To Live In Two Worlds

Growing up in the Black Forest of Germany, Thomm Jutz didn’t have many opportunities to be exposed to American music. When he was 10 years old however, he stumbled across a country music show on the American Forces Network. Not long after, he found a TV show called “Country Time With Freddy Quinn.” It featured a guest artist from Nashville. Something inside Thomm woke up and made a lasting connection with that style of music. Thomm eventually found his way to America, and more specifically, Nashville, Tennessee, where he could immerse himself in the music of the American South and pursue his dream of becoming a songwriter.

He arrived in Nashville in 2003, and quickly established himself as a first-rate guitarist. He’s toured with Nanci Griffith, Mary Gauthier, Kim Richey, Eric Brace & Peter Cooper and others. He’s written songs for many bluegrass acts like Chris Jones & the Night Drivers, Terry Baucom & the Dukes of Drive, Irene Kelley, and more. Six of his songs have landed in the number one position, and over 200 have been featured in TV, movie, and advertising positions. He was nominated for Songwriter of the Year three years in a row by the IBMA in 2017, 2018, and 2019.

Thomm commented once about his song writing; “I’ve studied this part of the world intensely for nearly all of my life, and at the risk of sounding preposterous, I’ve learned that sometimes an outsider might be better at explaining that place back to its very people.”

In March of 2020, he released, To Live In Two Worlds – Volume 1, and has just recently released the follow up to that, To Live In Two Worlds – Volume 2. “A couple of years ago I figured out that I had all this material that was much better suited for myself than other artists,” he told us. “So, I just started putting out my own records. With these new releases, they really reflect musically how I live physically in two different worlds; one in my mind creatively with my love of history, and the other as a musician living in the present world.”

Visit Thomm’s page here! Listen to the whole interview here!