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Studebaker John Is American Blues Guitarist And Harmonica Player John Grimaldi Born In Chicago IL On 5 November 1952 . He Is A Practitioner Of The Chicago Blues Style. In The Mid-70s He Formed The Band Studebaker John & The Hawks Named For A Car That Grimaldi Owned At The Time And Inspired By J.B. Hutto & The Hawks . As Well As The Band Recordings He Records As Studebaker John. Grimaldi Whose Father Was An Amateur Musician Grew Up Listening To Blues Music On Chicago’s Maxwell Street Where He Heard The Blues First-Hand From Big Walter Horton "One-Armed" John Wrencher Johnny Littlejohn And Other Regulars. "I Can Remember A Time When You Could See Muddy Waters Howlin' Wolf He'd Play In His Own Club Hound Dog Taylor Would Always Be Around Maxwell Street. J.B. Hutto Too. Being Able To See Them Perform Live Was Breathtaking. I'm Basically Self-Taught And I'd Pick Things Up By Just Watching Them." He Also Took To Heart Their Advice About Developing His Own Style. He Recalls "The Old Guys Like Walter Horton Gave Me The Best Advice When They Told Me Not To Try To Sound Like Them But To Sound Like Myself. To Me Blues Is Really Finding The Heart Of The Music And Putting Yourself Into It." In Addition To The Aforementioned Artists Grimaldi Lists His Harmonica Influences As Little Walter Both Sonny Boys And Paul Butterfield. On Guitar He Names Albert Collins Albert King Freddie King And Elmore James. Nonetheless Unwilling To Merely Emulate The Masters Grimaldi Has Evolved A Playing Style That Incorporates The Influences Of Past Blues Greats While Stretching The Boundaries Of Both The Instruments He Plays. He's Also An Accomplished Songwriter Composing And Arranging All The Material For The Band Creating A Unique And Unmistakable Sound All His Own. Citing This Originality Blues Access Remarked That Grimaldi "has Taken Lessons From His Teachers Without Reverting To Mimicry. He's His Own Man." Grimaldi Began Playing Harmonica At Age Seven When He Picked Up A Harp Belonging To His Father And Began "experimenting" With It. In His Early Years He Played Drums And Harmonica In Rock And R&B Bands. By The Time He Was Sixteen Having Been Entranced By The Vibrant Blues Scene On The Streets And Airwaves Of Chicago He Decided To Devote His Talents Exclusively To The Blues Harmonica. It Was Also Around This Time That He Acquired His Stage Name - His First Car Was A Studebaker Lark. A Few Years Later Grimaldi Was Inspired To Play Slide Guitar After Seeing Hound Dog Taylor Whose Playing Knocked Him Out On First Hearing. "He Was Wild And Raw In The Groove And Just Killin' " Grimaldi Remembers. Soon Grimaldi Was Featuring His Own Slide Work Along With His Harmonica Playing. While Grimaldi Rarely Plays Any Covers He Will Almost Always Do A Tribute To Hound Dog. After Sitting In At Theresa's And The Checkerboard Lounge With Buddy Guy And Working At "wild As Hell" West Side Haunts Grimaldi Started His Own Band Studebaker John & The Hawks In 1971 To Work The Evolving North Side Clubs Like Kingston Mines. The Band Continues To Record As Does Studebaker John. read less