Dusty Rose

A little something about the band:

Dusty Rose is a diverse harmony based duo consisting of two female singer/songwriters who have built their lives around their love for music.

Jo-anne Bernier was born on October 4th, 1968, in Westmount, Quebec. At the tender age of 8 years old she was already showing a very strong interest in the guitar, and soon after began teaching herself the fundamentals. With perseverance and determination, she has now established a very suave and unique style of her own. John lennon, Joni Mitchel, Emily Saliers, Jim Cuddy and Bonnie Rait are among her greatest influences in the developement of her vivid technique.

Brenda-Jean (BJ) Elder was born in Lasalle, Montreal, on November 2nd, 1965, and has always had a perpetual love to sing. As a child, due to her fathers passion for country music and her mother's relish for rock'n'roll, she grew up listening to everything from George Jones and Loretta Lynn, to Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry, soon realizing that her own range of interest was quite ample after discovering pop, jazz, and motown.Innitially taught the love of song by her mom, around the age of 10 years she took a notion to learn the guitar from her dad to back herself up. It is from him that she also learned the true meaning of "harmony". She occasionally would partake in his country/bluegrass band, and by the age of 13, she had formed her own rock'n'roll band, and was composing her own material. Greatly inspired by artists such as Bob Dylan, Bob Seger, Melissa Etheridge, John Mellancamp, Reba McEntire, Bon Jovi and Janis Joplin; she has addopted her folk-rock/alternative-country sound.

It was in the summer of 1991 that BJ and Jo-anne emerged to become "Dusty Rose". The majority of their music is done acoustically, though Jo-anne added a Gibson Les Paul to their paraphernalia a few years back, adding a heavier touch and more prominent sound to the band. Some of their main influences as a band are; Blue Rodeo, The Eagles, The Rolling Stones, CCR & The Indigo Girls. In gigs they customarily perform some of their original material as well as some well known and classic cover tunes, in which their sincere love for the songs naturally come beaming through. The girls recently celebrated their 8th anniversary as a professional duo and together have found great joy and gratification in their achievements so far in this musical endeavor.