A father discouraging his son from following in his footsteps is a narrative often played out. Country singer-songwriter Kevin Welch was not that father when it came to his son, Dustin, diving head first into the industry in his own right.
But Kevin admitted to a particular moment when he tried to dissuade the younger Welch from the troubadour’s life. Playing a gig in New York City years ago, Kevin said he was at a low point.
“I was just miserable that day. I was exhausted, I didn’t like where I was. It was just one of those days where I was caving in, which is pretty rare.
“I found myself really hoping that he’d never have to feel like that.”
He called Dustin, then 17 and a budding musician, and told him he might want to reconsider. “You don’t have to do this. There’s a lot of other ways to go about having a life. This is not that great sometimes.
“And he just said, ‘Well if that’s what I gotta do, that’s what I gotta do.’ And that was it. Then I realize, ah crap, he’s a total lifer.”
Fast forward, and father and son have joined forces into a duo that’s toured extensively across the U.S., Canada, Europe and Australia, fusing the storied history and experience of Kevin with Dustin’s high energy, vigour and musical talent.
For those unfamiliar Kevin Welch, the 60-year-old lifelong country artist has an impressive CV, whether in his songwriting for some of the genre’s heavy hitters, in his collaborations or his own career. He’s written for the likes of Ricky Skaggs, Garth Brooks and Waylon Jennings, while the record company he co-founded, Dead Reckoning Records, was his successful attempt to break away from the repressive strictures of big labels. He’s also charted a number of singles over the course of three decades on the Billboard Hot Country Songs and put out a steady stream of albums.
Dustin, meanwhile, has been an up-and-coming force who couldn’t have escaped music if he tried, nor did he ever want to.
The younger Welch was part of a “kid band” in Nashville, but it wasn’t just any kid band. Along with Dustin, was none other than Justin Townes Earle, son of country-folk “outlaw” Steve Earle, Travis Nicholson, born to Grammy-winning producer Gary Nicholson and Cary Ann Hearst, the now-adult half of the folk duo Shovels and Ropes.
Now with two albums under his belt and opening for acts like Floggin Molly and Reverend Horton Heat, Dustin has found his groove.
The idea of forming a duo was one that the two batted around for years. But it was roughly a year and a half ago that Kevin said they committed. “Let’s just throw down, and see if we can get good at this,” he remembered them saying.
Father and son took a residency gig in Austin to ‘knock off some of the rough edges,’ and once those edges were knocked, embarked on a European tour followed by a stint down in Australia where, Kevin said, they really started to kick some ass.
“It’s really starting to pay off now. I’m really coming off the stage now feeling like we just did something meaningful.”
Touring together has allowed them to reconnect, after years of Kevin’s career took off.
“I’ve been able to show him a lot of my favourite haunts in the world, places that I’ve been going to for a long time. It’s been a real blessing, and a blast.”
Although comparisons between the two are inevitable, Kevin was quick to assert their ipseity.
“He is not a clone of me. He’s got his own approach.
“A lot of it is rocking a lot harder than my stuff. Sometimes I feel like the old guy on stage, because what I’m doing a lot of the time is quieter, more introspective, and his stuff often reminds us of graphic novels – cartoony, crazy and really ripping.”
What they do share, perhaps inescapably, is their voices. “Sometimes when we sing in unison, we can’t really tell whose voice we’re hearing. There’s still that blood similarity.”
One might imagine an almost mythic rivalry between the two, whether friendly or antagonistic, but Kevin quickly laid that to rest.
“It’s pretty much a support team. Ego doesn’t really have that much to do with it. I think that’s what the rivalry thing would be about and we don’t seem to suffer from that.”
Catch Kevin and Dustin Welch at Legacy Guitar and Coffee House Oct. 23 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at legacyguitar.com.
