Studebaker John’s career has spanned six decades with tours across Europe and the United States. With over 20 albums released, he’s one of Chicago’s most legendary blues musicians.
Studebaker John Grimaldi was born in an Italian American section of Chicago and started playing harmonica at age 7. Under the spell of the music he heard on Maxwell Street, Chicago’s famed blues melting pot, Grimaldi began performing as Studebaker John and the Hawks in the ‘70s. The band referenced the Studebaker Hawk, a car Grimaldi still owns today, and was also intended as a tribute to his friend, J.B. Hutto and the Hawks. John began playing guitar after a life-changing experience of seeing Hound Dog Taylor and the Houserockers perform. “…Hound Dog started playing, hitting notes that sent chills up and down my spine. He was versatile and powerful and would play rhythm as well as leads. I left there knowing what I wanted to do. I had to play slide guitar.”S
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