Dustin was born in 1975 and is a native of Ft. Worth , TX . He grew up immersed in music as a result of his father playing bass in the Ft. Worth band Tallgrass. At age 11, Dustin picked up the guitar and began learning the complex vocal harmonies of bands like Crosby , Stills, Nash & Young and The Eagles.

Dustin continued to play guitar, write lyrics, sing and record through high school. While at Abilene Christian University , Dustin played tennis on a partial scholarship and co-founded the band Barnyard. Barnyard played quite a few gigs and garnered many local fans in its two-year tenure, but disbanded due to artistic conflicts. After graduation, Dustin moved back to Ft. Worth to teach tennis professionally. After 2 years of teaching, a "real" job seemed more attractive and lucrative, so he joined the corporate world and worked his way up to become the Executive V.P. of Finance and Operations for a small Venture Capital firm. All of this was done by the age of 24.

Dustin co-founded the band River's End in early 2001. A few months later, he resigned from his Executive V.P. position to further pursue music. After River's End dissolved in May of 2002, Dustin continued to follow his musical vision and founded JustCause with the help of River's End bassist Kevin Mason.