Deep down, Dylan Salfer always knew he wanted to start his own band.

Lead singer and guitarist of the Dylan Salfer Band, Salfer said a lot of artists perform the bare minimum on stage. The older he gets, the more important it is for him to do the opposite. 

“Every single second has to be real and expressive for every member of the band, so there’s the importance of highlighting the song and the story,” Salfer said.

The band consists of Salfer, Peter Hennig and Matthew Mwangi on drums, José James on saxophone, Patrick Nelson on bass, and Jordan Hedlund playing keyboard. All bring different experiences to the table. 

When looking at 2025, the band feels pretty good. 

Their first album is not complete, but it is projected to be released next year. 

The album is about heartbreak, addiction and love, Salfer said. It is a coming-of-age record executed through an eclectic mix of hip-hop, R&B, blues, soul, jazz, hard rock and reggae. 

“Harmonically, there’s a lot of chances taken,” Salfer said.

There is one traditional blues song on the album, a cover of “Same Old Blues” by Freddie King. Salfer himself takes a lot of inspiration from artists like Joni Mitchell, Stevie Wonder, Bukka White, B.B. King, Albert King and Freddie King. 

The band recorded their entire album together live during seven long days at Daydream Studios in Arden Hills. Most songs on the album were skeletons of ideas until they were fleshed out during those seven days. 

Right now, they are preparing a 25-minute set to perform at the International Blues Challenge, a competition held in Memphis, Tennessee in early January. In April of this year, they won the Road to Memphis Competition in St. Paul. 

Salfer said this will be his second time playing the competition since he was 15 and he looks forward to the competition and being in Memphis.

“Memphis, the whole city, is just spewing soul,” Salfer said. 

Salfer received his first guitar before he could properly hold one at 7 years old because he was obsessed with music. He started playing guitar when he was 9. At 10, his grandparents took him to the Bayfront Blues Festival in Duluth.

“As soon as I heard that music, it was immediately apparent that’s what I wanted to do and something I needed to study,” Salfer said. 

For many years, Salfer performed as much as possible. He said he played with Buddy Guy and James Cotton when he was attending blues camp as a young teen. At age 16, he toured internationally with Bernard Allison, a Chicago blues guitarist and son of blues legend Luther Allison. Three years ago, Salfer quit all his gigs to focus on creating what he always knew would happen. 

It took him around a year to form the band it is today because chemistry is important, Salfer said.

“When you get two drummers together, it’s really particular,” Salfer said. “Even if they’re two of the best, it could be a total train wreck if the chemistry doesn’t work.”

From July 2021 to October of this year, the band played nearly every Wednesday night at the North Loop bar Bunkers. Often, Salfer would show the rest of the band a song he wrote right before they went on stage. They would play it live and let it evolve from there. 

“It would form into what it was supposed to, you know, with everybody’s intuition and risk-taking,” Salfer said. 

Most of their songs start with Salfer writing alone. The songs are not finalized until the entire band collaboratively plays through it. What makes this band special is how organically everyone plays with one another, Salfer said. 

For anyone new to playing music, Salfer advises them to follow their passion. He suggests learning your favorite artists’ entire discographies and learning your favorite artists’ favorite artists. 

He said it fosters authenticity to know how music used to be and how it has evolved.

“The more you learn about these people, the more real you’re going to sound,” Salfer said.