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 "Paffrath & 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. Marvin 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 ancho, 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 Knopfler 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 Mark's salary, yet.
2009 has finally seen a solo CD released by Marvin. It is called "My House". Marvin wrote many of the songs himself and also does a beautiful rendition of Michael Smith's "The Dutchman". For Marvin's fans, this has been a long awaited treat. The CD is available through the website CD Baby. Marvin continues to play and co-produce on my recordings and still appears on live performances. He does many shows of his own and produces and plays with other singer-songwriters around Austin and on tour as well. You can find him on MySpace.
Tish's Most Valuable Players:
Marvin Dykhuis
Glenn Kawamoto
Troy Wells
Uli Rademacher
Chip Dolan
Arturo Garza
Paul Pearcy
Tish remembers:
Gary Primich (1958-2007)
Keith Carper (1959-2009)
Amy Farris (1968-2009)
