Hans Theessink

Hans Theessink, the Austria-based acoustic and electric folk musician and bluesman, injects renewed appreciation into the American blues idiom across both the classic repertoire of the 1920s and 1930s and the urban Chicago blues of the 1950s and 1960s. More than twenty albums fill his discography, each issued in Europe, where he delivers fresh interpretations of songs associated with Chuck Berry, John Fogerty, and Jimmy Cliff as well as established blues material from Rufus Thomas, Willie Dixon, Leadbelly, and country icon Hank Williams. Beyond his command of blues, country, and pioneering rock & roll numbers, he regularly weaves gospel selections into live sets and recordings, among them Slow & Easy from 1978, Johnny & the Devil from 1989, Hard Road Blues from 1994, Songs from the Southland from 2003, and Visions from 2008, the latter co-billed with Terry Evans.

Theessink began playing guitar in his teens and belonged to a skiffle group by the mid-1960s. Although skiffle enjoyed strong popularity across Ireland, England, and other parts of Europe at the time, a broadcast of Big Bill Broonzy on Radio Luxembourg prompted a revelation; never before had he encountered such masterful solo guitar work, which illuminated fresh possibilities within blues and blues-rooted music. He attracted notice on the U.S. folk festival circuit in the late 1980s, leading Chicago-based Flying Fish Records to issue his American debut, Baby Wants to Boogie, in 1987, which Theessink later re-released on his own imprint. A hallmark of his appeal rests in his handling of cover material; rather than striving to replicate the approach of artists such as Willie Dixon or Robert Johnson, he refurbishes an old gospel standard like “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” so that it gleams with his own character. His original compositions likewise present an outsider’s vantage on Southern places and customs that many Americans overlook.

Among his notable releases stand the aforementioned Baby Wants to Boogie, Hard Road Blues from 1995, Journey On from 1997, Bridges from 2004, Songs from the Southland from 2004, Slow Train from 2007, Visions from 2008, Delta Time from 2012—recorded in collaboration with Ry Cooder and Terry Evans—and the 2015 concert album True & Blue. All appeared on his Blue Groove Records label and can prove elusive in U.S. record stores, even those devoted to jazz and blues. Theessink maintains his base in Vienna when not traveling and continues to perform regularly throughout Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. Remastered versions of Journey On and Johnny & the Devil surfaced in 2016, prompting a tour, while 2019 brought the release of his 70th Birthday Bash album, which served as the subject of a television special. The project showcased the guitarist and songwriter alongside a roster of guests—including the Blind Boys of Alabama, Ernst Molden, Jon Sass, Dorretta Carter, Champagne Charlie, and others—surveying his lengthy career through numerous folk-blues and gospel classics.