{"id":358242,"date":"2025-11-05T20:49:12","date_gmt":"2025-11-05T20:49:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/358242\/"},"modified":"2025-11-05T20:49:12","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T20:49:12","slug":"dustin-brown-releases-new-americana-single-ballerina","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/358242\/","title":{"rendered":"Dustin Brown Releases New Americana Single \u201cBallerina\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

By the time winter had wrapped Fort Worth in a 12-degree embrace last February,\u00a0local singer-songwriter\u00a0Dustin Brown<\/a> was already stirring something quietly remarkable in the Americana scene. Now, just a few months later, Brown is all smiles about his upcoming single \u201cBallerina,\u201d which is\u00a0set to release on Dec. 12.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

I had the chance to preview the track, which features a stellar lineup: Billy Hartman on vocals and guitar, Rachel Cole lending her hypnotic voice and guitar, Joel Allen on lead guitar, Gus Miller on mandolin, and Hunter Napier on drums. The collaboration took months to shape, but Brown \u2014 ever the\u00a0patient\u00a0craftsman \u2014 says it was worth the wait.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBilly and I wrote it, went through a few different iterations, had some other people involved, and we finally got what we wanted out of it,\u201d he explains. \u201cThen we brought in Rachel Cole as well to sing on it, which was a really, really good talent.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Brown first made waves earlier this year with his self-titled full-length\u00a0album, co-produced by Brown and Ben Hussey.\u00a0Brown\u2019s third self-titled album quietly made waves, earning praise from\u00a0American Songwriter,\u00a0Americana UK,\u00a0The Bluegrass Situation, and\u00a0Rocking Magpie.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of records make you peel back a layer of production to hear the passion and soul,\u201d he notes, \u201cbut with our album,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0just out there. You can hear it from the first note.\u201d The album landed Brown in the Top 40 of the Americana Music Chart \u2014 an impressive feat for a newcomer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBallerina\u201d is a three-perspective narrative that follows wandering hearts along a never-ending road.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes the hardest part isn\u2019t the recording \u2014 it\u2019s just getting everyone in the same room at the same time,\u201d Brown says. \u201cOnce we finally got everyone in the studio at New Usual with Ben Hussey producing, it all came together in about five or six hours.\u201d He laughs, \u201cIt\u2019s kind of a typical studio day, but once we got in there, it all flew together pretty quickly.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cole\u2019s voice, already celebrated through her debut on Todd Snider\u2019s Aimless Records, adds an ethereal layer to the song, complementing Brown\u2019s and Hartman\u2019s rich harmonies. The result is a track that feels simultaneously intimate and expansive, anchored by mandolin, drums, and lead guitar that\u00a0shimmer\u00a0underneath the narrative.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Musically, \u201cBallerina\u201d nods to the Texas singer-songwriter tradition, channeling echoes of Guy Clark and Van Morrison. Lyrically,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0a delicate exploration of relationships \u2014 the tensions between desire and responsibility,\u00a0freedom\u00a0and commitment.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Brown calls it \u201ca sad tune\u2026 we\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0really know what it was about at first because all the characters had different angles. But it ended up being about a couple of characters,\u00a0maybe a\u00a0little love triangle, and the life each one wants \u2014 two different lives and the struggle between them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Since the release of his debut, Brown\u2019s year has been a steady climb rather than a whirlwind. \u201cIt\u2019s been a great year,\u201d he says. \u201cWe did some shows, watched the album keep growing, and\u00a0we\u2019re\u00a0still figuring out the next steps \u2014 management, bigger gigs. The momentum\u2019s there, and it feels good.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Brown\u2019s early work has already earned critical applause:\u00a0Americana UK\u00a0called his debut \u201cone of the most criminally underrated albums of 2025,\u201d while\u00a0Twangville\u00a0praised its unfiltered heart.\u00a0Rocking Magpie\u00a0compared him favorably to John Fullbright and Jason Isbell.\u00a0<\/p>\n

With \u201cBallerina,\u201d Brown proves\u00a0he\u2019s\u00a0not just riding the wave \u2014\u00a0he\u2019s\u00a0shaping it. Between the meticulous storytelling, the interwoven vocals, and the unmistakable Texas heart, this\u00a0single is poised to cement his place\u00a0among\u00a0the state\u2019s\u00a0most compelling Americana\u00a0songs this year.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Looking back on\u00a0the process,\u201d\u00a0Brown says,\u00a0\u201cUs being from Texas,\u00a0we\u2019re\u00a0definitely influenced\u00a0by Guy Clark and [Townes] Van Zandt and all that.\u00a0I’d\u00a0say\u00a0[the song] is\u00a0reminiscent\u00a0of that, at least musically and melody-wise.\u00a0<\/p>\n


\nPlayers on \u201cBallerina\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dustin Brown<\/strong> \u2014 vocals, guitar\u00a0<\/p>\n

Billy Hartman<\/strong> \u2014 vocals, guitar\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rachel Cole<\/strong> \u2014 vocals, guitar\u00a0<\/p>\n

Joel Allen<\/strong> \u2014 lead guitar\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gus Miller<\/strong> \u2014 mandolin\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hunter Napier <\/strong>\u2014 drums\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBallerina\u201d will be available on all digital and streaming platforms beginning December 12.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By the time winter had wrapped Fort Worth in a 12-degree embrace last February,\u00a0local singer-songwriter\u00a0Dustin Brown was already…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":358243,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5138],"tags":[5229,74142,8067,12043,7371,7372,975,54078,73819,10763,358,7453,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-358242","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fort-worth","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-americana","10":"tag-artist","11":"tag-arts-and-culture","12":"tag-fort-worth","13":"tag-fortworth","14":"tag-music","15":"tag-single","16":"tag-songwriter","17":"tag-stephen-montoya","18":"tag-texas","19":"tag-top-story","20":"tag-tx","21":"tag-united-states","22":"tag-united-states-of-america","23":"tag-unitedstates","24":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","25":"tag-us","26":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115499064658946840","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=358242"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358242\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/358243"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=358242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=358242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=358242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}