Dutton question

[wwgang]

When we saw the Duttons on Sat they said the drummer son I cant remember his name had a replacement. Does anyone know if he has left the show or just on break? Also they announced they have bought another theatre in Arizonia The Dutton theatre 2 and will perform there Jan thru March.

[teacherkim]

When we were there this summer, they said Joshua was in Arizona because he had allergies and the doctor thought it would help them. I then thought that probably he was taking care of getting the new theater up and running. I miss him being in the show.

[lindainkansas]

Really so who is on the drums now?

[brnsnfn3]

The drummer that is filling in for Joshua is Chris Libby.

[KatyBoo1989]

Joshua and his family are currently living in Utah. They moved due to some medical issues. From what I was told earlier in the year they hoped the move was only temporary. Chris Libby is an amazing drummer and does a fine job filling in!

~Kayla =o)

[Suselit]

http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/290433/3/


Monday, 01 December 2008
Monday Close-up: Singing reeds
by Craig Dilger - Daily Herald

Joshua Dutton is a master of the harmonica, able to make the instrument's series of tiny metal reeds sing a warbling, gritty blues that reeks of a bayou bar. But if you are more in the mood for a polka, Dutton could easily play the accordion part; however, he'll do it with the harmonica, somehow transforming its typical sound into new depths.



Dutton's childhood was actually a little like growing up as a member of television's "Partridge Family." He and his siblings made their musical talent into the family business. With his parents at the helm of a converted van, they traveled the country based out of their Provo home touring as a professional music group called, simply, The Duttons. Recently, The Duttons made it to the top 10 in the reality television series, America's Got Talent.

"The interesting thing is that my parents were not musicians at all," Dutton said. "My father was a economics professor and my mom had no musical experience. They just wanted to have something that would teach us how to work that we would do every day."



But Dutton and his siblings' talent grew so fast that his parents each learned instruments themselves so that they would have enough people to make up an entire band. They played bluegrass in the beginning, but as the family's interest in music grew, they began to get into country and rock 'n' roll as well.

"As we started learning new styles we decided we needed a drummer," Dutton said. "So all of us took drum lessons. And I was the one that stuck to it. So I picked up the drum and became our drummer."

Dutton didn't let his musical skills stop with the drums, the instrument most needed for the family career in music. Since the beginning of his musical career at the ripe age of 4, he had been intrigued by the gritty, soulful sounds of the harmonica.

"So, at the age of 12, I started playing the harmonica," explains Dutton "I got some instructional tapes from a mail-in catalogue and just started practicing on my own in the bunk while we drove around touring in our converted van."

The harmonica is much less commonly used than the drums, which makes Dutton's extraordinary talent with the tiny instrument much more noteworthy.

Dutton took a break from the family band to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Argentina, where, coincidentally, his wife, Evette, also served a mission. They didn't meet there, though. They met in Branson, Mo. where both of their families had relocated. The Duttons had opened a restaurant and theater where they were performing their act. After returning from her mission, Evette got a job doing marketing for the Duttons. A few months later Joshua returned home and found that the love of his life was already a part of the family. It was there that they fell in love, and with her musical background she even became a part of the Dutton's act.

"Her dad was a professional rock musician who never made that much money in music, and eventually he became a pharmacist to pay the bills," Dutton said. "So she wasn't really looking to marry a musician. But we met, and we fell in love, and she was a part of the Dutton show for the time that we were there."

Dutton and his wife now live in Provo -- in the house he grew up in -- and he's left his family's full-time music gig for health reasons. But Dutton has been keeping busy by teaching harmonica lessons and playing the harmonica for studio recording work. This gives him the enjoyment of playing without the stress of full-time performing.

Even though Dutton needed a break from the stress of full time performing and managing, he wasn't able to take a break from performing all together. Dutton and his wife Evette have found a group of musicians in Provo to join their band, Freely Bound, playing gigs whenever offers come up and spending as much of their free time as possible practicing with their band members or just jamming together in the living room.

"Music was something that we had a lot of fun exploring together," Dutton said. "So we've written a lot of songs together. And we have a lot of fun collaborating with our music. And she is a fantastic songwriter."

On the Web:

• www.freelybound.com

• www.theduttons.com