Matt Hendricks is a Chicago based artist who is keeping the blues alive with his blend of heartfelt singing, unique fingerstyle guitar playing, and genuine original songs. Having first won the Windy City Blues Challenge in 2009, Matt is proud to have earned the winning title again in 2016 and will be heading to Memphis in 2017 for the International Blues Challenge to represent Chicago in the Duo category for a second time. Bill “Cash” Curtis will once again accompany him on the drums, completing the second half of this exceptional duo. Always a fan of the blues, Matt learned their true meaning after he was killed in a car wreck. After being brought back to life and struggling through a long recovery, he was finally able to continue performing and began writing songs distinctive to his life experiences. Listening to Cash Curtis’s great balance and depth on the drums along with the unparalleled voice and guitar playing of Matt Hendricks will reinvigorate your soul with the blues and change your thinking of how much sound two men can create on their instruments. You can see Matt perform every Tuesday and Thursday evening at the world renowned Buddy Guy’s Legends blues club in Chicago, the House of Blues in Chicago, and any other venue where great music is played.
Recordings
Self-titled Recordings:
Let Me In, 2016
Way Down Deep with Gerry Hundt, Bob Carter, 2012 (listen)
Sun Session with Bill Curtis, 2010 (listen)
Under the Influence with Bill Curtis, Aaron Gardner, Benny Rickun, 2009 (listen)
Live at Legends with Bill Curtis, 2008
Live at the Bremen with Bryan Nebel, 2005 (listen)
Ghetto Blues Hotel first solo release, 2004
Recordings with other artists:
Under Streetlight Glow with Heidi Spencer and the Rare Birds, 2011
I've Read Salinger with Lisa Gatewood, 2007
The Luck We Made with Heidi Spencer and the Rare Birds, 2005
Matches and Valentines with Heidi Spencer and the Rare Birds, 2004
Self-titled Recordings:
Let Me In, 2016
Way Down Deep with Gerry Hundt, Bob Carter, 2012 (listen)
Sun Session with Bill Curtis, 2010 (listen)
Under the Influence with Bill Curtis, Aaron Gardner, Benny Rickun, 2009 (listen)
Live at Legends with Bill Curtis, 2008
Live at the Bremen with Bryan Nebel, 2005 (listen)
Ghetto Blues Hotel first solo release, 2004
Recordings with other artists:
Under Streetlight Glow with Heidi Spencer and the Rare Birds, 2011
I've Read Salinger with Lisa Gatewood, 2007
The Luck We Made with Heidi Spencer and the Rare Birds, 2005
Matches and Valentines with Heidi Spencer and the Rare Birds, 2004
Teaching
Matt continues to share his love for the blues by teaching it. Here is a lesson on blues guitar picking styles.
Matt continues to share his love for the blues by teaching it. Here is a lesson on blues guitar picking styles.
Articles
Matt Hendricks Is Keeping The Blues Alive by BARRY KERZNER
– FEBRUARY 18, 2014 POSTED IN: CHICAGO BLUES NEWS, INTERVIEW
Chicago Blues spoke with Chicago staple Matt Hendricks recently about everything from his upcoming album to how he views his role in interpreting the blues. Originally from Milwaukee, WI, he moved to Chicago for love of the blues scene there. He has cited Buddy Guy as an influence on his life simply because he never quit, and kept doing what he loved until he reached a point of success. In the same way, Hendricks has continually honed his skills as a performer, composer, and technician, always looking to broaden his perspective and improve as a player.
When you see Hendricks perform, his talent and love of the blues is immediately apparent. His acoustic sets are intimate and moving. To date he has issued four CDs, including Sun Session, which was recorded at Sun Studios in Memphis. Hendricks has opened for Buddy Guy, HoneyBoy Edwards, and once again, just a few nights ago for Johnny Winter at Buddy Guy’s Legends. He can be be found playing in or around Chicago several afternoons and evenings throughout the week.
CB: So what got you started?
Playing guitar, and trying to figure out who influenced who I was listening to. Eddie Van Halen said Clapton was his big guy, so I got into Clapton. Then who did Clapton listen to? He listened to Robert Johnson and all the old cats, and really, it all led back there anyway.
CB: In your solo acoustic set, you play some Elmore James, Tampa Red, and Son House. You incorporate elements of the Delta, Hill Country, Ragtime, and Piedmont styles in your playing. You even throw in some Django Reinhardt licks here and there. How did you discover these styles?
It wasn’t like Robert Johnson that hit me first. I heard him, but maybe it was just too much to wrap my young brain around. Then I found a guy like Bukka White. Here’s what happened. I found a steel guitar in Nashville in the late ’90s. I helped my dad move down there, and I found myself in Gruhn Guitars in Nashville, and I saw this steel guitar. I had never seen one in person, or played one. I mean, it was speaking to me without even playing it! I didn’t know much about blues so I looked up, ‘Who played these things?’ So, Bukka White was a big one. It was real fast, rhythmic, slide playing. He was rough around the edges, and I liked that! That was the easier one for me to grasp. Then I asked myself, ‘OK, who refined it?’ That’s how the Tampa Red thing came. That guy there, that to me is the greatest. The tone he gets out of a bottleneck! I mean, I’ve never heard any better. Now you’re talking kind of jazzy. He starts to get into, I can’t say ‘pop,’ but like pop for the ’30s. Of course, I have always listened to Django. I don’t think I ever learned a Django song, or lick, or anything. I just think it subliminally comes through in a weird way. This will sound even crazier. It all came from that swing kind of thing.
CB: Like Charlie Christian and Benny Goodman.
Yeah. Exactly. I mean for me, it even goes back to Van Halen. They had these crazy tunes on some of those first albums, like ‘Big Bad Bill Is Sweet William Now.’
CB: And of course, ‘Ice Cream Man.’
Yes. Exactly! Those are my favorite tunes on the albums. So, that’s how I first got introduced to that stuff. You keep digging and you find out who Benny Goodman was, and Charlie Christian. Then too, everyone talks about Django, you know?
CB: Yes, and of course, Freddie Green.
You know it man. He was a monster! Chet Atkins is another one. That finger-picking always just blew me away. Jerry Reed too! It all just winds up in a big melting pot.
CB: You write a fair amount of your own material. Onstage, you convey the story of how “Crawdaddy” is about a homeless guy you came across on the street one day.
I haven’t written one in a while though. I’ve recorded a few originals. You can hear who I’m stealing from when you listen to it. ‘Crawdaddy’ was a good one that came out of nowhere about this guy sitting on a bench, playing his guitar. An old, well, not really old, black dude. He looked like a crackhead.
CB: So you get ideas from life situations, and …
That’s mainly it. Just stuff I see, and deal with everyday. Or, maybe you make a story about somebody you see, and you are wondering ‘What the hell is their life like?’ You know, some of the people you see on the street that are homeless and whatever. You can write on those guys for days; you could make up songs, you know?
CB: Do you register and copyright your original work?
Yes, I have. I’ve copyrighted everything I’ve written up until now.
CB: What news about a new album? Is it going to be all acoustic?
In fact, I’ll be putting together a new album soon here. I just have to get the tracks together and go down to do it at my buddy’s house in Indiana. We’re gonna knock it out. We just have to get the time set up, and go. No, I’m thinking it will be half and half. Tentatively right now, it’s calledSeven and Seven. I love to drink Seven and Seven, and I’m gonna have seven acoustic tracks and seven electric tracks. The acoustic is probably going to be solo with a little percussion and a resonator, or an acoustic guitar. The other seven will be with bass, drums, and harmonica. That’s the plan.
CB: The way that you present your acoustic set, and the way that Eddie Taylor Jr. presents his acoustic set are very similar in that they are both very low key, very understated, but really honest. Is that your intent?
Well yeah. That’s it I guess. I have done acoustic sets with drummers, and my Tuesdays now I’m going to have a drummer, just on a snare, or light drumming to back me. When I am solo, I’ll tap on the mic stand to give a John Lee Hooker back porch slap. I want it to be low key. If I do a Bukka White song, then it will get upbeat, loud a bit. Most of the time, all I’m trying to do up there is emulate Lightnin’ Hopkins. That’s really where it is man. If I could say that’s the only thing, that’s the only thing. That’s it. That’s the blues! It’s about one guy, singing about his life, playing his instrument to help the music go. That’s really what the blues is to me. One dude, one guitar. That’s the ticket. I think that’s what Eddie’s doing. He’s showing you that it all starts with one dude and an instrument. Sure, he can play with a band, but this is where it breaks down to the least common denominator. One man, one voice, one instrument.
CB: What current players have had an influence on how you interpret the blues?
Some of my favorites? I love Carlos Johnson. I love the guy’s playing, his style, and the fact that he plays a right handed guitar upside down, like Albert King used to do. That has always floored me when a guy can just blaze on one that way. I used to love Guy King; still do. He just moved out of town, and I haven’t seen him. I like seeing him play live. He was a great, great player. Corey Denison, I mean, he’s a friend of mine. He’s played with Carl Weathersby for years. I love his playing, and he’s gonna be, well, he started taking over and getting a name for himself. He’s great to watch.
CB: What’s in your CD player? Who do you listen to?
It’s usually the old stuff. With a lot of stuff today, they want to call it blues, but it’s rock music. That’s like, what is country music today? It’s pop music. What is blues music? It’s rock. There’s really no difference anymore. Country? I mean you can’t even hear the heritage anymore. They don’t put in anything to tip the hat to any of the old cats. Blues? You hear the tip of the hat in a couple of licks, but most of the time it’s Stevie Ray Vaughan. I mean, god bless him, but hell, everyone jumped on that dude. I mean, guys 40 years before that guy could really play!
CB: Why do you play blues?
Why do I play blues? I didn’t choose this music. I didn’t make some conscious decision ‘Oh, I’m gonna go out and be a blues player.’ No, it chooses you! I never really expected to make any money, and I don’t really. But hey, it’s what you know. You gotta do it for the love of it first. It’s not a money making thing. It’s just, you gotta keep it alive, and I’m trying any way I can man.
Matt Hendricks
– FEBRUARY 18, 2014 POSTED IN: CHICAGO BLUES NEWS, INTERVIEW
Chicago Blues spoke with Chicago staple Matt Hendricks recently about everything from his upcoming album to how he views his role in interpreting the blues. Originally from Milwaukee, WI, he moved to Chicago for love of the blues scene there. He has cited Buddy Guy as an influence on his life simply because he never quit, and kept doing what he loved until he reached a point of success. In the same way, Hendricks has continually honed his skills as a performer, composer, and technician, always looking to broaden his perspective and improve as a player.
When you see Hendricks perform, his talent and love of the blues is immediately apparent. His acoustic sets are intimate and moving. To date he has issued four CDs, including Sun Session, which was recorded at Sun Studios in Memphis. Hendricks has opened for Buddy Guy, HoneyBoy Edwards, and once again, just a few nights ago for Johnny Winter at Buddy Guy’s Legends. He can be be found playing in or around Chicago several afternoons and evenings throughout the week.
CB: So what got you started?
Playing guitar, and trying to figure out who influenced who I was listening to. Eddie Van Halen said Clapton was his big guy, so I got into Clapton. Then who did Clapton listen to? He listened to Robert Johnson and all the old cats, and really, it all led back there anyway.
CB: In your solo acoustic set, you play some Elmore James, Tampa Red, and Son House. You incorporate elements of the Delta, Hill Country, Ragtime, and Piedmont styles in your playing. You even throw in some Django Reinhardt licks here and there. How did you discover these styles?
It wasn’t like Robert Johnson that hit me first. I heard him, but maybe it was just too much to wrap my young brain around. Then I found a guy like Bukka White. Here’s what happened. I found a steel guitar in Nashville in the late ’90s. I helped my dad move down there, and I found myself in Gruhn Guitars in Nashville, and I saw this steel guitar. I had never seen one in person, or played one. I mean, it was speaking to me without even playing it! I didn’t know much about blues so I looked up, ‘Who played these things?’ So, Bukka White was a big one. It was real fast, rhythmic, slide playing. He was rough around the edges, and I liked that! That was the easier one for me to grasp. Then I asked myself, ‘OK, who refined it?’ That’s how the Tampa Red thing came. That guy there, that to me is the greatest. The tone he gets out of a bottleneck! I mean, I’ve never heard any better. Now you’re talking kind of jazzy. He starts to get into, I can’t say ‘pop,’ but like pop for the ’30s. Of course, I have always listened to Django. I don’t think I ever learned a Django song, or lick, or anything. I just think it subliminally comes through in a weird way. This will sound even crazier. It all came from that swing kind of thing.
CB: Like Charlie Christian and Benny Goodman.
Yeah. Exactly. I mean for me, it even goes back to Van Halen. They had these crazy tunes on some of those first albums, like ‘Big Bad Bill Is Sweet William Now.’
CB: And of course, ‘Ice Cream Man.’
Yes. Exactly! Those are my favorite tunes on the albums. So, that’s how I first got introduced to that stuff. You keep digging and you find out who Benny Goodman was, and Charlie Christian. Then too, everyone talks about Django, you know?
CB: Yes, and of course, Freddie Green.
You know it man. He was a monster! Chet Atkins is another one. That finger-picking always just blew me away. Jerry Reed too! It all just winds up in a big melting pot.
CB: You write a fair amount of your own material. Onstage, you convey the story of how “Crawdaddy” is about a homeless guy you came across on the street one day.
I haven’t written one in a while though. I’ve recorded a few originals. You can hear who I’m stealing from when you listen to it. ‘Crawdaddy’ was a good one that came out of nowhere about this guy sitting on a bench, playing his guitar. An old, well, not really old, black dude. He looked like a crackhead.
CB: So you get ideas from life situations, and …
That’s mainly it. Just stuff I see, and deal with everyday. Or, maybe you make a story about somebody you see, and you are wondering ‘What the hell is their life like?’ You know, some of the people you see on the street that are homeless and whatever. You can write on those guys for days; you could make up songs, you know?
CB: Do you register and copyright your original work?
Yes, I have. I’ve copyrighted everything I’ve written up until now.
CB: What news about a new album? Is it going to be all acoustic?
In fact, I’ll be putting together a new album soon here. I just have to get the tracks together and go down to do it at my buddy’s house in Indiana. We’re gonna knock it out. We just have to get the time set up, and go. No, I’m thinking it will be half and half. Tentatively right now, it’s calledSeven and Seven. I love to drink Seven and Seven, and I’m gonna have seven acoustic tracks and seven electric tracks. The acoustic is probably going to be solo with a little percussion and a resonator, or an acoustic guitar. The other seven will be with bass, drums, and harmonica. That’s the plan.
CB: The way that you present your acoustic set, and the way that Eddie Taylor Jr. presents his acoustic set are very similar in that they are both very low key, very understated, but really honest. Is that your intent?
Well yeah. That’s it I guess. I have done acoustic sets with drummers, and my Tuesdays now I’m going to have a drummer, just on a snare, or light drumming to back me. When I am solo, I’ll tap on the mic stand to give a John Lee Hooker back porch slap. I want it to be low key. If I do a Bukka White song, then it will get upbeat, loud a bit. Most of the time, all I’m trying to do up there is emulate Lightnin’ Hopkins. That’s really where it is man. If I could say that’s the only thing, that’s the only thing. That’s it. That’s the blues! It’s about one guy, singing about his life, playing his instrument to help the music go. That’s really what the blues is to me. One dude, one guitar. That’s the ticket. I think that’s what Eddie’s doing. He’s showing you that it all starts with one dude and an instrument. Sure, he can play with a band, but this is where it breaks down to the least common denominator. One man, one voice, one instrument.
CB: What current players have had an influence on how you interpret the blues?
Some of my favorites? I love Carlos Johnson. I love the guy’s playing, his style, and the fact that he plays a right handed guitar upside down, like Albert King used to do. That has always floored me when a guy can just blaze on one that way. I used to love Guy King; still do. He just moved out of town, and I haven’t seen him. I like seeing him play live. He was a great, great player. Corey Denison, I mean, he’s a friend of mine. He’s played with Carl Weathersby for years. I love his playing, and he’s gonna be, well, he started taking over and getting a name for himself. He’s great to watch.
CB: What’s in your CD player? Who do you listen to?
It’s usually the old stuff. With a lot of stuff today, they want to call it blues, but it’s rock music. That’s like, what is country music today? It’s pop music. What is blues music? It’s rock. There’s really no difference anymore. Country? I mean you can’t even hear the heritage anymore. They don’t put in anything to tip the hat to any of the old cats. Blues? You hear the tip of the hat in a couple of licks, but most of the time it’s Stevie Ray Vaughan. I mean, god bless him, but hell, everyone jumped on that dude. I mean, guys 40 years before that guy could really play!
CB: Why do you play blues?
Why do I play blues? I didn’t choose this music. I didn’t make some conscious decision ‘Oh, I’m gonna go out and be a blues player.’ No, it chooses you! I never really expected to make any money, and I don’t really. But hey, it’s what you know. You gotta do it for the love of it first. It’s not a money making thing. It’s just, you gotta keep it alive, and I’m trying any way I can man.
Matt Hendricks
