THOMM JUTZ | “Hartford’s Bend”

Single release date: Nov. 8, 2019
Bluegrass, Mountain Home Music Company — STREAM / BUY

Arden, North Carolina (November 7, 2019—Mountain Home Music Company) | Continuing to reflect on the American South and its rich musical history, songwriter Thomm Jutz has released two more singles from his upcoming album, this time capturing the storied careers of musical legends John Hartford and Jimmie Rodgers in portraits imbued with the spirit each brought to his own music.

The pair of songs — “Hartford’s Bend” and “Jimmie Rodgers Rode A Train” — is another example of the breadth of songwriting and musicianship on Jutz’s upcoming body of work, two volumes of music to be released under the apt title, To Live In Two Worlds.

“Hartford’s Bend” is a haunting tune that deftly incorporates song titles and aphorisms from the renowned entertainer’s life and music as it pays homage to “every riverboat captain’s friend.” With wistful harmonies from banjoist Justin Moses, the song instantly brings to mind many of Hartford’s own stately waltzes.

Though he didn’t know him, Jutz often looks to Hartford’s work for inspiration, saying, “John Hartford — where do you begin? His humor, sense of history and tradition. His virtuosity and timing, his grace and his love of the river …Where do you stop? John Hadley, who I wrote this song with, was a close friend of John Hartford’s. I wouldn’t have dared to write this song without him.”

Of the song, Hartford’s daughter, Katie Harford Hogue says, “Thomm Jutz and John Hadley have written a lovely tune called “Hartford’s Bend,” which beautifully captures the unhurried pace of the riverboats that Dad loved; you can almost hear a paddle wheel turning.”

Like the rest of the extensive set Jutz has recorded for his initial projects with Mountain Home, these are songs infused with a deep knowledge and understanding of the rural southern music — and those who made it — that brought Jutz from his native Germany to Nashville at the beginning of the century.

“Hartford loved the river boats. American history and musical history is one of movement,” he says. “Its past so close behind and its future moving still — that’s what draws me to it.”

About Thomm Jutz | Thomm Jutz is a songwriter, producer and guitar player whose songs have been recorded by Balsam Range, Chris Jones & The Night Drivers, Terry Baucom, Nanci Griffith, Kim Richey and many more. To date he has had six #1 bluegrass songs and was nominated for IBMA Songwriter Of The Year in 2017 and 2018. His song “Going Back To Bristol” was nominated for Song Of The Year 2017. He’s the producer and principal songwriter of The 1861 Project, a three-record collection of original songs about the American Civil War. He also co-wrote and produced I Sang The Song, a musical biography of Mac Wiseman featuring John Prine, Alison Krauss, Shawn Camp and many other renowned Bluegrass artists. Jutz has previously released two Bluegrass solo records Volunteer Trail and Crazy If You Let It.

About Mountain Home Music Company | Mountain Home Music Company, a division of Crossroads Label Group is a premier Bluegrass label with global distribution, representing such elite artists as Balsam Range, The Grascals, Lonesome River Band, Chris Jones & The Night Drivers, NewTown, Gina Furtado, Kristin Scott Benson, The Cleverlys, Danny Roberts, Sideline, Unspoken Tradition, Fireside Collective and Thomm Jutz. Established in 1993, Crossroads is a market leader in the Bluegrass, Americana, and Christian Music fields.