JP Cutler
Though only in his mid ‘20s, JP Cutler is easily identified as that rare form of singer/songwriter, an original whose work somehow feels familiar. There is an assured quality to both his vocals and his steel-stringed acoustic guitar playing as though they were the work of an artist long-established as a professional in his craft, rather than one embarking on a career. His writing is informed with a patient intensity, significant traces of which are heard in his deft finger-picking as well. A few key influences are there to be detected by those with their magnifying glasses at the ready (the guitar work of fellow Minnesotan Leo Kottke shadows Cutler’s own dexterity, and then there’s that fellow Zimmerman from Hibbing, Minn…).
Born in Boston, JP caromed between Minnesota and Florida during his adolescence, returning to live at his father’s house in Minneapolis while attending high school. It was here that music became a quantum interest for JP; though a psychologist by profession, his father was an adept guitarist and vocalist of commanding ability. JP drew little from his dad by way of formal instruction, but the elder Cutler’s musical example, one of resolve to refine music that no one else might even hear, made a great impression on his son. It was in his father’s house that JP heard the American roots music, the railroad songs and hobo lullabies that would inspire JP Cutler to pursue Americana music by his own design.
