By Wade Wellborn (Dr. Music) Fairhope

Mike Hutchison was born into a musical family and points to the church as the catalyst for his early love for music. His career has involved stints as a youth music minister, a professional musician, a manager and owner of a retail music store, a music teacher, and a bandleader. His band, Blind Dog Mike & the Howlers, is a local staple and his Baldwin County Instrument Exchange store serviced and guided local musicians for decades.

As a youngster, Hutchinson picked up the guitar and the harmonica soon followed.  His playing style took inspiration from the singer-songwriters of the time: James Taylor, Gordon Lightfoot, Jim Croce, CSN&Y, and the Eagles. In college, he added the mandolin to his stable and can now play almost anything.  

In 1979, Hutchinson was hired to manage Music Alley, a musical instrument shop in Birmingham.  He says that this was an interesting period; synthesizers and keyboards were advancing and the advent of MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) programming was on the horizon.  

In 1988, he moved to Baldwin County, built his current home on Bailey’s Creek, and signed on as the manager for M&S Music in Baldwin County. His commitment to songwriting and his regular performances led to an offer for a publishing deal with a Nashville firm but he turned them down because he couldn’t see himself leaving Baldwin County.

Hutchinson was declared legally blind in 1993 and left his job as store manager.  In a short time, he built an addition to his home for a retail business adventure. Baldwin County Instrument Exchange began to sell and repair musical instruments and offer lessons to its patrons. He retired and closed the shop in 2016 with plans to use the space as a haven for family and guests.  

The advent of digital recording technology and the purchase of a digital recorder offered Hutchison the opportunity to make an album. 2005’s Blind Dog Mike & the Howlers is a self-produced affair and he sells them for $5 at shows. Songs like Southern Pines are indicative of the laid-back feel of his music; 

“I was sitting on the dock on Bailey’s Creek one night with a riff in my head. I had been struggling with the lyrics but when I realized that the night was perfect and I was at peace, the words just flowed.” When asked about songwriting, his goal is to observe, interpret and entertain.

Hutchinson’s band exists in a few variations these days: as a trio or more they are Blind Dog Mike & the Howlers, as a duo it’s Blind Dog Mike + Guest.  He prefers to play dinner venues like Felix’s, Hope Farm, Bill-E’s, and private parties for a few reasons; he’s entertaining families, he gets home early and he can sample the food after the show; “I’m a family man, a Grandad now.”  He has lots of musical collaborators, many from his church but mentions his long-time bass player, the late Buster Middlebrooks as one of his favorites. 

The future holds a new recording project with some surprises.  Hutchinson says that this album will feature leads from a variety of instruments: flute, tenor saxophone, and clarinet.  He’s chosen this method “for feel” and to allow himself to branch out with his playing. He’s excited about ’Til the Sun Goes Down because it combines a bossa-nova beat and beach music. He’s working to get his music on streaming services like Spotify and readily embraces new technology for recording and playing live. 

A visit to Mike Hutchinson’s home on Bailey’s Creek is a real treat.  One room of his household has an elaborate model train layout.  Every piece of the landscape is hand-made; the detail is outstanding.   He fills his free time as a volunteer with several local causes, visits some recently acquired land in the mountains, and fires the cannon at the Grand Hotel every afternoon at 4 PM as part of its Grandeur, Grit, and Glory presentation for guests.  

When asked about his life, he responds; “There’s nothing like throwing a cast net over a school of mullet and feeling the rope tap, tap, tap when you’re pulling it in and there’s nothing like writing and performing a new song and seeing the listener’s reaction.”

* Thanks to Dunn Hester for the photos of Mike Hutchinson