Frontman Garrett Dutton (aka G. Love) of G. Love & Special Sauce, came of age in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, during the 1980s, when hip-hop music was going through an early renaissance. Dutton was a folk singer who busked the City of Brotherly Love (more recently also known as the City of Sisterly Affection). He instinctively put the two genres together and developed a new sound. Critics called his style “hip-hop blues.” It got him and his band a record contract and a hit record on MTV rotation (“Cold Beverage”), and it launched him on a long and successful career that’s spanned three decades.
Dutton began as a fan of blues and folk music. He attended local folk festivals and heard artists like Taj Mahal. Dutton was a big Bob Dylan fan and, like him, played acoustic guitar with a harmonica on a rack. He asked the clerk at a local record store (the legendary 3rd Street Jazz Shop) if there was anyone else like Dylan who played guitar and harmonica that Dutton should check out. The employee turned him on to the music of John Hammond Jr.
Hammond Jr. is the son of record producer John H. Hammond, famous for discovering and launching the careers of iconic artists like Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Aretha Franklin, Billie Holiday, Count Basie, and Benny Goodman. Hammond Jr. plays acoustic resophonic guitars and sings in a barrelhouse style. He put out his debut album in 1962 on the Vanguard label and has recorded more than 30 since. Many artists consider Hammond Jr.’s 1965 album Country Blues a classic.
“That record changed my life,” Dutton said excitedly over the telephone from his Cape Cod home. “I was hooked from the first song, ‘Statesboro Blues.’ It offered me a path forward. The music was different than the flat strumming one heard on most folk records.”
“Statesboro Blues” by Blind Willie McTell is actually the album’s third track. Dutton may have gotten the sequencing wrong, but his enthusiasm is clear. When hip-hop emerged on the scene a few years later, he was receptive to new sounds, thanks to Hammond Jr. for opening his ears.
- Love & Special Sauce also have an extensive discography. They have re-leased 11 studio albums since their eponymous debut album back in 1994. Their most recent release, Ode to R.L., just came out in November 2025. Dutton has also released four solo studio albums, including the celebrated Lemonade (2006) and The Juice (2020), the latter of which was nominated for a Best Contemporary Blues Album Grammy Award. Dutton is celebrating the 20th anniversary of Lemonade on his current tour, which includes a stop at the Wildwood Smokehouse & Saloon in Iowa City on January 9.
Although Lemonade was billed as a solo G. Love album, he said his bandmates Jimi “Jazz” Prescott (upright bass) and Jeffrey “Thunderhouse” Clemens (drums) also played on most tracks alongside other studio musicians, including Pete Donnelly and Chris DiBeneditto. The record also included several notable guest stars, including Jack Johnson. Ben Harper, Blackalicious, Marc Broussard, and David Hidalgo. While Hammond Jr. does not perform on any of Dutton’s albums, the two have toured and performed together many times. Dutton even produced and plays on Hammond Jr.’s 2007 album Push Comes to Shove.
The songs from Lemonade will be featured on the forthcoming tour, but Dutton said they won’t perform all the songs from the album. The repertoire will include many songs from the band’s vast catalog, including ones from the newest album. That will be a little tricky because of how Ode to R.L. was recorded. “R.L.” refers to the late Mississippi country blues legend R.L. Boyce, who passed away in 2023. The album was created in a multi-stage process that blended live performances with modern production techniques.
“The original recordings were made during a magical night at Luther Dickenson’s Zebra Ranch Studios in Coldwater [Mississippi],” Dutton said. “There was R.L. and other stellar players. We jammed the blues all night, drank a bottle of whiskey, smoked a blunt. I was on harmonica.” The session was recorded, but Dutton said the results were too loose to release. Dutton said he gave the tape to his friend and producer, Logan Tichnor. Tichnor chopped Boyce’s performance into loops and beats. Tichnor had Dutton add fresh music, including hip-hop rhythms, and turned R.L.’s contributions into samples, transforming the music into something tighter and more cohesive.
Dutton said he’s not worried about whether the live versions of these songs match the album. “When I am doing a live show, I am not trying to transfer a recorded version to the stage,” he said. “My aim is to create a performance that captures the vibe of the moment. That’s true for songs from all my records, not just this one. Each song and every show is unique.”
Otherwise, he notes, one could just stay home and listen to the records. For fans, that’s the promise: a night of music that feels alive where blues meets beats and tradition meets innovation.