Smith's Landing Seafood Grill
1 Marina Plaza
Antioch, CA, United States, 94509
Antioch local and a Smith’s Landing regular Dustin Heer is back for another Sunday Sessions featuring modern pop, country, classic rock, reggae, and oldies.
About Dustin:
I must have been born with music in my bones because my family tells the story of I was a baby, and my dad and my sister would torment me, purposefully by singing to me, off key. They said, my bottom lip would start quivering then I would scrunch up my face, and cry.
Fortunately, my mom was another story. I started performing at her gigs at the age of four. Not yet being able to read the prompter, she would whisper the lyrics in my ear as I sang into the microphone. My mom, or Mim, as I call her, played a huge role in shaping me, not only as a person, but as a performer. As early as 2-years old, she was developing my brand, making me connect with life, movies, and music, as she called it, “on purpose!” She drug me to plays, and seminars. She put me in a variety of musical productions, and exposed me to amazing vocal coaches such as Claire Yarrington, and Seth Riggs. We spent a lot of hours listening to music, and traveling. Some of my favorite moments were listening to her sing along with Celine Dion, and while she exposed me to a wide variety of music and artists, my dad rounded it all out with his love for Classic Rock.
My mom not only developed my brand, but she was my primary vocal, and performance coach. She would make me feel the songs, asked me why I liked them, and what they meant to me. Relentlessly, she also required that I dig to the deepest part of my soul, and answer the question: Why do you want to sing; only to be satisfied, six years from the first time she asked the question, when I discovered that I wanted people to know my heart through my songs.
Since those younger days, I taught myself to play guitar, piano, ukulele, and I discovered the wonderful world of harmonies. I’ve also changed my venues from car rides, children’s theater, Disneyland, and Six Flags, to wine bars, wineries, restaurants, private events, weddings . . . and now, concerts. While I learned a lot from singing with my mom, I credit my experience singing with Carnival Cruise Lines, 6 days a week, four hours a day for expanding my worldly experience, and taking my performing skills to another level.
My repertoire crosses genres from modern pop, country, classic rock, reggae, oldies, and even musical theater. This allows me to connect with a wide demographic of music lovers. My style reflects the diversity of music I’ve been exposed to, a mix of country, pop, musical theater, and dare I say, Celine Dion, hopefully, in a style, that is uniquely me.
No doubt, I LOVE MUSIC! It is powerful! It elicits our deepest emotions and, speaks directly to our hearts. It transcends barriers, and tells the stories we often can’t put into words. Music touches the emotions we often don’t know how to express . . . As Henry Winkler said, in the 2012 movie, Here Comes the Boom, “Music takes us where words cannot.”
