Jeff Gutt

Jeffrey Adam "Jeff" Gutt (born May 2, 1976) is a musician and vocalist originating from the Metro Detroit area, known as the former lead vocalist of the nu metal band Dry Cell.

Gutt has appeared in two seasons of the American reality television series The X Factor. He first appeared in Season 2 (2012) when he drew international acclaim for his heartfelt rendition of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah," before being eliminated in the following "Boot Camp" episode. Gutt competed in Season 3 (2013) of The X Factor USA, finishing in second place. In 2014, Gutt was dubbed as one of the most 'influential' X Factor USA contestants of all-time by FoxWeekly.^[1]

Early life

Gutt's family resided in St. Clair County, located in southeast Michigan, throughout most of his childhood years. He attended schools in both Algonac and Marine City, graduating from Marine City High School in 1994.

Gutt's prominent band during his high school years was Innerfaith. He was the frontman of Innerfaith, which he formed with friends Matt Brooks on bass, Jeff Sankuer on drums, and guitarist Patrick Sankuer. Innerfaith wrote and performed original songs, ultimately winning the "Blue Water Area Battle of the Bands" in Marysville, Michigan.

In 2012 two early extended plays featuring Gutt on vocals were made downloadable for free through his official site: a 3-track 1992–1995 compilation (named Nautical Star by fans for its cover) and a 4-track Dragonfly (1997). The latter was recorded by Gutt with the band of the same name which featured Steve Mazur of Our Lady Peace on guitar.^[2] Lyrics from the Dragonfly song "Sugarpill" were later used for a Dry Cell song "New Revolution".

In Dry Cell

Gutt became the lead vocalist for Dry Cell by joining the rock band Beyond Control with the already current members Danny Hartwell, Judd Gruenbaum, and Brandon Brown. After performing with them until 2004 and after the band released a studio album titled Disconnected in 2002,^[3] he left the band briefly with Dave Wasierski replacing him as lead vocalist. Gutt rejoined Dry Cell in 2005.

The band went on a brief hiatus from 2005 to 2007, but in 2008 reunited with same members. In 2009 Gutt left Dry Cell for good.^[4]

In early 2010 a compilation The Dry Cell Collection was released.^[5] It contains previously released demos from 2003, 2005 and 2008, b-sides from Disconnected and one previously unreleased song, "So Alive". The band had no news on their MySpace page since 2010. In 2012, it was said on Gutt's official website that Dry Cell is now defunct.

In Acrylic, Band With No Name and Punch

After parting ways with Dry Cell in 2004, Gutt recorded 8 demo songs with a band named Acrylic.^[6]

In 2005 (when Dry Cell went on hiatus) Gutt and his friend, guitarist Gary Pittel formed Band With No Name (abbreviated as BWNN).^[7] The band also included Aaron Hutchinson (drums), Justin “Antic” Hackman (keyboards), Mike Guy and later Ben Lula (bass). In 2007 BWNN released a 5-track self-titled EP.^[8] In 2008 they won 89X & TNTs Battle Of The Bands in Michigan and received $10,000 and studio time to record a new EP.^[9] 7 new songs were recorded and a full-length album named Humanity was released in 2009.^[10] In 2013 it was re-released under Gutt's name on iTunes and included the song "Stay", which was previously known as the album's B-side.^[11]

Gutt, Pittel and Hutchinson also perform live as a cover band, Punch.^[12]

Gutt also appears on Solystic's songs Carry On,^[13] Open Letter^[14] and Almost Dead.^[15]

In one of the interviews Gutt states that once he was "really close to becoming a new singer for Alice in Chains..."^[16]

The X Factor

Season 2

In 2012, Gutt auditioned for the second season of the American singing competition series The X Factor. In an episode broadcast on September 20, 2012, Gutt sang "Hallelujah", a cover of Leonard Cohen getting unanimous four "yes"es from the judges Simon Cowell, Britney Spears, Demi Lovato and L.A. Reid.^[17] But he couldn't make it past the "bootcamp" stage and was eliminated before the live shows. Several weeks later, Cowell stated to Access Hollywood that one regret he had was sending Gutt home early.^[18]

On March 29, 2013, Gutt released a music video for his debut solo single "Hallelujah" through vimeo.^[19] Gutt's bandmates from BWNN are also shown in the video. On April 28, 2013, the single was released on iTunes.^[20]

Gutt's performances included:

Season 3

In 2013, he returned once again with the third season of the competition. He auditioned with the song "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" from Aerosmith. After the judges objected, he was offered a second song, "Creep" from Radiohead.^[21] Based on that performance, he was put in the Final 40, and one of ten finalists in the "Over 25" category mentored by Kelly Rowland.

In the newly introduced "four-chair challenge", Gutt sang "Amazing Grace" and was selected as a Final 16 candidate and one of four in the "Over 25" category.^[22]

Ultimately, Gutt was the runner-up for The X Factor season 3, finishing second place to Alex & Sierra in a razor-thin margin of votes from American viewers.^[23]

Gutt's performances include:

• Gutt also performed Queen's We Will Rock You with Alex & Sierra and Carlito Olivero and John Newman's Love Me Again with Alex & Sierra in Finale.

Post X Factor career

On January 26, 2014 Gutt revealed two members of his future band: BWNN/Punch bandmate Gary Pittel (guitar) and ex-Dry Cell bandmate Brandon Brown (drums).^[24][25] One day later two more band members were announced: Cyamak Ashtiani on guitar and KC Jenkins on bass.^[26][27]

On April 27, 2014, Gutt gave an interview to the Detroit Don't Panic radio during which three new songs recorded by him and the new band were premiered: "Bittersweet", "Shadows in Light" and "Your Name".

On May 3, 2014, Gutt and the new band played the debut show at the Masonic Temple in Detroit.^[28]

In December, 2014, Gutt released "A Detroit Christmas" solo single.

On May 29, 2015, Gutt announced the name of the new band: Rival City Heights.^[29]

Since September 2015 Rival City Heights had been touring the Middle East (Jordan, India, Turkey, Egypt, Lebanon) for a series of concerts in association with the Princess Alia Foundation. They also started writing a debut album.^[30]

Personal life

Gutt is a single father and has one son, Talon.

Discography

With Dragonfly

• 1997 – Dragonfly

With Dry Cell

• 2001 – Demo EP (as Impür)
• 2002 – Disconnected
• 2010 – The Dry Cell Collection

With Band With No Name (BWNN)

• 2007 – BWNN EP
• 2009 – Humanity (re-released in 2013 as Gutt's solo album on iTunes)

Solo discography

• 1992–95 – "Nautical Star"
• 2013 – Hallelujah (Single)
• 2013 – The X Factor USA Season 3 Live Performances^[31]
• 2014 – A Detroit Christmas (Single) ^[32]

References