We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Dustin Newcombe a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Dustin thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

Life is all about risks. If you take a risk, that’s the risk itself. If you don’t, you risk losing out on everything you could have gained had you’d taken it. You’re taking a risk either way, so go chase down what makes you HAPPY first and foremost. Life is risky, you’ll make mistakes, you’ll fall down, you’ll get hurt. Is it worth always having to ask yourself “what if?” to avoid some heartbreak along the way? To me, no way in hell. I made the decision long ago that I was going to go after everything I wanted in life, damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead. Was it difficult? Absolutely. Having a career as an artist was one of the most challenging things I’ve ever done and missed out on a lot of other things in life because of it. But without that sacrifice and taking that risk, I would have never had the success I had, and may have never developed the resiliency I needed to excel at all the other things I’ve attempted in addition to the artistry. The grind, struggle, and hard work it took to make that dream a reality was easily applicable to all of my other dreams. Without taking that risk, I would have never gained the skills and confidence to take the next one, and the next one. Keep dreaming, keep taking risks, keep achieving the goals you set for yourself.

Dustin, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’ve done a lot. I’ve been very fortunate. But I’ve also had to put in a lot of work to get there. I have three things in life (and a few hobbies) that really make up what I do and who I am. Music, Aquatics, and Racing.

I started playing music at about age 11 and never stopped. After a few tries at a rock band I finally found some radio success and success at the national level touring and supporting other major acts. As of 2013, I branded under my solo project “Dusty Live” and have used the moniker ever since, releasing full length albums in 2016, and 2021, with a few singles in between. I am currently working on a double EP release and my music can be found on all major platforms.

From a young age I was always interested in the ocean and terrestrial bodies of water. I started studying the wildlife in these, and when I got out on my own, started my own practice in this field. Today, I own a business called “Fish Party Aquatics”, based out of Nashville and serving a good bit of Middle TN and surrounding areas. We specialize in all premium aquarium services, custom builds, aquaculture growing coral, and rescuing fish that need new homes. We even service the aquarium in Bridgestone arena in downtown Nashville for the Nashville Predators NHL team. They have catfish in there as a quasi-mascot for the team. We hope to eventually work in ocean conservation and contribute to the rehabilitation of our ocean environments.

The third thing that is important to me is racing. I grew up in a racing family and have been around race cars as long as I can remember. After working on some smaller teams over the course of my life, I made the jump to NASCAR in 2022. I started as a graphic designer and race engineer there and have now moved into the role of tire changer on a pit crew in the Craftsman Truck Series, and the Xfinity Series. It is now a large part of how I make my living, and I hope to continue to have success and progress in this role. I was able to land this job due to the athleticism and hand eye coordination I had from playing college hockey and was able to use these skills to adapt into the role of a pit road athlete.

I have other endeavors that I dabble in, but these are currently my main three. I built these by design because I couldn’t just settle on one thing that I loved, so I wanted to create a life that was fulfilling to me, and where I could participate in all the things I loved simultaneously. I had a lot of help and learned a lot along the way, but in the end, I truly believe, if you want something enough, you’ll find a way.

In your view, what can society do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

Put their dollar toward the artist, in whatever way they can. Unfortunately, our society depends heavily on money, and equally as unfortunately, artists are often taken the least serious when trying to make a living doing the things they need to do in order to be happy in life. Like anyone else, they are just people, and sometimes their personalities and brains don’t work in conventional ways that allow most people to exist in the financially structured work world. “Get a real job” is an insult. Without creatives, we wouldn’t have most of our “real jobs” that we have today. And we certainly would have a lot less ways to escape from those jobs and enjoy ourselves when indulging in creativity and artistry outside of what we do to make money. There are many who dedicate their lives to making the world a better place through their art. Support them, build them up, and encourage them to keep doing what they are doing, for all our sake.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being an artist or creative?

Being able to live the life I’ve built for myself. I’ve been able to do most anything and everything I’ve wanted to do in life, all because I drew a line in the sand and said I wasn’t going to live by the “normal” rules. I wanted to make my own way, and by honing my artistry and creativity as a driving life source, I was able to find a way to make a living being a creative. The biggest reward is freedom, to live how I want, do what I want, whenever I want. I don’t have to ask off for days of work, I don’t feel like a corporation owns me and controls my time, I am able to experience life at my own pace and do the things that I truly want to do. For me, there is no greater reward.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.dustylive.com , https://www.fishpartyaquatics.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dusty_live , https://www.instagram.com/fishpartyaquatics
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dustylivemusic , https://www.facebook.com/fishpartyaquatics
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGuz-t9kA0AtCddxB0QQBZA , https://www.youtube.com/@fishpartyaquatics8877
• Other: https://linktr.ee/dustylive

Image Credits
Dustin Newcombe, Austin Dellamano, Shannon Jeck