Covering a sport which takes up thirty-six of the fifty-two weeks in a year can be daunting task.  For motorsports journalist Monte Dutton, this weekend’s Food City 500 at the Bristol Motor Speedway allows him to showcase not only his writing skills, but also his musical talent.

While Dutton is best known for his writings on NASCAR, the Clifton, S.C.-native has been known to pick up the guitar and play a tune every now and then.  This week Dutton will hit the stage on Wednesday night at the Open Hoot open mic night at the Down Home in Johnson City, T.N. and then again on Friday at Capone’s, also in Johnson City.  Wednesday’s show will begin at 8 p.m. and on Friday Dutton is scheduled to open for the Twang Bangers at 10 p.m.

“I’ve got no illusions that I’m going to be some music star,” Dutton admitted. “Mainly, I just play my guitar and write songs because it’s fun and it gives me a chance to make observations a different way. Instead of writing a column, I’m writing a song.

“I’ve always liked to sing, and it’s kind of hard to sing a column.”        

After doing research for his book entitled, True to the Roots: American Music Revealed (University of Nebraska Press), Dutton decided to try his hand at making the music he had been studying.  Picking up a guitar at a pawn shop, the 2008 National Motorsports Press Association writer of the year began to teach himself how to play.  Covering a number of songs from the past and developing twenty-two original songs, Dutton has become quite the performer.

“I guess I got kind of fascinated with the idea of entertaining people,” he added. “I knew I could stand in front of a group of people and play my songs. What I didn’t know was whether I could put on a show, so to speak. I wanted to say enough but not too much. I wanted to give some background information that would help people understand the songs better.”

Since beginning, Dutton has gone on to play at Pawlessfest in Gainesville, Texas, and in November he opened for singer-songwriter Bruce Robison at Puckett’s Farm Equipment in Charlotte, N.C.  

A talented writer and a genuine musician, Dutton will please any crowd with his strumming.  If you are planning on being in the area for this weekend’s NASCAR event in Bristol, make it a point to visit either the Down Home on Wednesday night or Capone’s on Friday to see Dutton in action.

For more information, be sure to visit Monte Dutton on MySpace at myspace.com/hmdutton and check out montedutton.com.