“It was not unlike San Fransisco’s ‘Haight Ashbury’ or New York’s ‘Greenwich Village’ with it’s hippies, straights, LSD and grass, while the music played on!”

Here’s a man with a history! It was the mid 1960s and a country kid from Schomberg, Ontario, Canada would begin his professional music career singing, playing lead guitar and performing in the band The Whiskey Sours.

“Our time in ‘The Village’ along Toronto’s Yorkville Avenue was the coming together of musicians from across Canada and the US which would come to define in large part, the Canadian music scene. This is where it began.”

On any given night you might find Gordon Lightfoot, John Kay (Steppenwolf), James Taylor, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Rick James, David Clayton Thomas (Blood Sweat & Tears), The Stampeders (Sweet City Woman), The Paupers, The Stitch In Tyme, Luke & The Apostles, The Ugly Ducklings, Ian and Sylvia and more, along that oneway street.

“We all played a lot of those clubs and coffee houses with names like The El Patio, The Purple Onion, The Mynah Bird, The Penny Farthing, Chez Monique’s, Charlie Brown’s, Jacques, The Riverboat and just up the road, The Avenue Road Club. Toronto was a music mecca!”

Upstarts at the time, Led Zeppelin, The Who, Procol Harum, Mothers Of Invention and David Bowie all played ‘The Rock Pile’ (the old Masonic Temple) on Younge Street, while Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks (who became The Band) owned downtown. The Beatles (“their first North American tour, floor seats twenty rows back, couldn’t hear a damned thing”), The Rolling Stones, The Supremes, Jimi Hendrix, Mamas and Papas, The Jefferson Airplane and a long list of greats made Toronto a high priority. “I saw most of em, best ever!”

The Whiskey Sours were recording their own songs at Hallmark Sound Studio and ARC Records recording studio, playing arenas and clubs throughout Ontario. Opening for groups like The McCoys (Hang On Sloopy) and Question Mark & The Mysterions (Ninety Six Tears) would mean a departure from the ‘Hippies’ and the ‘Village’ scene.

David is a 4 year graduate of The Ontario College Of Art & Design, Toronto, Canada and an accomplished Artist in his own right. His own Custom Design/Build company of twenty years, culminated with the design/construction of Gliders (1985), his own 400 seat nightclub in West End Hamilton, Ontario. He was back in the business of music!

David was fronting his house band Tailspin, booking and mixing sound for acts including Buddy Guy, John Hammond Jr, Dr. Hook’s Ray Sawyer, Alannah Myles (Black Velvet), The Byrds, Muddy Waters’ Legendary Blues Band, The Tragically Hip, Crowbar, Jackie Washington, John Ellison (Some Kinda Wonderful), Teenage Head, Downchild, The Powder Blues Band, Prairie Oyster, Tom Wilson & The Florida Razors, The Good Brothers, Long John Baldry and so many more. It was all consuming!

“With everything else going on, I was writing and recording again when old style Country Music made a shift from it’s roots to a more modern production style and I was hooked! This ‘New Country’ had more ‘crossover’ appeal and for me, a perfect fit.”

In 1987 David was Nashville bound and in 1988 with his songs in hand, collaborated with Gene Rice (engineered with producer Harold Shedd for ‘Alabama’) and some of Nashville’s best musicians to produce the album On My Own. Personal management (Backstage Productions Intl.) and national coast to coast touring would garner a 1991 Country Male Vocalist Of The Year nomination for Canada’s most prestigious Juno Awards. That same year would produce an Outstanding New Artist nomination for The Big Country Awards.

National/international attention from radio and video airplay (Outlaws & Heroes Canada and CMT Country Music Television, Nashville), TV appearances, a Scandinavian concert tour (in combination with Ronnie Hawkins & The Hawks), would put David’s music career in high gear. Performing in all Canadian major markets as well as in the US, Caribbean and even as a ‘Cruise Line’ featured guest performer was all part of a demanding schedule. “One of my greatest pleasures was opening for the late great country artist George Jones.”

Continued writing and recording would produce more albums and in 2003 between performances, David was hired as a consultant to the Ontario Government’s Lottery and Gaming Commission. His mandate (two million dollar budget) was to procure and oversee the installation of all ‘music production, staging and lighting’ for seven Ontario Racetrack/Casinos, to facilitate high profile entertainment.

David’s instruments are electric, acoustic guitar and piano. He performs his own music (from his 250 song catalogue) with a seven piece band or solo (venue specific). With a dynamic personality and a vast repertoire of cover material (over 5 decades), solo performances take audiences on a multi genre musical history tour, in a most entertaining style.

David Hutchins’ years as a music professional have found him in top Canadian and US recording studios.

On the US side (George Clinton’s Bayou Recording Studio, Reflections Studio, Valley View Studio) some of Nashville’s best like John Stacey (producer/drummer), Margie & Marcie Cates, Monty Allen, Gene Rice (producer/engineer), Jerry Kroon, Mark Casstevens, Bruce Watkins, Bobby All, Sonny Garrish, Bryan Sutton, Tommy Wells, Byron House, David Hungate (Toto), Dennis Solee, JackRoss, Walt Cunningham, Greg Galbraith and more have collaborated on David’s recordings and the list goes on!

On the Canadian side,  greats such as George Semkiw (RCA, Amber Studio), Chad Ircshick (Inception Studio), Bob Doidge/Lanois Brothers (Grant Avenue Studio), David Moyles and Fraser Mohawk (Puck’s Farm Studio). Mike ‘Pepe’ Francis, Kim Brandt, Barry Keane, Terry Clements, Ron Dan, Neil Numminen, Al Gaine, Steve Patico, Don Reed, Dennis Keldy, Al Briscoe, Rolley Platt, Dennis Pendrith, Sean O’Grady and many more have also collaborated on David’s recordings.

Decades of performing from concert stage, theaters, outdoor festivals, corporate events, private functions and a countless number of club settings finds David in his South Florida home studio, writing, recording and available for bookings.

With David Hutchins’ years of music industry experience, he is available as a ‘Speaker’ bringing insight and perspective to high school aged students in an enjoyable and interactive way.

As Speaker, David shares, demonstrates and educates, bringing awareness of the many options available to them through music, directly and indirectly. 

“Information is power, inspiration feeds the soul and kids need both, early on! As they learn who they are, they learn who they can become. Music will not betray them!”