Tish's Most Valuable Players:
Marvin Dykhuis
Marvin Dykhuis is originally from Racine Wisconsin. He had been an already familiar face in Austin's acoustic and blues scene for a few years when I arrived in 1988, using the name Marvin Denton. Before moving to Austin, he had traveled the college circuit with the duo "Pafrath and Dykhuis" and had fronted blues, folk and acoustic bands in the Illinois-Wisconsin area. He was introduced to me in my early round of clubs and bars around town. I invited him to sit in and it wasn't long before I found him adding really tasteful compliments to my songs, on guitar and vocally. He has played on all my demos and recordings since, and quickly grew into the band leader and right hand man. He is always a solid anchor whether in a small configuration or with a full blown symphony orchestra. Some wild instrumental surprises have emerged out of his gig bag too, and he's played them well. Keep your eyes on my records instrumentation credits and on works he's produced.
He and his wife Becky (a woman high on my admired list) built their own beautiful straw bale house and Marvin is a Master Beer Brewer.
And there's more. I secretly think he was born with an internal navigation device. Yeah, we get lost out there sometimes, but even with the road signs in a foreign language, with or without a road map or manager - we always seem to get there.
Having said all this, I hope Mark Knoffler doesn't hear about our silent giant of the music industry, right here in our midst, the low key and always delightful Marvin Dykhuis. I can't match his salary, yet.
Glenn Kawamoto
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