Myspace Layouts at Pimp-My-Profile.com / Yellow and White Layout
Some folks call me "PeeWee"; a moniker bestowed upon me by my late friend and former band mate, Bobby Olive. I was born & raised in Alexandria, VA and exposed to the sounds of Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Doo Wop, Bluegrass, Hank Williams and The Beatles at an early age. At age 13, I'd received a cheap-o Japanese electric bass for my birthday, but it was seeing Muddy Waters at age 15 at the now defunct Bayou in DC back in 1978 that sealed my fate - I wanted to play the Blues. By the time I reached 21, I had abandoned the bass and bought a Fender Telecaster and Twin Reverb amp...I haven't looked back since.Over the years I've been fortunate to have played with a wide array of performers including members of The Beach Boys, guitarist Anson Funderburgh, Blues vocalist/harp player John Nemeth, harmonica masters R.J. Mischo, Phil Wiggins and Doug Jay, members of Roomful of Blues, saxophonist Ron Holloway and vocalist/guitarist Catfish Hodge. I've also shared bills with Johnny Winter, Delbert McClinton, Anson Funderburgh & The Rockets w/ Sam Myers, Jimmy Thackery, Bobby Radcliff, Carey Bell, the Derek Trucks Band, Terry Garland, Mem Shannon, Larry Garner, Coco Montoya, Walter Trout, Nappy Brown, John Mooney & Bluesiana, Bobby Parker and many more.Locally, I've worked and recorded with many performers in the DC/Baltimore region including an 18 month run with the DC/Baltimore based Rock band The Shambells and a 7 year stint with Li'l Ronnie & The Grand Dukes from Richmond, VA. During my tenure in that band we released two CDs (2001's "Young & Evil" & 2005's "Do What'cha Do"), won an award for "Best Blues Band - East Coast" in 2004 from Canada's Real Blues Magazine's reader's poll and an award for "Best Blues Artist - 2004" at the 5th Annual Virginia Music Awards. The CD "Do What'cha Do" - produced by Anson Funderburgh - finished 2005 at number 94 on the Living Blues Top 100 List and placed at number 8 overall in Real Blues Magazine's Top 100 of 2005. Critic Richard Bush of The Delta Snake wrote in a review for DC harp player Steve Potter's CD "Grotto Says" : "Mike Dutton has had to have made a name for himself as a blues guitarist in the DC area. His intros, solos and outros flat shine and highlight Potter's CD throughout the mix, very remininescent to the type of stuff a Kid Ramos or an Anson Funderburgh put down -- tasty and REAL blues guitar without pretention." A reviewer of "Do What'cha Do" from CDBaby says : " ...a killer guitarist that seems to know all the styles..." and Andy Grigg from Canada's Real Blues magazine writes : "....Michael Dutton, a fellow who begs for widespread recognition given his "just-them-tasty-notes" pickin'.....he's got it all". An April 2002 review of Li'l Ronnie & The Grand Dukes' "Young & Evil" in Vintage Guitar Magazine stated : "....joined on five cuts by the wonderful Anson Funderburgh on guitar. Mike Dutton is no slouch, either. In fact, on several tunes the two mesh together well enough that you'd think they'd been playing in the same band for some time. Cuts like "Mellow Chick" where Anson's note bending and double-stops contrast nicely with Dutton's more jazzy work show off the interplay." These days, you can find me working regularly with the cosmic bluesman, Catfish Hodge and with my own band, The Primates as well as a sundry of other performers in the DC/Baltimore region. Thanks for stopping by!