Dick Stusso is a character—as in, a fictional person. Nic Russo, on the other hand, has been crafting melodies and songs and successfully entertaining close friends and families for years. They took notice of an obvious talent, collecting live performances and stems and eventually was coerced into completing the albums Nashville Dreams and Sings the Blues. In the two years since, Russo’s Stusso project has garnered lots of attention and in January 2018, the Oakland, CA based musician was signed to Sup Pop Records’ Hardly Art imprint. Check out the first single from his upcoming record, In Heaven, below. Stusso plays Thursday, March 08 in Santa Cruz, CA at The Catalyst Atrium and his tour worms its way to Austin for SXSW in two weeks. – Joshua Huver, Photograph by Cara Robbins