern music scale (music), scales and experimenting with reverb eff ...

, recording and touring with them through 2006. Through the years Dusty has also recorded together with Canadian born rocker Neil Merryweather, with whom he played in the

band. In 2004 he joined

The Queers The Queers are an American punk rock band, formed in 1981 by the Portsmouth, New Hampshire native Joseph “Joe” P. King (a.k.a. Joe Queer) along with Scott Gildersleeve (a.k.a. Tulu), and John “Jack” Hayes (a.k.a. Wimpy Rutherford). With ...

to play on their albums '' Acid Beaters'' and ''

Summer Hits No. 1 ''Summer Hits No. 1'' is an album by pop punk band The Queers. It features the then-current lineup doing 14 new recordings of old songs along with one new song. The album features cover art by Takayuki Hashimoto. Track listing # "This Place Suck ...

''. Recently, he has drummed with the Supersuckers and Rhino Bucket. He also joined the psychedelic punk rock/

thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and often fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, 2007, . ...

, BLOODHOOK, recording their debut full-length album at the legendary

Van Nuys, California Van Nuys () is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Home to Van Nuys Airport and the Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. History In 1909 ...

recording studio, Sound City. In March 2009, Watson married Colorado-native and female drummer Rikki Styxx who moved to California following. In 2010, he joined The Balboas, subsequently releasing the albums ''Big As You Need'' in 2012 and ''Submit to the Blade'' in 2019. Watson has also played with Rhino Bucket, the Queers, Becky Barksdale, Davie Allan and the Arrows, Slacktone, the

Surfaris The Surfaris are an American surf rock band formed in Glendora, California, United States, in 1962. They are best known for two songs that hit the charts in the Los Angeles area, and nationally by May 1963: "Surfer Joe" and " Wipe Out", which w ...

, The Balboas, The Sonics, and

The Bellrays The Bellrays (also capitalized as The BellRays) is an American rock group that combines garage rock and punk with soul music, founded in Riverside, California in 1990 by vocalist Lisa Kekaula and guitarist Bob Vennum. They have been with sever ...

. Dusty is currently playing drums in Nashville Pussy.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Dusty American punk rock drummers American male drummers American rock drummers Living people Musicians from California The Queers members Year of birth missing (living people)