By: Jenna Ciccotelli

High risk, higher reward.
 
That's how it has always seemed to work out for Jesse Dunn, who captained the Northeastern basketball team from 2002-04 after joining the squad as a walk-on, and today reaps the rewards of playing in the Lake Tahoe-based, nationally-touring americana band Dead Winter Carpenters as a guitarist and vocalist.
 
As a senior coming out of the small Mount Mansfield Union High School near his hometown of West Bolton, Vt., Dunn was recruited by some smaller schools, but said just a few Division I schools took the time to talk to him – University of Vermont and Northeastern. Though then-head coach Rudy Keeling could not guarantee a spot on the Huskies' squad for Dunn, he chose to attend Northeastern and try to prove his way onto the court.
 
"It would've been amazing to give it a run with the hometown team, but I had this kind of wanderlust that's intrinsic to my personality," Dunn said. "I was stoked with the location and the academics at NU, along with the basketball program and the Reggie Lewis legacy and all that that I was very privy to growing up. I always loved the city of Boston and going down there to see Celtics games and Red Sox games and I just kind of loved the urban environment, which is different from where I grew up."
 
Keeling and the coaching staff chose not to welcome any walk-ons to the team, but when injuries hampered the program later that season, Dunn got a call and donned a jersey for the Huskies. He appeared in just five games in his first season, but saw these outings as a way to get his foot in the door.
 
Poised for a breakout sophomore year, Dunn injured his ankle and sat out the 2000-01 season, which would end up being Keeling's last with the Huskies. With Ron Everhart taking over at the helm of the team, Dunn did not know how – or if – he would fit into the basketball program's new direction.
 
But Everhart saw a place for the 6-foot-7 forward, who was in good shape coming off of his injury. He appeared in 23 games in the 2001-02 season, totaling 160 points while playing an average of 14.3 minutes per game. He led the team in points on three separate occasions that season, including when he brought in a career-high 29 points against Maine. This defining season led the coaching staff to offer Dunn a full scholarship – and the honor of being captain of the team – for the remainder of his time at Northeastern. Throughout his final two seasons as a Husky, Dunn recorded new career, single-season highs in rebounds (73), free throws (34) assists (15) and steals (14).
 
"It was a lot of fun," Dunn recalled. "We all loved what we were doing, and it had this overwhelming, common belief that we were going to go out there and get this job done. Some of my best friends came through that experience. I wouldn't trade it for the world." 
 
After graduating from Northeastern with a degree in marketing and supply chain management in 2004, Dunn moved back home to rural Vermont, where he worked for a year at Cabot Creamery. Several friends from Northeastern had moved out to the San Francisco Bay area, and Dunn's wanderlust kicked in once more. He took the risk, packed his bags and moved west.
 
"It just sounded like they were having such a blast out there," he laughed. "I had to give it a shot."
  With his feet on the ground on the opposite side of the country, Dunn was able to join the progressive bluegrass Montana Slim String Band, with whom he played until 2010. He then began touring the country full-time with Dead Winter Carpenters, playing upwards of 180 shows and festivals each year. The five-piece band added an honorary member in December 2016, when Dunn and his wife Jenni Charles, who is a fiddler and vocalist in the band, had their first child – a daughter, Mabel, who travels on the road with her parents.
 
As the band adopted a quieter touring schedule to accommodate parenthood, Dunn began to work on the other side of the music industry as a talent buyer for a venue in June Lake, Calif., and a booking agent for Blue Sun Entertainment.
 
Likening basketball to playing in a band due to the team environment and working cooperatively toward a passion, Dunn credited his personal and professional success to his time at Northeastern.
 
"Growing up, I had two things that I was passionate about – basketball and music. I had the opportunity to pursue both of them at a high level."
 
Dunn is set to return to Boston on August 9, when Dead Winter Carpenters plays a set at Atwood's Tavern in Cambridge at 10 p.m. Tickets to the show are available here.