Garrett Dutton III (born October 3, 1972), better known as G. Love, is the front man for the band, G. Love & Special Sauce. Dutton, born in Philadelphia, began playing guitar at age 8. He wrote his first song by the time he was in the 9th grade and began playing harmonica in a wire rack. Dutton credits Bob Dylan and John Hammond Jr., as well as then-contemporary "old school" hip-hop sounds of Run-DMC, the Beastie Boys, and Philadelphia's own Schooly D as influences. Dutton, still in high school at Germantown Friends School, began playing solo on the streets of Philadelphia.