Dustin Harder found gold and music in the Yukon

When Dustin Harder was 19-years-old he left Winnipeg's and hitchhiked his way to Dawson City, Yukon. The Métis musician had $20 in his pocket and a guitar on his back. He went in pursuit of a golden dream but Harder found more than that.

He and a friend first made their way to Vancouver, where he heard there were jobs in the Yukon.

"It reminded me of stories my grandfather told me about panning for gold, so I said, 'Sure why not?'"

He said it was his grandfather's dream to pan for gold but health issues kept him from making that dream a reality.

"I just thought, maybe I'll just live this dream for him."

And he did. Sort of. Once in Dawson City, Dustin managed to get two jobs, as a guitarist in a local band and on the cleaning crew at the bar they played in.

"One of the old miners told me, 'Keep your vacuum bag shavings and bring them to me.'" Harder said he wasn't sure why the old man asked him for bags of dirt but collected three anyway and took them over to his house.

"He filled his bathtub, we emptied them in there and panned it … and we found an ounce of gold!"

Needless to say, despite his unconventional panning approach, his grandfather was ecstatic.

With that dream realized, Harder set off to make his own dream of a music career come true. He would spend 13 months in Dawson City, playing with the band, honing his guitar skills and trying to find his sound.

Harder said he enjoyed playing in multiple genres, but favours a grunge/blues vibe he describes as "gruesy." As the front man for the Dusty Roads Band, he travelled across the country, and in 2009, released the album, Searching For A River.

He is currently working on a new project, a compilation album with various artists. The proceeds will go toward to agenies, Parents of Murdered Children in Canada and the Society of Missing Children in Canada.

"I personally have a child and couldn't imagine living with a missing child or later finding out they were found … and everything that goes with it. It's just unnerving and I couldn't imagine."