Wyatt "Dusty" Chandler

**Wyatt "Dusty" Chandler**, or simply known as **Dusty**, is a fictional character in the movie, Pure Country. He was portrayed by iconic country singer, George Strait.

## History

Wyatt Chandler AKA Dusty is a famous country singer who always gives great performances to his fans, but he doesn't enjoy the smoke and the extravagant light shows his tour manager, Lula Rogers puts on. He performs the songs "Heartland", "Baby Your Baby" and "Where The Sidewalk Ends" at a concert before exiting the stage. As Dusty is escorted out of the stadium, he signs an autograph for a kid before heading back to his bus, where Lula gives him a beer. They talk about Bobby Lewis getting an interview from Dusty, who thinks Bobby Lewis is a jerk but Lula says they need him. They then talk about new songs for Dusty's next album and Lula mentions that some are from Buddy Jackson, who is part of Dusty's road crew.

One day, Dusty and his band practice one of Buddy's songs called "Overnight Male" at a rodeo ground as Buddy stops them. Buddy praises Dusty's performance but gives out some tips to make the song better, which Dusty sarcastically thanks him for before whispering to Lula to get him out of there. That night, Dusty performs "Overnight Male" for the fans at the concert, but when he sings "Where The Sidewalk Ends", Dusty begins feeling burned out and stops singing for three bars, but the fans don't notice due to all the smoke and lights. Dusty half-heartedly finished the song before saying "See you next trip", shocking Lula. After heading back to his bus, Dusty catches Buddy coming out of his bus before Lula gives him a beer. Dusty asks what Buddy was doing in his bus and Lula confronts him about his words on stage, leading him to finally voice his frustrations about the smoke, the lights, seeing her sneak Buddy into his bus and forcing Buddy's songs down his throat. Lula says if it wasn't for her then he'd be singing in honky tonks and he says if not for him then she’s probably be a waitress there. Lula argues that many men would pay a dime to be in his position so Dusty tells her to go find one.

Dusty later sits down with his lifelong friend, Earl Blackstock, who offers him a beer which he declines. Dusty and Earl reminisce about sneaking into the carnival when they were kids and they saw the dancing chicken, which Dusty admits to feeling like. After Earl says he's gonna finish the six-pack and find himself a woman, Dusty says he's gonna take him a little walk. Later, Dusty is seen walking along a highway and hitchhikes with a truck driver, who takes him to his hometown and they switch boots - Dusty gives the truck driver his snakeskin boots in return for the truck driver's regular boots. Afterwards, Dusty spots a barber shop so he goes in, gets his ponytail cut off and his beard shaved, leaving him with shorter hair and a clean shave. Dusty then visits a diner where a waitress spots him. However, when she asks if he's new, Dusty is pleased that he's not recognized and tells her he's "brand new", so she welcomes him.

Dusty eventually gets a ride to his grandmother, Ivy Chandler's house and visits her after bringing her mail to her. Ivy wonders if she missed "the parade" that usually arrives before Dusty, consisting of his tour manager, the reporters and bodyguards. Dusty tells her it's just him this time and she invites him in, noting that she hardly recognized him without all that hair. Ivy asks Dusty if he quit but Dusty tells her it's a short pause, but he'd like to quit. When Ivy reveals that she saw him in Dallas, Dusty asks her why she didn't call him, saying he could have gotten her tickets and she could've been backstage with him. Ivy says that he was working and you don't interrupt a man when he's working. Dusty asks if she liked it and she says she did because it was him singing, but the music was loud so she couldn't hear the words and she could've done without the smoke and lights. Dusty agrees with her but she says the kids love it. Dusty notices that she kept his old guitar and wonders if anyone would buy him just singing with his guitar without the smoke and lights, so Ivy says she would.

Eventually, Dusty says goodbye to his grandmother after getting a change of clothes and he takes his old guitar with him. After visiting his parents' grave, Dusty visits the Prairie Rose honky tonk where he's given a beer on the house since the manager knew that Dusty used to perform there in the old days. Later that night, many people are seen line dancing as music is playing and Dusty watches them, eventually catching Harley Tucker's eye, who also catches his. Harley smiles at Dusty as she line dances, apparently taking an interest in him. After the dance is over, she walks over to him but is stopped by Al, who tries to talk to Harley but she doesn't want to talk to him. A drunken Dusty falls out of his chair, making Harley laugh a little. Later, Dusty is standing in the rain as Harley prepares to leave, but she notices him and laughs at him. As Harley gets in her truck, Al tries to get her to go back inside but she refuses, so they argue and Dusty tries to defend Harley. Al knocks down Dusty easily before Harley steps in to stop Al from beating him up even more. Eventually she gets back in her truck and accidentally crushes his hand in her door and accidentally hits him in the nose with her door. Harley apologizes but Al tells her to leave him alone. Harley sees Dusty still on the ground so she just smiles at him and shakes her head. She then takes him back to her ranch.

The next morning, Dusty wakes up and finds Harley in the barn taking care of one of her horses. When Dusty asks what day it is, Harley tells him it's Friday so Dusty kicks himself for missing the concert he was supposed to perform in Shreveport, Louisiana. After Harley has Dusty help her brush the horse, Dusty introduces himself as Wyatt so she tells him he can't drink or fight but invites him to breakfast before he leaves. Harley and Dusty join Harley's brother's, Tim and J.W. along with their father, Ernest and sit down to eat. When Dusty speaks up and thanks them for their hospitality, Tim and J.W. look at Dusty before Harley silently tells him he's wearing his hat at the table, so Dusty takes off his hat and they go back to eating. Dusty tries to strike up some form of conversation but none of Harley's family members respond. When Al arrives at the Tucker ranch, Harley goes out to talk to him and they argue, so Dusty heads out to check on Harley, who tells her she's fine and to go back in the house. Harley tries to get Al to leave but he refuses so Dusty once again steps up to defend her. Al and Dusty prepare to fight but Harley tries to stop them, noting that they were all drunk last night and she's sure they're all sorry. Eventually Al tries to hit Dusty, who dodges his punch and punches Al in the nose before Harley has Dusty go back inside. Dusty does so but purposely steps on Al's injured hand.

After going back inside, Dusty sits down to finish his breakfast and tries to talk to Harley's brothers and father, but they say nothing. Once Tim and J.W. head outside, Ernest finally talks to Dusty, saying that you can't get a word in with them and some people talk too much for his taste, adding that people talk too much about things everyone knows when they should be eating, working or sleeping. Ernest also says that it's no front page news that Harley was out late last night so why talk about it. When Dusty says he guesses he sees what Ernest is saying, Ernest tells him that he shouldn't guess, he has to know otherwise he's leaving himself wide open to suggestion and everyone does that which is what's wrong with the country. Afterwards, Ernest invites Dusty to join him outside and tells him that they have 1,000 acres on their ranch but it used to be more. As Harley notices that Ernest is telling Dusty about their problems on the ranch, Harley has Dusty give her and Ernest some time alone to talk.

Dusty goes up to Tim and J.W., telling them that he always wanted to learn how to rope. After Tim tells him good luck, Dusty asks for some lessons, making Tim laugh at him until Dusty offers to pay in advance, also requesting to rent out the empty bunkhouse too. After Dusty offers to pay room and board, stay a little while and get some roping lessons, Tim and J.W. looked at each other before Tim accepted Dusty's offer before J.W. asked if he wanted to buy a rope. Dusty then gets on a horse, displeasing Harley who asks what he's doing on a horse. Tim and J.W. tell Harley that Dusty bought it and he's gonna stay for a while since he's paying. Tim also teases Harley about liking Dusty.

During Dusty's stay on the Tucker ranch, he takes roping lessons as promised and although he doesn't do too good at first, he gets better at it and Harley is impressed. One day as Dusty tries playing a new song called "I Cross My Heart", Harley rides over to Dusty on a horse while bringing another one, revealing that J.W. normally rides with her and Tim's still doing chores so she asks him to ride with her. As they ride together, they talk about why Harley isn't married. Harley reveals that she almost got married once to a guy who said and did the right things but he went back to his wife, so it makes her weary and hard to trust people, however she trusts him. Dusty wonders why and Harley says it's something about him. Harley asks if Dusty's married and he says no, so she asks if he's ever been married and he also says no. They suddenly race and head back to the house, where they find Earl playing the drums. After Dusty introduces Harley and Earl to each other, Harley puts away the horses as Dusty and Earl catch up. Dusty says he should've known Earl would find him and wondered how he did, so Earl said it was about trees and roots, leading Dusty to guess that it was Grandma Ivy who sent him his way. Earl also comments on Dusty shaving and getting his haircut, saying it makes him look "pretty", but Dusty corrects him by saying "younger". Earl asks if he's been playing his old guitar and Dusty sarcastically says no but Earl knew he was lying. Later, Dusty plays his guitar, Earl plays the drums and Tim hits his cheeks with utensils to the rhythm as Dusty sings "The King Of Broken Hearts" for fun while Ernest and J.W. simply enjoy the song, impressing Harley. After they finish. Harley guesses they've played before and Dusty admits that he and Earl were in a band back in the old days. Earl tells Dusty that he went by the Prairie Rose honky tonk.

One night, Dusty and Harley slow dance at the Prairie Rose along with other people and the two of them share a conversation. After the song ends, Harley briefly heads to the bathroom to get a hold of herself since she's fallen in love with Dusty, who's hanging out with the other Tuckers. Unbeknownst to Dusty, however, Lula approaches Harley and asks "You like dancing with my husband?", so Harley heads back to her family with tears in her eyes and tells them they need to leave. Dusty asks what's wrong but Harley punches him in the face and confronts him over lying to her before furiously telling him not to come near anyone in her family again. Dusty, however, doesn't understand what happened since he didn't lie to her and as he and Earl saw the Tuckers leave, Lula rolls down her window and tells Dusty "It's time to come home".

Eventually, Dusty, Earl and Lula are on a bus heading to Las Vegas, Nevada and Dusty tries to call Harley, but she hangs up on him. Dusty is upset with them for following him the way they did. Earl, however, swore to Dusty that he had nothing to do with what Lula did to track him down and he just followed him like he always did. After Earl tells Dusty that he should've made the show in Shreveport, Dusty says he intended to but things happen. They stop the bus so Dusty and Lula can take a walk. Dusty tells Lula to reschedule the show in Shreveport so he can do it for free but Lula says if she does that then everyone would know he wasn't there. Lula explains to Dusty everything she did to save him by putting Buddy Jackson onstage and he left everyone sitting on their thumbs by taking off the way he did. Dusty explains that he remembered he could play a guitar and sing so that's what he's gonna do from now on - with no smoke or lights. He tells Lula that she can either do it with him or he'll do it by himself. After they get back on the bus and head to Vegas, they see that Buddy revealed himself as an impostor onstage and claimed that Lula offered him money and a recording contract if he continued to do so.

Once they get to Vegas, Dusty gathers his band together and offers them an apology for putting them in a difficult situation by leaving the way he did and takes responsibility for it, but reminds them of what's truly important when it comes to playing music, which is not the glitz, glamour or money and Buddy got caught up in it. Dusty tells Lula to find Buddy afterwards.

At Harley's rodeo performance, Dusty approaches her in hopes of talking to her, but Harley refuses to talk to him and Dusty says it's been a big misunderstanding. Tim and J.W. angrily remind Dusty that Harley doesn't want him around anymore before Ernest chimes in by telling Dusty that the white speck on top of chicken shit is chicken shit too. Defeated, Dusty leaves the rodeo. Later, Dusty and some bodyguards walk in and Dusty, clearly angry, demands to know what Lula told Harley. However, when Lula shows Dusty that she found Buddy, Dusty confronts Buddy over the charade he's been pulling which counts as fraud and the fact that Lula offered him money and a recording contract counts as extortion, but says the only person who can press charges is him. Buddy tries to say that Lula never gave him any money so Dusty confronts him over lying to the press. Dusty orders Buddy to disappear and threatens to sue him so fast if he ever hears of Buddy making another comment to the press or if he ever sees Buddy's face around country music again. After Dusty orders Buddy to leave, he does so but warns Dusty this isn't over yet. Dusty says it is. After Lula thanks Dusty, he turns back to Lula and tells her to make things right with Harley.

Later, as many people gather to see Dusty perform, Ivy goes in to see Dusty as the Tuckers were also invited to see him. Meanwhile, after Lula admits to Harley that she lied about being Dusty's wife, Dusty looks out the window of the hotel room and Lula apologizes for her actions. Dusty forgives Lula since she's his oldest friend next to Earl and she's due a few mistakes. Lula tells Dusty to knock 'em dead. Eventually, Dusty appears onstage and after they applaud him, he tells the audience he wants to do something a little different tonight so he'd appreciate it if they'd indulge him. He has the spotlight follow him to the front of the stage before he sits down and performs "I Cross My Heart", a special love song he wrote for Harley, who tears up and is touched by his performance. Tim also tears up during his performance. After he finishes the song, everyone applauds Dusty, including the Tuckers as Dusty and Harley embrace, officially becoming a couple.