Dick Hardwick

Laughing is his life...Laughing is his business

He wasn't the local jokester. He wasn't even the "class clown". But instead, Dick Hardwick was one of the really COOL guys- a hip kid and an "A" student of the arts-who began playing drums for pay with college bands by the time he was 11 years old. It seems his father frequently served as a hometown public speaker... and he also had the only danceband in town... so every Fri-Sat night Pop Hardwick turned into a local "star!" "I was only three years old when I'd sit at the edge of my daddy's bandstand," Dick Hardwick recalls, "and I would just be fascinated with the sparkle on their drums. That's what really initiated my interest in playing drums at such an early age."

The oldest of five children, he grew up in the tiny town of Greencastle, Indiana (close to the campus of DePauw University) and as a youngster he always imagined wanting to be just like his college buddies, who didn't seem to have a care in the world. But that didn't exactly happen. He spent time working at a grocery store and delivering the local newspaper.

After turning 18 "legal" years old, young Hardwick soon embarked upon a long-awaited journey to New Orleans to have his first look at Mardi Gras! He had taken three of his hometown friends along on the trip and they all discovered a sound called Dixieland-- something that was brand-new to their ears. It was on this trip that they heard the legendary Pete Fountain for the very first time.