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Todd Hildreth
(photo by Amber Estes)
Todd Hildreth's music career began at the age of ten, playing accordion in
school plays, upright bass and guitar in church services, and piano and bass
guitar in local garage bands. His first love being the boogie-woogie rock of
Jerry Lee Lewis, Todd discovered classical music and jazz at Bellarmine
College, studying under Steve Crews. It was here that Todd played in The
Bellarmine Jazz trio who would tour Europe and play the Montreaux Jazz
festival in 1988. It was also while at Bellarmine that Todd would meet Julie
Roth, who he¹d later marry.
A stunning pianist, it was actually the organ that proved a perfect
synthesis for Todd's earliest roles as bassist and keyboardist. Between the
two instruments, Todd developed a reputation around Louisville that put him
on the bandstand with such diverse artists as Jimmy Raney, Eugene Chadbourne,
Jamey Aebersold, The Platters, Leslie Gore, John Fedchock, Rufus Reid, The Ron Jones Quartet,
Bob from Sesame Street, King Kong, and Aretha Franklin.
Todd has toured Europe and been on numerous tours
of the U.S. appearing on the second stage of the Lollapalooza Tour. Forming
Java Men in 1992, Todd embarked on a few tours with Craig Wagner and Ray
Rizzo that brought the band to Orono, Maine, Linc's Seafood Buffet, and New
York's Knitting Factory.
Aside from two recordings with King Kong (Drag City¹s "Me Hungry" and
"Kingdom Of Kong"), Todd has recorded four albums with Java Men, one with
Eugene Chadbourne, and appeared on records by The Sonora Pine, Liberation
Prophecy, L'Woo and numerous others.
Todd and Julie gave birth to their first child, Julia Delaney in December of
2000 and their second, Alan on May 27, 2003. . He is currently on the jazz and
music technology faculty at Bellarmine University and is music director at
Ascension Lutheran Church in Louisville.
Craig Wagner
(photo by Ken Beilman)
Orchestra to touring and recording with a platinum-selling rock band,
Craig Wagner is recognized as one of the most versatile guitarists on
the scene today.
Over the last several years, you could also find Wagner as a featured
performer at the Chet Atkins Society Guitar Festival in Nashville or at
the Great American Guitar Show in New York, sharing the stage with
guitarists Jimmy Bruno, Howard Alden, Jack Wilkins, Paul Bollenback,
Ron Affif, Russell Malone, and Gene Bertoncini. Mel Bay’s Master
Anthology of Jazz Guitar Solos features Wagner, and he continues to
have articles featured with the publisher each July for its Guitar
Sessions series.
Wagner graduated from Bellarmine University with a Bachelor’s Degree in
Music with an emphasis in Jazz Guitar Performance in 1993. He has
studied with Jimmy Raney, Attila Zoeller, Gene Bertoncini, Howard
Alden, and Ben Monder. Wagner teaches guitar privately as well as jazz
guitar at the University of Louisville. He is working on his second solo recording.
