GUITAR DADDY and the HURRICANES  HUNKER DOWN David “Guitar Daddy” Hasselbach Originally hailing from Cleveland Ohio, David started playing guitar at the young age of thirteen. He received his first guitar on his fourteenth birthday from his parents. After receiving his first guitar he received four lessons then continued with self-study. David joined his high school’s jazz band in his sophomore year. He won the prestigious Louie Armstrong Jazz Award in his senior year. David went into the US Army straight out of high school and served as a medic for two years. His last year in the military was spent as an O2T “Guitar Specialist” in the 5th Armored Division Jazz Band, one of the country’s top ten most prestigious jazz bands at the time. The jazz band was chosen by the company’s commander to perform at the Commander’s Ball with 10,000 people in attendance. David returned home from the military and joined a local group called Real Steel. Real Steel started as a cover band and matured into an all-original band. They built a following and filled 1,500 – 5,000 seat clubs throughout the Flats. Real Steel’s popularity lead them to open for such acts as Dio, Bullet Boys, Enuff Z’ Nuff, Savatage, Trouble and White Lion. In 1992 Cleveland’s WMMS chose Real Steel out of over 647 bands to premier on their compilation disk “Buzzard Tracks”. Real Steel’s “Never Mind The Money” carried the honor of being placed as song one – side one on the sixteen-band compilation. The song won the listener call in vote and became a #1 hit in Cleveland for two weeks beating out Extreme’s “More Than Words”. The band’s overwhelming popularity led WMMS in cooperation with Westwood One Radio Networks to air Real Steel live in concert to 1.3 million listeners. Jim DeMain who also engineered the “Dirty Dancing” soundtrack engineered Real Steel’s first album. David eventually decided to broaden his musical horizons and moved to The Delta in Mississippi to study blues. This is where David acquired the nickname “Guitar Daddy” due to his meticulous mastering of the instrument. David boasts of setting up his battery amplifier and plugging in his electric guitar on Bourbon Street and drawing a sizable crowd. In 1996 “Guitar Daddy and the Hurricanes” released a CD featuring “Don’t Say You Love Me If You Don’t” which received airplay by Z-106. Guitar Daddy has opened for such acts as Marshall Tucker, Rick Derringer, Edwin McCain, Johnny Winter, B.B. King and Molly Hatchet. David is currently living in Tampa Bay Florida and doing cameo appearances throughout the country with the Hurricanes.