The Guitar Player's Resource
Chicago guitarist/vocalist John Hasbrouk's recently released second CD, Some These Days, is a many-sided collection of vocal tracks and instrumentals, originals and covers. Maintaining a healthy respect for the blues and American roots music, Hasbrouck's ten original tracks brim with greasy bottleneck and daring fingerstyle guitar work, while the cover tracks, such as Catfish Stephenson's "Bluebird", offer keening vocals and rich toned playing. Hasbrouck has been making music for over three decades - he's no newcomer - and Some These Days features the skilled hand of noted indie recording engineer Steve Albini - together they've put together a thoroughly engaging taste of Americana that offers as much to guitar players as it does to non-playing fans of fingerstyle and bottleneck guitar. Highly recommended. John Hasbrouck was originally profiled in the August-September, 2004 edition of The Undiscovered.
John began playing rock 'n' roll guitar in 1975 and enrolled in the Music Department of Northern Illinois University in 1979. Being housed in a music-only dormitory exposed him to a wide variety of musical styles and perspectives - one of the principle eye-opening experiences of his musical life. In 1981, John immersed himself in the art of the fingerstyle guitar, and later he toured over 100,000 miles with a popular reggae/ska band. He has studied with world-class players at the American Fingerstyle Guitar Festival, mentored with songster Catfish Stephenson, played innumerable cafes and clubs in Chicago, and in 2001, recorded his debut album, "Ice Cream". John's first CD achieved national recognition, cited by Acoustic Guitar magazine as one of the Top CDs of 2002.
In addition to his work as a performer and recording artist, Hasbrouck maintains a busy schedule teaching fingerstyle guitar. He teaches privately in Chicago, and is on staff at The Old Town School of Folk Music and The World Folk Music Company.
Ruthless Rabbit Records
United States
Web site: www.johnhasbrouck.com