Studebaker John
Biography
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 and The Hawks, named for a car that Grimaldi owned at the time (and inspired by J.B. Hutto and 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, hed 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. Im basically self-taught and Id pick things up by just watching them."
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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. Hes 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. Hes 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 and 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 Theresas and the Checkerboard Lounge (with Buddy Guy) and working at "wild as hell" West Side haunts, Grimaldi started his own band, Studebaker John and The Hawks, in 1971 to work the evolving North Side clubs like Kingston Mines. The band continues to record, as does Studebaker John. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.