Mr. Aullie
A bluesman and songwriter who has become a legend in Florida music circles.
Mr. Aullie (AKA Donald Blitch) is a multi-award-winning songwriter whose blend of blues, Americana, and backwoods folk never fails to amaze audience members or his musical peers. Born and raised in Gainesville, this blues guitar guru is a Florida native who has been professionally active in music since the mid-1970s. Mr. Aullie is also a multi-instrumentalist, playing acoustic guitar, electric guitar, cigar box guitar, and harmonica. His blues-inspired vocals take listeners back to the musical realm of legends like Mississippi John Hurt and Blind Lemon Jefferson. Mr. Aullie has said that he was inspired by the prolific blues songwriter, John Mayall, and his band The Bluesbreakers, Willie Nelson, and John Lee Hooker.
Mr. Aullie formerly performed as Cracker the Box, playing cigar box guitar and harmonica. Later, he took the name of Mr. Aullie, to honor his family, because the Aullie name goes back for at least four generations. In 2013 Mr. Aullie placed first in the Gamble Rogers tribute song at The Gamble Rogers Music Festival of St. Augustine. He also took first in the Santa Fe River Song Contest and was honored as the North Central Florida Blues Society's Regional Blues Challenge Solo Artist of 2017. He was a featured performer at the 2018 International Blues Challenge at the Orpheum Juke in Nashville, Tennessee and, in 2019 he was chosen as the opening act for the internationally-known blues guitarist, Buddy Guy, in Gainesville, Florida.
Mr. Aullie used to be a regular performer in St. Augustine. Now he can be found more frequently in Gainesville, playing at Satchell's Pizza.
