Ernie Hendrickson

Twenty-nine year old Ernie Hendrickson is not exactly the young aspiring artist he was when relocating from his native Rockford, IL to Chicago in early 2003. Nor was he entirely green even then, having already led various groups to regional success throughout his life since the age of 16, hit the road and back many times over, finished his classical music education at Illinois State University, where he also studied jazz and composition, and self produced and distributed an assortment of albums.

But his years in the windy city's competitive music scene have been eye-opening, and provided the toughness needed to stay in this business. Also they have provided such musical fruits as The Make Believe- an eclectic rock project focusing on the diversity and superb musicianship of its members: Chris Clemente (Kick The Cat), Brian Felix (The OM Trio), and Brian Abraham. In addition to this regionally successful group, whose accolades include sharing bills with Victor Wooten, Fareed Haque, Drew Emmit, Particle, and countless others - Hendrickson's latest foray as a solo artist has produced his finest work to date, to be released later in '07.

"This project feels like my first "real record", says Hendrickson of his forthcoming release, which features heavyweight support, including Howard Levy, of Bela Fleck and The Flecktones fame, and one of Chicago's underrated masters - Brian Wilke on pedal steel. Darren Garvey provided the percussion (Andreas Kapsalis Trio, Buddy Nuisance), while the bass duties were split between Matt Ulery (Eastern Block, Grazyna Auguscik) and Chris Clemente. The music is a departure from anything in Hendrickson's catalogue thus far, which consists of two Make Believe albums and earlier works in a similar vein. While there is far less, in fact ? no guitar solos on the album, instead the acoustic blues, bluegrass, folk, and pop material featured give his voice and songwriting an opportunity to shine. "The songs on this record were difficult to let go of, because the material is so personal and so special to me, and some of it I've carried with me a long time? but it really feels right now."

With these two projects underway and a whole lot of groundwork already set, this year promises to be the fullest proof yet that Ernie Hendrickson is on his way up.