Dutch Tilders born 29 August 1941

Dutch Tilders (29 August 1941 – 23 April 2011) was a Netherlands-born Australian blues singer-songwriter and guitarist where he was dubbed the “Godfather Of Blues”.  

Born Mattheus Frederikus Wilhelmus Tilders in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, Dutch emigrated to Australia with his parents, four brothers and a sister in 1955. At the age of ten, he was a member of a church choir, but by the time he was twelve, his alto voice broke. No more singing for the boy with the baritone voice. When he was thirteen, he joined a boys choir at a secondary school fooling the choir master into believing he was an alto by singing falsetto. He could still produce those high-pitched notes until his final days. 

His first year in Australia was spent in the Brooklyn Migrant Hostel where his first experience as a performer was in an amateur Black and White Minstrel Show. His very first paid gig, when just fifteen, was at the Collingwood Town Hall where he played the harmonica. On the same bill were Joff Allen and Johnny O’Keefe. Dutch was paid two pounds seven and sixpence, which at the time he was getting for half a weeks wages at Broons timber yard in Brooklyn. It only cost two pounds and sixpence for the taxi home.  He bought his first guitar in 1959 and by 1960 he was playing in the trendy coffee lounges of that time. Making up most of the songs as he went along, he found the blues was exactly the music in which to express his feelings. With no one to teach him, he developed his own style that remains unique to himself. During the mid-to-late 1960s Tilders performed less frequently. 

In September 1970, Tilders appeared on TV talent show New Faces and was signed by one of the judges, Ron Tudor, to his Bootleg Records label Dutch made his first self-titled album in 1972 and it was released one year later. His collaborators were Brian Cadd, Phil Manning, Barry Sullivan, Barry Harvey, Laurie Prior and Broderick Smith. In 1975 he started recording for an independent label, Eureka and consequently recorded two direct to disc records with greats Jimmy Conway and Kevin Borich. During the seventies, Dutch fronted such Blues and Boogie bands as the Elks, the Cyril ‘B’ Bunter Band and Mickey Finn. In 1980 he formed the ‘R&B Six’, a band that included Charley Elul (drums), Peter Frazer (sax), Suzanne Petersen (flute and vocals), Mick Eliot (guitar) and Dave Murray (bass and vocals). This band toured Australia extensively. 

                      Here’s “Just A Dream” from above album.

                                    

In the meantime, Dutch also worked solo and toured England with John Mayall, Taj Mahal, Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry. Returning to Australia, his next album was a joint work with Margaret Roadnight, Australian Jazz of the 70s Vol. 5 The Blues Singers. Most of his tracks on this album were his own originals. This was followed by Break, recorded with musicians from The Foreday Riders and Company Caine. He went on to release a further 12 LPs and three singles. In 1976, according to legend, B.B. King first heard Dutch from backstage and, from the quality of the performance, expected to see a black bluesman. Brownie and Dutch became best mates simply because Brownie believed that the Dutchman was a genuine bluesman, regardless of his racial origins and for some time did a number of combined tours. 

In 1981 Dutch even opened for Billy Connolly! In Australia, he fronted the Cyril B Bunter Band, which has recently re-formed, and also The Elks and Mickey Finn. He played with Jim Conway from Captain Matchbox, Kevin Borich and the Express. He had a long-time backing band, The Blues Club, which included Martin Cooper, Winston Galea, Geoff Achison and Barry Hills. After The Blues Club, he formed The Holey Soles with Ian Clarke, Anthony Harkin and Greg Dodd. In fact, it’s probably easier to list the major Australian blues artists that he hasn’t performed with – and that’s probably because they were still at school! 

During the latter days of his life he mainly performed as a solo artist and/or with his last band called The Legends Band, though he did enjoy getting together with Geoff Achison doing amazing duo chops. Ranking among his favourite guitarists were: Geoff Achison, Kevin Borich and the Emmanuel brothers. In his long career, Dutch won numerous awards (most notedly for his performances with his band, ‘The Blues Club’) recognizing his contribution to the Blues Music Scene. In 2010 his manager announced he had been diagnosed with cancer and a benefit concert was held to help with his treatment costs. He retired from performing in January 2011 due to the illness and ongoing treatment.  On 23 April 2011 Matthew “Dutch” Tilders died, aged 69. 

(Edited from Wikipedia & his own website)