Life is speaking to Dustin (Liggett) Danger.
And the Oakwood native is listening.
The 39-year old has never questioned was he was put on the Earth to do: he was made to create.
“I was a really good artist when I was younger,” Danger said. “When I was 17, I had a piece displayed in the Smithsonian and got an award from then First Lady Hillary Clinton.”
His talent for art was promising, but Danger felt another calling.
“When there’s something in my gut, if I feel it, it won’t go away; I just have to do it,” Danger said.
That feeling led him to Greenville University where he studied music production. Danger did have a desire to perform, but felt called to write and be the guy behind the scenes.
“Dr. Dre, P. Diddy, Babyface, those were the people I idolized and wanted to be like,” he said.
Knowing that he could do both, Danger set out to start a punk rock band with his brother, Jason, traveling to a dozen states, playing in venues where the Ramones and Blondie got their start.
“We ended up getting offered a developmental deal with a record company in Florida. And that was in August 2005. And then, in September 2005 and I found out I was expecting my first daughter.”
A love for his daughter called him back to Oakwood where he first took a job at the grocery store, then at First Farmers Bank and Trust where he stayed for the next 12 years.
Crunching numbers didn’t get in the way of creation, though.
“When that creative moment hits you, you have to write,” he said. “The people that I’ve worked with at the bank, they’ll tell you there’s multiple times where I stepped out for a minute and I would just sing into my phone, or I’d be sitting there, working on my computer because I was bookkeeper and I’d have a lyric page pulled up on Word that I’m typing into.”
While he appreciated the job and loves raising his children, who are two years apart, Danger’s intuition has kept calling him to something more.
A man in a town of 1,500 people saw himself near music’s largest stage in 2017.
“I saw me at the Grammys,” he said. “I’m like I have this feeling I’m gonna be there. Of course, everybody wishes you well or whatever. So I started looking that up, how does one even go there?”
Danger met the qualifications with the work he had done over those 12 years; he still played music regionally in Champaign, Danville, Bloomington, Rockford and Decatur, as a solo artist and member of The Villens. His collection of recorded songs and media attention met the requirements to become an Associate member at the Grammys Recording Academy.
He left his job at the bank in Oct. 2017 and found himself at Madison Square Garden just three months later as an attendee at the Grammys.
“In November, I put in from my tickets, and I got denied,” he said. “Just because you’re a member doesn’t mean you’ll get there.
“I remember telling my girlfriend, I just still feel, it was that gut feeling, I still think I’m gonna be there.”
Danger was notified of an opportunity for tickets on a Thursday. Having a strict, no cancellation policy, he finished his gigs at home, then took off for a 33-hour whirlwind trip.
““It was a blur and I was exhausted, but it felt good because I saw that moment,” Danger said. “Everyone thought I was crazy. But I went from a 9-5 bank job to exactly what I saw in my head.”
With a newfound vision for what his life could hold, Danger came back home with a new mission. He set out to pair the behind-the-scenes with performances that allowed him to provide for his children as a single dad and work towards his ultimate goal of being on that Grammy stage.
The Liquor Box in Oakwood granted Danger a Thursday night spot for karaoke. The popularity of the show expanded to Saturday nights. Danger then started gigs at the The 610 Tap in Danville every Friday. Before he knew it, there was something on his calendar Wednesday through Sunday every week.
He booked live performances at weddings and homecoming dances while also recording a self-titled album with Sun Records in Memphis in 2018. In 2019, he joined forces with Mitch Lunsford, releasing “At Another Time.”
Danger knew that there was still more work to do, though.
He wanted to give back, helping other musicians, both young and old, develop their skills and realize their dreams. In 2019, he opened Rebelsfare Collective, a music company in Oakwood.
By March 2020, Danger opened a storefront, located at 411 S. Scott, for his brand where people can take lessons, purchase instruments and record their work.
“Even though I am busy during that time, any chance that comes, I do my best to kind of hone in and create something,” he said.
“We’re all consumers, but I think everybody has all kinds of ideas to be a producer. They just don’t follow through with it.”
For Danger, that willingness to follow through with an idea, no matter how crazy, comes from a line of fearlessness that has led to a confidence that allows him the freedom to do something outside of the box.
“Any crazy idea, I try to go with it, see what happens,” he said.
“If someone tells me I can’t do something, I’ll find a way to do it if I really want to do it. I’ve been that way since I was a kid.”
Running a business shortens the time allotted to be creative, though. Danger has learned to be in tune with the thoughts running through his head.
Although the multi-instrumental musician has had to make performance adjustments during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, his limited shows throughout the summer months have been approached with the same heart as he’s relied on for the last two decades.
Danger said, “Every performance, I just want people to come away with, ‘I haven’t seen something like that before. This was a great night.’”
It’s something Danger feels every time he attends the Grammys.
Danger visited the set show again on January 26, 2020 at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles.
Getting to see all the behind-the-scenes preparations from the cameraman to the stages feels like preparation.
“My goal is to play at the Grammys,” he said. “I will play the Grammys.”
Danger’s third album, “Parallax”, with JeRm, is ready to place on streaming platforms this month.
His lyrics are drawn from just listening to the world around him.
“I’ve written a song in 15 minutes,” Danger said. “Sometimes it’s 15 weeks before it’s complete.
“But it’s always the same process; I just let it come. Your brain doesn’t feel things your heart feels things. So as soon as I take my brain into that, the initial process of writing the song, you’ve ruined the song.
“I think music should be felt.”
