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Artist
Dutch Mason
12+ albums
Canadianblues
about
Dutch (b Norman) Mason. Singer, guitarist, pianist, b Lunenburg, NS, 19 Feb 1938, d Truro, NS, 23 Dec 2006. 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 and roll or rockabilly style. Mason, a singer, pianist 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 based his career in Nova Scotia. During the 1970s he performed in a succession of blues bands in a variety of bars such as Sullivan's in Halifax and the Wyse Owl in Dartmouth. He tirelessly toured Canada as part of the Dutch Mason Trio with musicians such as bassist Ronnie Miller and drummer Ken Clattenburg, building an audience for the blues and earning the nickname "Prime Minister of the Blues." As his reputation for being a colourful performer in a tough, fundamental, urban blues style grew during the late 1970s and the 1980s, he began working on the club circuit across the country, appearing frequently at the Rising Sun in Montreal 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-7
