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Biography
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(Here's
basically what happened....)
From
his beginnings on the North Coast, Todd Hart has played his unique
style of blues and classic rock all over the world. Enjoying great notoriety as an acoustic
guitarist and playing coffee houses and acoustic venues for the formative years, his dedication grew.
After a quick 2 year stint singing in the power band "Bush
Rock" it was a clear course", and in 1977, he formed what would be his
musical home - "Todd Hart's
Blues Power
Trio".
Spending his
early years as a young guitar maker in Cleveland's Mayfield Music, then it's oldest music shop Prospect Music, he worked on many of the masters guitars, and became good personal friends with the late Robert Jr. Lockwood - the nephew of legendary blues pioneer Robert Johnson, who took him under his wing,
playing weekly at Cleveland's famous underground blues/rock club " The Flipside"
for over 6 years, along with playing the usual mainstream
venues: The
Agora, The Euclid Tavern, The Mistake, The Pirate's Cove, and other
old Cleveland haunts. At that time, holding a fine record of 5 "WMMS
Coffee Break Concerts" - 2 in the original broadcast booth with Denny
Sanders, and three (or 4 maybe) at the Cleveland Agora on stage
simulcast on that international station, 6 Kent State University radio
shows as well as playing every club that campus had. Eventually with other great
local notables: The Generators, Mr. Stress, The Numbers Band, Oroboros,
the great Glen Shwartz, and friends, he gathered the popularity and support of friends and fans, and
played for nearly 10 years on that circuit, becoming "Cleveland's Original Rock n' Roll/Blues Power
Trio", releasing his first vinyl album of the same name, and becoming a mainstay of the
North Coast blues scene.
After
ten years with the same bandmates and the untimely death of
dear friend/bassist - R. Timothy Smith in 1984, Todd joined Kim
Simmonds and his Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame band
"Savoy
Brown" as lead vocalist,
and toured from Florida to the Northwest Territories, Newfoundland to
British Columbia, and most points in between.
Editor's note:
"I
had an interesting task to try and reproduce a wide-range of
different vocalists that were in that band. Almost every album had a
different vocalist on it, and all with totally different voices
doing songs ranging over a 20+year period. To replace sidemen or
support players is one thing, but to replicate so many lead vocalists
as on that many albums was a challenging task to do properly, but I knew all the
tunes and really had a lot of fun. I enjoyed my time
there and am proud of my work with Kim and Savoy Brown. We did a lot of shows
over great distance in two countries".
After some time and some differences, Todd left
Savoy Brown and returned to his own
music. PS: There
are
some newspaper pictures, articles, and live recordings from
my time with Savoy Brown
throughout this website (see "The Journey" page on this site
for example), so feel free to browse and enjoy.
Regrouping
with a new spark and tons of new original songs, he repeated the basic beauty of his long-running power trio
to form "Todd Hart and the Thang".
Touring out of Memphis
Tennessee, and playing the Mid-South district from the Florida
Keys to Arizona, for almost ten years, stopping only to record,
yielding three albums of all
original material including the "What Doesn't
Kill You - Makes You Stronger" CD ( 1992), which enjoyed
fair commercial success. This was touring and really playing the blues in
the original old clubs of it's origin throughout the Memphis Blues Belt and
into the deep south of the Mississippi delta.
Living alternately in Phoenix when time permits, he's proud to be an
Official Hell's
Angel's support
band for Arizona's Mesa, Phoenix, &
Cave Creek chapters, various California's
Hell's Angels
and national Harley-Davidson
shows, and their many
events over the years. Being
an avid rider and playing Harley-Davidson, Titan, S&S, and custom cycle
functions all over America, Canada, the familiar name "Todd Hart"
and his "Blues Power Trio" are synonymous with international blues,
A.B.A.T.E. and motorcycle events everywhere.
Over the years, and thousands of gigs, "Todd Hart's
Blues Power Trio" has regularly been performing on such classic
world - class venues as: The World Famous-Blues Famous
Memphis' Beale St. music scene, The Cleveland, Akron, Painesville
Agora's, Harpo's - Victoria, B.C., The Misty Moon - Halifax, Nova
Scotia, The Nightshift - Edmonton Alberta, The Zoo - Winnipeg Saskatchewan, Cobo Hall -
Detroit, Char's, The Rhythm Room, The Blue Note, Jake - O - Mines -
Phoenix, Jelly Roll's, 544 Club, Dr. Breeze's, The House of Blues - New Orleans, Rosa's,
Malo's, The West End Club - Chicago, Club Soda's in Vancouver and
Montreal, The Caribbean Club - Key Largo, B. B. King's Blues Clubs in
Memphis, New Orleans, Chicago and Hollywood, The Cabooze - Minneapolis, The Whiskey A Go - Go, The Troubadour, The
Starwood, Gazarri's Crazy Horse in LA, a regular at Memphis's "Rum Boogie Cafe", "W.C. Handy's Blues Hall", "The New Daisy Theatre", "The Stage Stop", and well, you get the picture.
Jamming with and/or opening shows and
events for such masters as: Robert Lockwood Jr., B. B. King, Buddy
Guy, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Ruby Wilson & the King
Bees, Hubert Sumlin, Koko Taylor, W.C. Clark, Elvin Bishop, Johnny
Winter, Leslie West, Tab Benoit, Ted Nugent, Badfinger, Robin Trower, Jack Bruce,
Mark Farner, Bob Seger, Leon Russell, The Stampeders, Jason and the Scorchers, Albert Collins, Albert King, Wm. Weasel Parker, Mick
Ronson, and many, many more.
He now can be found playing various clubs and events in
all the old favorite places, with all the same old friends. Still returning to
his second home
Arizona to
fans and
friends there, Memphis - "Home of the Blues",
and "Back again"
to Melbourne,
Australia, his favorite home far away. He's continually in the studio writing
new songs, recording, and completing his body of work, as well as touring select venues on the national/international blues circuit.
And oh yeah, riding the Harley and surfing. The road goes ever
on. Peace be with you.
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