06-03-2025
Prolific Triangle songwriter Aaron Dowdy is gaining recognition
Aaron Dowdy is constantly writing songs — recording on his phone the melodies that loop in his head or jotting down lyrics with the pen he always keeps in his breast pocket.
It's something he's been doing since middle school, producing countless demos in his bedroom that most people have never heard.
Why it matters: His music is now finding its biggest audiences yet, as his Durham-based band Fust has slowly drawn attention from fans and critics alike in the past few years. (The influential music site Stereogum named Fust one of the best new bands of 2023.)
Dowdy, also a Ph.D. literature candidate at Duke, has risen to become one of the Triangle's most prolific songwriters. He's released dozens of tunes exploring the parts of southern Virginia where he grew up, the area's towns in decline, and rich character studies of the people who inhabit them.
Driving the news: Fust's third album, " Big Ugly," is out Friday.
The collection of country-tinged rock features songs about places, like the Shenandoah Valley in " Spangled," and mournful ballads about memories of summers long ago in songs like " Bleached."
What they're saying: "I have been working on writing songs for a very long time, and I feel like my way of writing songs is very firmly in place," Dowdy told Axios.
This album, though, felt different, he said, because the band's last record "was the first time strangers really listened and enjoyed the music."
"But one thing I firmly believe is there are so many songs that are yet to be written; I am just one that is writing them" at the moment, he added.
State of play: Fust is part of a growing community of bands in North Carolina performing modern takes on Southern rock music and often swapping roles in each other's bands.
Fust's members include guitarist Justin Morris, of Durham band Sluice; drummer Avery Sullivan, who has performed with a host of bands, like Sluice and Indigo De Souza; and fiddler Libby Rodenbough, who has released albums on her own and with the popular folk group Mipso.
"Big Ugly" was produced by Alex Farrar, an Asheville-based producer who has helped record albums from groups like Wednesday and MJ Lenderman.
What's next: Fust is hitting the road to perform its new album up and down the East Coast and in the Midwest starting this month. The band will perform at the Cat's Cradle Back Room on April 19.
All the while, though, Dowdy will continue to write and record demos on his phone.
"I am definitely someone who is convinced that momentum is a good thing," Dowdy said of his prolific output. "I like moving on to the next thing."
