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.

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.

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.

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, Jason Ringenberg, Kim Richey and Hannah & Caroline Melby.

The series received praise from historians, critics, music lovers and Civil War enthusiasts.

Jutz co-wrote the top two singles of 2016 listed on the Bluegrass Today Airplay chart.

During 2016, Jutz, together with Peter Cooper and 91-year-old country music legend Mac Wiseman, spent nine Sunday afternoons at Wiseman's house writing material based on the stories Wiseman would tell of his life.

In January 2017, Mountain Fever Records released these songs on the "I Sang The Song" album, produced by Jutz and Cooper.

Friends and admirers performing on the album include John Prine, Alison Krauss, Jim Lauderdale, Shawn Camp, Sierra Hull, Justin Moses, Andrea Zonn and Mark Fain.

In 2022, Jutz collaborated with English singer guitarist Martin Simpson to shed light on Appalachian folk songs collected by Cecil Sharp, sung by Jane Gentry and Mary Sands in Madison County, North Carolina.

The two women who nobody ever heard sing, unknowingly changed the course of folk music history.

The resulting album, “Nothing But Green Willow”, features, from the UK/Ireland, Cara Dillon, Fay Hield, Seth Lakeman, Angeline Morrison and Emily Portman and from the U.S. Dale Ann Bradley, Sierra Hull, Justin Moses, Tim O’Brien, Tammy Rogers and Odessa Settles.

It was released on September 29th, 2023 on Topic Records.

Jutz's song Burning the Midnight Oil, co-written with Peter Cronin, appears on Life Is Strange: Before the Storm.

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.

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.

Jutz signed with Mountain Home Music Company in 2019.

Singles "Mill Town Blues", "I Long to Hear Them Testify", "Hartford's Bend" and "Jimmie Rodgers Rode a Train" were released in 2019.

New albums "To Live in Two Worlds – Vol 1 & 2" were released in 2020.