About Dustin Adams
Dustin Adams is a pianist, drummer, and tabla player based in Littleton, Colorado. He performs throughout the Front Range in jazz, kirtan, Indian classical music and dance, theatre, improvised music, and other collaborative settings. He is also a music educator, recording musician, and professional piano technician.
Musical Background
Dustin grew up in Amarillo, Texas, and began performing as a drummer in punk bands in the 1990s. He later studied music at Amarillo College, where piano became his primary instrument, earning an Associate of Arts in Music in 2004. He later continued his music studies at the University of North Texas.
His early professional work included projects in Amarillo, Denton, and Dallas, including Harry Has a Head and the Dallas-based band Lady of the Lake. Since relocating to Colorado in 2011, he has worked as a pianist, drummer, tabla player, accompanist, educator, and recording musician.
Piano & Jazz
Dustin studied piano at Amarillo College, with training in classical repertoire, jazz, music theory, composition, and ensemble performance.
From 2006 to 2011, he led the Amarillo-based piano trio The Fakebooks with the late drummer Perry Justus, performing extensively throughout the region. He has also maintained a long-running musical collaboration with drummer Stephen Brooks, beginning with Minor Note Orchestra and continuing in trio and small-group jazz settings with Dustin on piano.
His professional relationship with the piano also extends beyond performance. Dustin has worked professionally as a piano tuner and technician since 2012 and currently tunes, maintains, and repairs instruments for private clients, performers, teachers, and music organizations throughout the Denver–Boulder area and Front Range.
Drums & Percussion
Dustin began playing drum set before taking up piano, performing in punk bands during his early years in Amarillo. Drums and percussion have remained an active part of his musical work ever since.
His drum set work has included jazz, punk and rock, theatre, recording, improvised music, and other ensemble projects. He continues to perform and record as a drummer alongside his work as a pianist and tabla player.
Tabla & Indian Music
Dustin began studying tabla in 2001 with Neel Bhatt. From 2003 to 2005, he performed three nights a week with sitarist Tom Griffin, and from 2004–05 studied Indian rhythm and percussion with Poovalur Srinivasan. Since 2018, his primary tabla teacher has been Nabin Shrestha, and he has also studied with Bhima-Karma Saragrahi.
Since 2012, Dustin has collaborated with kathak artist and scholar Dr. Sarah Morelli at the University of Denver’s Lamont School of Music, providing tabla accompaniment for university dance productions and other projects. His tabla work has also included Hindustani classical music, kirtan, and performances with instrumentalists, vocalists, dancers, and cross-genre ensembles.
His performances and collaborations have included Aakash Mittal, Chris “Citrus” Sauthoff, Makaysha Rain, DeepSi, Bhakti Shakti Kirtan, and other musicians and ensembles throughout Colorado.
Teaching, Theatre & Recording
Dustin has taught music since 2006. His teaching includes piano, percussion, improvisation, music theory, and ensemble skills.
His theatre work has included performance and composition. In 2024, he composed original music for Larissa FastHorse’s The Thanksgiving Play in collaboration with the Community College of Denver.
As a recording musician, Dustin works with piano, drums, tabla, and percussion in session and collaborative projects while also recording and developing his own music.
Current Work
Dustin maintains an active performance schedule on piano, drum set, and tabla throughout the Front Range.
His current and recent work includes regular performances with Sri Devi Kirtan Collective and Em Rossell, as well as Mystic Ramblers, Little Rishikesh Revival Kirtan, and other Colorado musicians and ensembles.
He continues his tabla studies with Nabin Shrestha while working professionally as a performer, teacher, recording musician, and piano technician.
