Jeff Tuttle, mandolin and vocals
Jeff's photos
Jeff's early love for bluegrass music came from his Dad, Charlie, who like most people from Kentucky, migrated to the Detroit area in search of work. He brought with him his own love of the music and when the time was right, passed it on to his sons. Jeff's Dad played locally at many different venues and Jeff and his brother appeared with him on several occasions. When Jeff was 13-years old, he was invited to play mandolin with the same group that his dad had begun with - Curly Dan/Wilma Ann and the Danville Mt. Boys. That same summer, he got to play at his first bluegrass festival in West Virginia.
A couple of years later, Jeff teamed up with his dad in the group that he and Leonard Styles had started, The Southern Show Boys. They played at several of the local bluegrass shows in the area where Jeff really began to take notice of the other musicians and what he could learn from them. When Jeff's brother, Barry, took an interest in the electric bass, he joined the band and they renamed the group to the Bluegrass Generation. Through the years, several musicians worked with Jeff and his dad including Dana Cupp, Ricky Holcomb, Dave Russell, Kermit Burke, Dean Dubois, Joe McKinney, and Frank Duty.
Dana Cupp played a large part in Jeff's musical history. Jeff and Dana would fill in with other bands as well as take shows on their own. Dana had formed his own band that included Jeff. It was while this band was together that they were invited to play at the Grand Ole Opry, which was one of Jeff's most memorable experiences.
Because the Bluegrass Generation was not real busy at times, Jeff would spend time filling in on occasion with the RFD Boys in Ann Arbor, he was asked to join on a permanent basis. He credits his time with the RFD Boys as the most productive when it came to learning to improvise. The broad range of their repertoire helped to teach Jeff to learn the song while he was playing it.
It was also around this time that Jeff received a call from noted bluegrass songwriter, Pete Goble. He needed a mandolin player and tenor singer to fill in for a couple of jobs. Soon after that, Jeff had a regular job playing with Pete, along with Jimmy Campbell on fiddle, Kermit Burke on banjo, and Lynn Hall on bass. For the next year, Jeff found himself working in four bands. His association with Pete allowed him to meet many of the well-known professional musicians as well as record the Tennessee 1949 album with Pete and famed banjo-player, Bill Emerson.
September of 1991 would mark the end of the Bluegrass Generation. They took some time off to spend with their growing families. Over the winter, Jeff received a call from long-time friend, Richard Ball. He was trying to get a bluegrass-gospel group started and knew that Jeff was available. Along with Gary Duty and his son, Tony, Richard and Jeff started getting together to see if they could work together. On one occasion, Jeff invited Barry to come along and play dobro. Within two months, they had their first appointment at a local church and the group "Sound Doctrine" was born. Soon calls were coming from all over and they ended up traveling to many different states and churches. For the next two years, they traveled from Michigan to Alabama and to just about every state between. Holding down a full-time job and raising a family while traveling at the same time became too much and Jeff decided to leave in May of 1994
In December of 1995, Jeff called Richard Ball and talked to him about starting up something new. Richard's son, Andy, was 13 at the time and the three of them had been getting together to jam from time to time For the next four years, Jericho Road, as they were called, would play mostly local churches, but also took a few appointments throughout the south. In the summer of 1998, Andy decided he wanted out and the search went out to find a new banjo player. With no one available, Jeff thought of a mandolin player who he had known for years, Duane Estep. Jeff moved over to banjo and hired Duane to take over the mandolin job. It was rough at first and the transition was slow, but eventually, things came together. Richard wanted to leave to work with his family so Duane's son, Kyle who was learning to play guitar, took the job over as well as the harmony vocals. They traveled together from January of 1999 until September of 2003.
Jericho Road disbanded in September of 2003. Jeff took some time off until the spring. He started filling in with local bands just to keep in practice, playing either mandolin or banjo. In 2005, Jeff got a call from Mike Adams, who he has known for thirty years, to try out for the banjo job that was available. He was offered the job and told Mike he would stay with him for a year. In September of 2006, he told Mike that this was not what he wanted to do and gave his notice. By chance, Mike had one last show to do and he got the idea to throw together a group made up of musicians that knew each other, but never really worked together as a band. Mike called Jeff to play mandolin, John Coffey to play guitar, Dannie Blankenship to play banjo, and Mike would play the bass. The times they have played together have been enjoyable for Jeff who stated, "I am playing with guys that I respect, and I know that I will be able to learn a lot from them. I look forward to working with them and hope that they feel the same."