Studebaker John & The Hawks - Waiting on The Sun (2008)

Simply not content to make the same album over and over again, Studebaker John’s Waiting on the Sun is a breathtaking sunrise of different musical elements. Combining, for the first time, slide guitar with Latin rhythms, raw blues grooves, rock and roll, and improvised jams with a touch of jazz that mix together perfectly to give the listener a CD of artistic integrity....in other words, “fun”.

A “true bluesman” Studebaker John has been writing, recording (11 CD’s released on various blues labels) and performing only original compositions, along with continuous touring throughout the US, Canada, UK and Europe in support of his music for more than 25 years. His songs have been featured in major motion pictures and prime-time TV commercials. Many articles have been written about John in various publications including Guitar One, Blues Revue magazines US, Blues in Britain, and cover stories in Back to the Roots magazine in Belgium and Twoj Blues in Poland. His music can be heard on blues and rock radio shows (including internet radio and has reached the top of the XM Satellite Bluesville chart) every day around the globe.

Studebaker John Grimaldi was born in Chicago and started playing harmonica at age 7. Under the spell of 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 name 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.”

“John captures the raw energy and grit of the classic blues musicians but pumped up to a rocking energy level. He has a deep understanding of the blues tradition that comes from hanging with the classic Chicago bluesmen, but he’s created his own sound and style from these roots.” Bruce Iglauer, Alligator Records

“It’s rare to hear a blues artist perform three sets of irresistible originals, and it’s even rarer for that artist to stay “in the zone” from first song to last.” BluesRevue Thomas J. Cullen, III