Appleton, Wisconsin’s Dusk may seem to have fallen from the sky. Surrounded by a music climate of destination festivals and instagram celebrity, they’ve remained reclusive, yet focused on the proverbial carrot on the end of the stick that’s hard for so many working musicians to define. For the past four years, they’ve maintained a steady schedule of recording and “hitting the dirt,” as they say: spending weeks on the road playing dives and basements. The group was conceived in 2014 as a casual recording project between vocalist and bassist Amos Pitsch and drummer Colin Wilde. Amos had just completed recording Predatory Headlights, the critically acclaimed double album by his other group, Tenement, and with the new found down time, he and Colin arranged their own versions of vintage soul songs. The intention was to treat the project like a revolving door for collaborators, but soon the permanent additions of vocalist/pianist Julia Blair, lead guitarist Tyler Ditter, and Ryley Crowe on pedal steel, rhythm guitar, and vocal duties would cement the band into a consistent rock and roll ensemble; informed by soul music, country, jazz, and beyond.
