Mason, Dutch

Websites:  No
Origin: Lunenburg, Nova Scotia
Biography:

Mason, Dutch (b Norman). Singer, guitarist, pianist, b Lunenburg, NS, 19 Feb 1938. Raised in Kentville, NS, he played several instruments during his youth, including drums in a jazz band. The earliest of his own groups, which worked around Nova Scotia during the mid-1950s, were in a rock 'n' roll or 'rockabilly' style. Mason, by now a singer and guitarist, was introduced to the blues via recordings of B.B. King, who would remain an important influence. Mason performed in Toronto as early as 1959, but has based his career in Nova Scotia, leading a succession of blues bands in a variety of bars - eg, during the 1970s at Sullivan's in Halifax, and the Wyse Owl in Dartmouth.

As his reputation - unique in Canada - as a colourful performer in a tough, fundamental, urban blues style grew in the late 1970s and the 1980s, he began working on the club circuit across the country, appearing frequently at the Rising Sun in Montréal and Albert's Hall in Toronto. Mason's first LPs from 1971, Dutch Mason Trio at the Candlelight (Paragon ALS-263) and Putting It All Together (Marathon MS-2107), were followed in 1976 by The Blues Ain't Bad (Owl Blues Productions OBP-2008), in 1977 by Janitor of the Blues (Solar SAR-2020), in 1979 by Wish Me Luck (Lon PS-733/Attic MLAT-1142), in the early 1980s by Special Brew (Attic LAT-1093) and Gimmee A Break (Attic LAT-1114), and in 1991 by I'm Back (Stony Plain SPCD-1169).