John Hasbrouck

Chicagoan John Hasbrouck began playing guitar in 1975, fronted a psychedelic heavy metal punk band in 1978, and began studying classical guitar at Northern Illinois University in 1979. Fate landed him in an NIU dormitory which housed music students exclusively, and while there he was exposed to an overwhelming variety of musical styles and perspectives. He credits this experience as one of the principle eye-openers of his early musical life.In 1981, Hasbrouck immersed himself in the art of fingerstyle guitar after discovering the music of John Fahey. A deep study of early 20th century fingerpicking styles followed, along with his first explorations into World Music. The early 1980s also saw Hasbrouck's first professional work, and by 1984 he had toured over 100,000 miles with the reggae/ska band Mr. Myers.In 1985 at the First American Fingerstyle Guitar Festival in Milwaukee, Hasbrouck attended workshops by Leo Kottke, Michael Hedges, Pierre Bensusan, Taj Mahal and other virtuosi. This was not the last time he would seize the opportunity to study with world-class players.Nineteen eighty-five was also the year he met legendary songster Catfish Stephenson. The two became busking partners in the streets of Madison, Wisconsin. Then a graphic design student at UW, Hasbrouck spent hundreds of hours playing with this new mentor, and his style matured rapidly. By the time he moved to Chicago in 1988, Hasbrouck was a seasoned player.During the 1990s Hasbrouck played innumerable cafes and clubs in Chicago, working the "caffeine circuit." This period saw him come of age as a solo performer. When he recorded "Ice Cream" in 2001, he brought over twenty years of experience, material, and chops to the project. In the words of Catfish, it wasn't luck that Hasbrouck achieved immediate national recognition with "Ice Cream," which was cited as one of the "Top CDs of 2002" by Acoustic Guitar magazine.Hasbrouck's second release, "Some These Days," (2004) is a deep meditation on American Roots Music which demonstrates his firm grasp of the rich musical heritage that has shaped his art over three decades of music-making.At present Hasbrouck is involved in a number of side projects, including his "jugless jug band," Hardscrabble, featuring Chicago luminaries Lawrence Peters and Josh Piet. He plays mandolin alongside guitarist Matt Gandurski in The Northside Southpaws, a totally left-handed, totally reso-phonic mandolin-guitar duo. He is also a member of The Lawrence Peters Outfit with Peters, Piet, and local gun-for-hire Steve Doyle.As a session player, Hasbrouck appears on the latest recording by Edith Frost, "It's a Game," and the recent disc by Blake Thomas & The Downtown Brown, "Real Like Theatre."In addition to performing and recording, Hasbrouck maintains a busy schedule teaching fingerstyle guitar privately in Chicago. He is on staff at The Old Town School of Folk Music and is a member of the American String Teachers Association. He is also an accomplished visual artist, with a Bachelors Degree in Graphic Design and nearly two decades' experience as a graphics professional.