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Dutch Tilders

About Me

Born in the Netherlands in 1941, Dutch emigrated to Australia with his parents, four brothers and a sister in 1955.

At the age of ten, he was a member of a church choir, but by the time he was twelve, his alto voice broke. No more singing for the boy with the baritone voice. When he was thirteen, he joined a boys choir at a secondary school fooling the choir master into believing he was an alto by singing falsetto. He can still produce those high-pitched notes to this day.

His first year in Australia was spent in the Brooklyn Migrant Hostel where his first experience as a performer was in an amateur Black and White Minstrel Show. His very first paid gig, when just fifteen, was at the Collingwood Town Hall where he played the harmonica. On the same bill were Joff Allen and Johnny O'Keefe. Dutch was paid two pounds seven and sixpence, which at the time he was getting for half a weeks wages at Broons timberyard in Brooklyn. It only cost two pounds and sixpence for the taxi home.

He bought his first guitar in 1959 and by 1960 he was playing in the trendy coffee lounges of that time. Making up most of the songs as he went along, he found the blues was exactly the music in which to express his feelings. With no one to teach him, he developed his own style that remains unique to himself.

Dutch made his first record in 1972 and it was released one year later. His collaborators were Brian Cadd, Phil Manning, Barry Sullivan, Barry Harvey, Laurie Prior and Broderick Smith. In 1975 he started recording for an independent label, Eureka and consequently recorded two direct to disc records with greats Jimmy Conway and Kevin Borich.

During the seventies, Dutch fronted such Blues and Boogie bands as the Elks, the Cyril 'B' Bunter Band and Mickey Finn. In 1980 he formed the 'R&B Six', a band that included Charley Elul (drums), Peter Frazer (sax), Suzanne Petersen (flute and vocals), Mick Eliot (guitar) and Dave Murray (bass and vocals). This band toured Australia extensively.

In the meantime, Dutch also worked solo and toured with John Mayall, Taj Mahal, Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry. In 1976, having only heard Dutch, B B King assumed that he was black. Brownie and Dutch became best mates simply because Browney believed that the Dutchman was a genuine bluesman, regardless of his racial origins.

Since then, Dutch has been honoured with many awards, most notedly for his performances with his band, 'The Blues Club'.

Nowadays he mainly performs as a solo artist, though he does enjoy getting together with Geoff Achison doing amazing duo chops. Dutch also likes to get together with Greg Dodd, Rob O'Toole and Peter Beulke forming a group called 'His Blusicians'.

Dutch ranks among his favourite guitarists; Geoff Achison, Kevin Borich and the Emmanuel brothers. He excuses himself by saying he only plays the guitar as he doesn't know what to do with his hands while he sings. He says that the blues is the song and the guitar is just the accompainment, like the banjo used to be and the lyre long ago.

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 10/11/2006
Band Website: http://www.dutchtilders.com.au
Band Members: Dutch Tilders & His Blusicians Today DUTCH TILDERS mostly performs SOLO; although he often combines with Geoff Achison doing amazing duo chops. Dutch also likes to join forces with Greg Dodd, Rob O’Toole and Peter Beulke. All can be assured ‘His Blusicians’ are the Best Blues Bands coming out of Melbourne today. On February 9th Dutch Tilders became a third time winner of the Australian Blues ‘Chain’ Award for Best Album 2006 – “Mine & Some I Adopted” plus Best Male Vocalist 2006. Dutch’s band will perform with him at the Legends Stage at Broadbeach Festival May 19th and may they be recognised Australian wide as an awesome foursome.Greg Dodd – Greg is a veteran performer on stage with Dutch as he was the guitarist in ‘Dutch Tilders & The Blues Club’ replacing Geof Achison back in the nineties. Greg began in a covers band in Melbourne 1980 and was looking for a specialised music genre and chose ‘Blues’ then asked Dutch to share his knowledge and passion. His only ambition after family commitments were freed up recently was to join Dutch’s Band again and he is as dedicated professionally to Dutch as always with a renewed excitement after a long break. Some bands he performed with over his twenty years are as follows: Taildraggers, Dangerous Goods, Blues After Dark and Back Porch Preachers. The list of musicians he has performed with is long so here are a few of Greg’s favourites: Geof Achison, Lloyd Spiegel, Bronnie Gordon and Chris Finnen (SA).Robert O’Toole – Robert has been playing around the Melbourne scene since the early seventies and has a long association with Dutch beginning in 1977. He has graced the stage with other greats such as Matt Taylor, Phil Manning, Geoff Achison, Lloyd Spiegel, Fiona Boyes and Greg Champion (winner of the Tamworth Golden Guitar). He plays blues, rock ‘n’ roll, jazz, country, rhythm and blues and has recorded extensively with his own bands and various artists including Dutch Tilders. With a straight style and a full sound from the blues of Chicago to the down home honky tonks of Memphis, setting the pace with grace, the rhythm king of the pigskin is hard at work where it counts – in the engine room – where he gets that crankshaft turning and the blusicians accelerating.Peter Beulke - Peter taught himself to play guitar and bass and has been playing bass since he was 12 years old. He played in bands through his school days and started playing double bass in the 1970's, influenced by Willie Dixon. Peter likes venturing into different styles of music including jazz, folk, rockabilly, blues and even classical, having spent 4 years at the Melba Conservatorium (1974-1978) studying classical guitar and double bass. He's played with international icons such as Jimmy Witherspoon, Taj Mahal, John Mayall, Dr. John and Buddy Guy. He has also played with the Melbourne Honeydrippers with Andy Baylor, rockabilly with the Crackerjacks, ska reggae with the Allniters (5 years living in Sydney), Redgum and has recorded with Russell Crowe. Pete has played with many of Australia's top guitarists including Andy Baylor and The Dancehall Racketeers, Gwyn Ashton (2 years living in and touring England and Europe), Ron Tabuteau's Chickenhead, Ben Peter's Benny and the Fly by niters, Geoff Achison's Soul diggers trio, Dutch Tilders, Co Tipping in The Lowriders and Louis King and the Liars Club, Matt Dwyer and Nick Charles. Pete's even played New Orleans trad jazz touring Europe with The Louisiana Shakers
Influences: Big Bill Broonzy, Brownee McGhee, Foreday Riders, Ray Charles, B B King
Sounds Like: Authentic Blues/Rock

Myspace Layouts at Pimp-My-Profile.com / Purple Guitar


Record Label: www.blackmarketmusic.com.au
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

Check out this event: Nimmatabel Blues Festival NSW SATURDAY

Hosted By: Dutch Tilders When: 02 Feb 2008, 11:00 AMWhere: Nimmatabel HotelMonaro Hwy 20min North of CoomaNimmatabel, New South Wales|76 AustraliaDescription:Dutch Tilders Click Here To View Eventhtt...
Posted by on Thu, 31 Jan 2008 02:59:00 GMT