Mike Thut, concert photographer well-known in CT music scene, dies at 69
Mike Thut, respected concert photographer well-known in CT music scene, dies at 69
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If a picture is worth a thousand words, Mike Thut's photos could fill a music library.
“Local artists, venues, festivals, everybody knows the name Mike Thut. You couldn’t go to a show without bumping into him,” said Trevor Sylvestro, marketing director for Farfield Theatre Company.
Thut was a staple of the Northeast music scene for decades and became FTC’s original house photographer in 2006. A wall in the lobby pays tribute to the thousands of snapshots he took there. Rusted Root, Arlo Guthrie, B.B. King and Vanessa Carlton are a fraction of the artists featured.
“He was able to capture the moment. He would be able to disappear into a room, and let the moment be honest,” Sylvestro told News 12.
And not just locally. Thut graduated from Warde High School and went on to photograph and befriend rock legends.
“Huge names. I mean everyone from the Grateful Dead in the late 60s and 70s to Frank Zappa. He was there doing it the old-school way and then into the digital age. He just kept on shooting photographs,” Sylvestro said.
Thut’s photography website showcases stills of Jerry Garcia, Neil Diamond, David Johansen and Willie Nelson, just to name a few.
Thut died over the weekend from cancer at the age of 69. Before his death, he planned his own celebration of life for Saturday night. He ended up passing just hours before it began.
“Everyone still came together and celebrated him. A lot of people sharing a lot of funny stories and a few tears,” Sylvestro said. “It wasn't a lot of sadness because there are also these happy memories, and they're all captured because of Mike Thut. And it's a beautiful thing.”
News of Thut’s passing echoed through the industry. On Facebook, Tom Constanten, the Grateful Dead’s former keyboard player, posted a picture of the two of them, writing, "I don't know what I remember more fondly about Mike Thut—the generosity of his spirit or his fine photographer's eye."
“He knew everyone. Everyone wanted to be his friend. You don’t realize how many lives he actually touched and how big of a fixture he was in the industry as a whole,” Sylvestro stated. “He would become family with everyone he came across. He was a special guy.”
