For Dustin Howell & The Highway 260 Band, their name is much more than something printed on a marquee. It is a nod to home, to Arizona’s White Mountains, and to the small-town roots that continue to shape the music Dustin Howell set out to make nearly a decade ago.
The AZ Desert Country Music Association is excited to welcome Dustin Howell & The Highway 260 Band as one of our newest AZDCMA Member Artists!
Raised in Pinetop-Lakeside, Arizona, singer, songwriter and band founder Dustin Howell wanted the identity of his band to remain connected to the place that helped make him who he is. Highway 260 runs directly through the White Mountains community he grew up in, making the name a natural fit for a band built around Arizona roots, family values and a love of country music.
The band’s journey began on May 15, 2018, when Dustin decided it was time to stop simply dreaming about having his own band and start building one.
And he has been building ever since.
Long before Dustin was fronting his own band, he was a kid fascinated by the musicians performing around Arizona.
One band in particular made a lasting impression: Mogollon.
Dustin began following the longtime Arizona band when he was only about 10 years old. Growing up near Wagon Wheel, he remembers sneaking out of the house and sitting outside the local bar Bronco Billy’s, just so he could hear Mogollon playing inside.
Years later, one of those childhood dreams came full circle.
Highway 260 Band eventually had the opportunity to share the stage with Mogollon on three separate occasions.
For Dustin, those weren't simply gigs. They represented the kind of moment that reminds an artist just how far the road has taken them.
His musical influences also remain deeply connected to Arizona. Dustin points to local musicians Donny Grubb, Harry Luge and Duane Moore as three major influences on his journey, while nationally, country superstar Brad Paisley has had the greatest influence on him as an artist.
That combination makes a lot of sense when you hear Highway 260. There is respect for traditional country at the foundation, but the band isn't afraid to turn up the guitars, push the energy and pull from several different corners of the musical map.
Trying to put Highway 260 Band into one neat musical box isn't easy — and that's part of the fun.
Their live performances bring together country, Red Dirt, outlaw country, Southern rock and rock influences, with a lineup of musicians whose individual tastes stretch even further.
The result is an original-and-cover band built to entertain.
Highway 260 has performed at festivals and shared stages with artists including Donny Grubb, Mogollon, Harry Luge, Tommy Townsend & The Waymores and Casey Chestnut, among others.
Public coverage of the band stretches back several years as well. In 2020, Country Road Entertainment featured Highway 260 as the band prepared to enter the studio, describing Dustin's goal of bringing country music back toward its roots with an old-school and Red Dirt feel.
That recording chapter became an important turning point for the band.
What began as a live-performance dream steadily grew into something bigger: creating original Highway 260 music.
The band's recorded catalog now includes songs such as:
“Bourbon Was Cheap” dates back to 2020 and was written by Dustin, with Arizona musician and producer Donny Grubb involved in the band's early studio work.
The songs that followed helped Highway 260 establish a recorded identity beyond its live performances — and several of those tracks have found their way onto Arizona radio programming.
Songs including “Dance Hall Queen,” “Remembering You” and “Gunslinger” have all been featured by Radio Free Phoenix as part of its Arizona music programming.
Today, Highway 260's music can be found across major digital music platforms, giving listeners far beyond Arizona a chance to discover what the band has been building here at home.
And the newest chapter arrived on August 14, 2026, with the release of “Good ’Ol Days.”
But there is something particularly special about this release — and about another song in Highway 260's catalog.
Because Dustin isn't the only Howell behind the microphone.
Ask Dustin about his greatest accomplishment and he won't point first to a festival, a recording, a packed dance floor or an opportunity to open for another artist.
He'll tell you about his son.
Sawyer Howell is seven years old, and already music has become something father and son can share.
Sawyer joins his dad onstage and has also been part of Highway 260's recorded music, singing on “Remembering You” and the band's newest single, “Good ’Ol Days.”
For Dustin, that fulfills another dream he carried with him when he started this journey: getting the opportunity to make music with his son.
And maybe that's the best way to understand Highway 260 Band.
There are plenty of bands chasing bigger stages, bigger numbers and bigger opportunities. Dustin certainly has dreams for Highway 260, too. But underneath all of it is something much simpler: home, family, memories, good music and the people you get to share it with.
When a seven-year-old son gets to stand beside his dad and sing songs they will both be able to listen to years from now, the meaning of the music changes.
Those really are the good old days — while they're still happening.
Lead Vocals | Guitar | Drums
At 53, Dustin brings decades of musical influences to Highway 260. His tastes run from country and Red Dirt to heavy metal, Southern rock, Christian music, 1950s rock and roll and even Big Band-era music.
Eight years into the Highway 260 journey, he remains the driving force behind the band's music and its connection to Arizona's White Mountains.
Lead Guitar | Lead Vocals
Aaron, 32, has spent four years with Highway 260 Band. His musical influences include country, rock, new age, blues, ska, grunge and outlaw country — a combination that helps give Highway 260 its broad and energetic live sound.
Bass Guitar | Lead Vocals
At 30, Gabe has been part of Highway 260 for two years. His musical background crosses country, rock, new age, blues, ska, grunge and outlaw country, adding another versatile voice to the band's lineup.
Percussion | Lead Vocals
Todd, 63, is a United States Marine veteran and has been with Highway 260 for three years. His influences center around '70s and '80s rock, country, outlaw country and Red Dirt — making him right at home behind the kit for Highway 260's high-energy sound.
Highway 260 Band has come a long way from the dream Dustin Howell had when he decided to start a band rooted in the community where he grew up.
Historic venues? Check. Playing alongside artists he admired? Check. Sharing a stage with Mogollon — the band he once listened to from outside Bronco Billy's as a kid? Three times. Recording original music? Absolutely.
Recording and performing with his son? Perhaps the best accomplishment of them all. And the road isn't finished.
Highway 260 continues performing around Arizona, creating original music and building on a catalog that now tells its own story — one song at a time.
Through every version of that journey, Dustin remains thankful to the people who have supported the band through both the good times and the difficult ones.
That loyalty goes both ways.
Highway 260 Band is ultimately about the things that brought Dustin to music in the first place: family, community, Arizona roots and making music people can enjoy together.
We are proud to officially welcome Dustin Howell & The Highway 260 Band to the AZ Desert Country Music Association family, and we're looking forward to watching where Highway 260 takes them next.
Welcome to AZDCMA!
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