Live Music: Jack Hadley (Lee Hill)

Boogie on down to Lee Hill tonight for some live tunes by    Jack Hadley!

About the Band:

Jack Hadley was born in the Philippines to a Filipino mother and an African-American father. His father was in the military and the family was accustomed to moving from place to place. When they returned to America he spent his childhood in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco. His mother bought him an acoustic guitar at the age of twelve because she wanted to keep him busy. The family moved to Denver, Colorado, where he learned to play music by ear, playing music by everyone from Hendrix to Dylan, unaware that he was learning the foundation of American music – the blues.

Jack played in a number of bands, sharpening his guitar skills and discovering his vocal talent along the way. He began performing as a solo artist and played countless shows as a hired gun. In 2005 Jack decided to focus on writing and performing his original blues-based material with his own trio, The Jack Hadley Band. That same year he was playing at a local club when he was approached by blues veteran Otis Taylor who happened to be in the audience. For the next 18 months Jack was Taylor’s lead guitarist, playing at festivals and shows all over the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom. He appears on Otis Taylor’s 2007 Telarc release “Definition Of A Circle” playing lead guitar and lap steel. Notable musicians on this recording include ex-Thin Lizzy axeman Gary Moore and blues harmonica legend Charlie Musselwhite. In November 2006 he recorded two songs with keyboard wizard Steve McQuarry at the legendary Hyde Street Studios in San Francisco including his revolutionary track “You & Me.”

The fall of 2007 marked the beginning of a new project with bluesman Dan Treanor. “Brothers Blood & Bone” is a fresh look at the blues today that includes new songs from Treanor and Hadley along with their updated versions of classics from Blind Lemon Jefferson, Sonny Boy Williamson and Walter “Billy Boy” Arnold. In 2011 Hadley contributed lead vocals on Neil Haverstick’s “Hide & Seek” CD on Stickman Records.

Jack’s career is in high gear with 2013 appearances at Blues From The Top in Winter Park, Colorado; BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups in St. Louis; the Brighton Blues Blast in Brighton, Colorado; and the Rauma Blues Festival in Rauma, Finland, backed by the St. Louis Blues All-Stars featuring keyboardist Bob Lohr, bassist Terry Coleman and drummer Keith Robinson. His latest effort – “The St. Louis Sessions” – was released in October, 2014, on San Telmo Media. Recorded with the St. Louis Blues All-Stars, produced by Bob Lohr.