Thomm Jutz
Thomm Jutz (born December 27, 1969) is a German-born American singer, songwriter, producer and guitarist based in Nashville, Tennessee. He has worked with folk singer Nanci Griffith (as a member of her Blue Moon Orchestra), Eric Brace & Peter Cooper, Mary Gauthier, Mac Wiseman, Bobby Bare, Connie Smith, Marty Stuart, David Olney, Otis Gibbs, Kim Richey, Bill Anderson, Amy Speace, Milan Miller and Marc Marshall. His songs have been recorded by Nanci Griffith, John Prine, Kim Richey, Junior Sisk, Kenny and Amanda Smith, Balsam Range, Buddy Melton, Milan Miller and Terry Baucom. Jutz co-wrote the top two singles of 2016 listed on the Bluegrass Today Airplay chart. Jutz signed with Mountain Home Music Company in 2019. New albums "To Live in Two Worlds – Vol 1 & 2" were released in 2020. Singles "Mill Town Blues", "I Long to Hear Them Testify", "Hartford's Bend" and "Jimmie Rodgers Rode a Train" were released in 2019. He also signed as a writer with Asheville Music Publishing in 2018. "To Live In Two Worlds, Vol 1" was nominated for a 2021 Grammy Award in the Bluegrass category. Jutz is a current lecturer of songwriting at Belmont University and is working on a master’s degree in Appalachian Studies at East Tennessee State University, writing his thesis on Grammy-winner Norman Blake. Additional writings and essays have been published in American Songwriter and the IBMA Songwriter’s Newsletter. Jutz is featured in the Country Music Hall of Fame’s American Currents exhibit, slated to run 2022-2023. Early life Jutz originates from Neusatz, Buehl, Baden-Württemberg in the Black Forest of Germany and started playing music at the age of six, initially learning piano and flute. In 1981 at age 11 he saw country artist Bobby Bare on a German television program performing Detroit City and, inspired by the way Bare stood and held his guitar, took up the guitar and developed an interest in Country, Bluegrass and Folk Music. Jutz won several nationwide competitions as a teenager before studying classical guitar at the University of Stuttgart under professor Dr. Mario Sicca. Jutz played throughout Central Europe with Blues and Rock Bands, and began studying songwriting and studio engineering. Career In 2003, Jutz was granted a Diversity Immigrant Visa into the USA and moved his base to Nashville, where he immediately found favor and started touring worldwide with David Olney, Mary Gauthier and Nanci Griffith. Jutz then set up as owner and operator of TJ Tunes, the studio he created for writers, players and artists from different places and genres to come together in a relaxed, rural setting, to write and record. He has produced over 70 albums to date. The 1861 Project Between 2011 and 2014, Jutz produced and wrote songs for the three volumes of The 1861 Project, a collection of new songs inspired by the people who fought and lived through the American Civil War. Artists featured on these albums include Marty Stuart, John Anderson, Jerry Douglas, Maura O'Connell, Connie Smith, Chris Jones, Sierra Hull, Bobby Bare,