Andrew Hardin began his musical career as a drummer at age eight, and began playing the guitar as a teenager living in Hawaii.  Hardin played progressive country in California in the mid-seventies, major-label rock with the Dingoes from Australia on A&M Records, and hard-core blues with ex-John Lee Hooker partner Eddie Kirkland. Andrew was working as a cab driver in New York City in 1980 when he met Tom Russell, who was also driving cab. Russell picked up Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter one evening, which led to a gig opening for Hunter at the Lonestar Cafe in New York. Russell and Hardin formed a band shortly thereafter, and began touring locally and internationally, eventually playing all over the world and recording over twenty albums. Andrew Hardin and Tom Russell performed as an acoustic duo from the early 90's through 2005, appearing at major music festivals in the U.S., Canada, and Europe, and joining tours with Nanci Griffith and John Prine. Hardin has accompanied Russell twice on "Late Night with David Letterman."
      Hardin's role as co-producer of the Tom Russell Band recordings of the mid-eighties led to a career producing other major and independent label acts in the U.S., Canada, and Europe. Hardin produced the 2002 recording "In Demand" by Norwegian singer Paal Flaata for Universal Music. Hardin has also performed over the years with artists such as Dave Alvin, Ian Tyson, Katy Moffatt, Nanci Griffith, Eliza Gilkyson, and Ray Wylie Hubbard. Andrew is featured soloing on the 2002 Nanci Griffith DVD "Winter Marquee." Andrew played the riveting electric guitar solo on "Welcome Back," the opening cut and single off Eliza Gilkyson's 2002 CD "Lost and Found."
      In 2005, Andrew released "Blue Acoustic," a collection of instrumental acoustic guitar duets with songwriters Dave Alvin, Ray Wylie Hubbard,

Eliza Gilkyson, and Tom Russell, cowboy singer Don Edwards, and bassist Washtub Jerry. Also available are "Just Like This Train," a collection of vocals and instrumentals from 2002, and a newly remastered "Coney Island Moon," featuring guitar great Albert Lee.
      Andrew's guitar style incorporates influences as diverse as Roy Buchanan, Clarence White, Ry Cooder, Gabby Pahinui, and Grady Martin; that is to say it contains elements of blues, rock, R&B, country, tropical, and Spanish-flavored music.

Reviews...

"The lanky New Yorker ran down country and flamenco on his acoustic with all the flair of 100 mariachis and 1,000 honky-tonkers."
-Austin Chronicle

"Guitarist Andrew Hardin turned a humble six-string acoustic into an orchestra with his dazzling ability."
-Steve Morris, Birmingham, England

"This guy was amazing. I could only see Hardin's left hand on the neck of the guitar, but it was still a sight. At times it moved like the hand of a saxophonist performing a furious solo. Each guitar excursion- about a dozen- elicited gasps and applause."
-Reno Gazette-Journal

"Hardin decided to play, and he came close to stealing the show a few times. On melodic ballads, he crafted beautiful variations on the tunes, riding up into the higher registers of his ringing acoustic guitar or rumbling down in the lower ends. On the uptempo numbers, he muscled his way across blues changes with rapid-fire precision, or ran through bluegrass licks with the added excitement of some bluesy bent notes and chords. He was breathtakingly good."
-St. Louis Dispatch

"Strong guitar lines were amplified and intricately developed by Andrew Hardin's impressive talent. Watching his long fingers conjure up incredible Tex-Mex riffs and trills or hurl thunderbolts of sound was a delight."
-Hal Chapman, Aukland, New Zealand

"With elements of Mark Knopfler, Clarence White, and Chet Atkins evident in his playing, Andrew impresses me most with his clean, melodic acoustic soloing that is electrifyingly high on emotion. He is one of the finest players in the country."
-Guitar Player

"The presence of Albert Lee on "Coney Island Moon" will raise the eyebrows of all you country folk, but Hardin himself proves more than a match for his illustrious guest as he blazes through this uplifting album of instrumentals with his own breathtaking technique. Seamless pentatonic runs, nifty banjo rolls and flawless tremelo-picking are all delivered with a tasteful sense of melody and precision that'll have you quaking in your cowboy boots. Add some blues, Hawaiian and even jazz and you have a varied as wel as inspired guitar feast."
-Total Guitar- (rating: 4 stars)

"Andrew Hardin savors a melody the way the Beatles did in their prime, and his inclusion of roots-rock, folk, country, Hawaiian, and jazz makes this an exciting offering with an unusually broad scope. Although there are no vocals on "Coney Island Moon", there is a rarely heard lyrical quality to all of Hardin's music, and you'd be hard pressed to find a CD as charming and tuneful.
-Guitar World (rating: 4 stars)

"Andrew Hardin's "Just Like This Train" reveals a mellower side of this virtuoso guitarist, whose sound has become more sumptuous and sophisticated than on his previous CD's. Hardin's compositions are gorgeous, and he adds color and complexitiy with blues and jazz interpretations of Willie Nelson's "Stay Away From Lonely Places", Norman Blake's "Last Train From Poor Valley", and the title track by Joni Mitchell. Even with such a wide stylistic range, "Just Like This Train" has a unique sensibility and coherent mood, infused with lush Hawaiian undertones and tinged with bittersweet melancholy."
- Acoustic Guitar