John Resch – 2025 INDUCTEE
John Resch was born in Rock Island, Illinois but has resided in Iowa since 1985. John began playing clarinet and bass clarinet in school bands around 1968, picking up the electric bass in 1977, adding the upright bass in 2018.
His earliest influences on bass were Chris Squire of Yes and John Entwhistle of The Who. After hearing Carl Radle from Derek and the Dominoes (Eric Clapton), he quickly realized that there was a whole new world and style of music to be explored. That’s when he discovered BB King’s Live at Cook County Jail and Freddy King Sings. Those albums started John on an exciting, new direction, focusing on the work of
Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon.
Resch’s first paid gig was in 1979 at a bowling alley in Milan, Illinois called The Hole in the Wall with his first working group, The Murphy Band. They performed songs by Paul Butterfield and other early blues greats.
John has opened shows for Buddy Guy, Koko Taylor, Son Seals, Lil’ Ed & the Blues Imperials, James Cotton, and many others. He has played the Mississippi Valley Blues Festival at least four times, The Prairie Dog
Blues Festival, the Central lowa Blues Society’s Winter Blues Fest, The Bluesmore festival in Cedar Rapids, and many other festivals and shows throughout the Midwest. Resch has also sat in with many local and regional artists, but most notably, with national artists Pinetop Perkins, and Tommy Castro.
Incredibly, Resch has led four different bands to wins in the Iowa Blues Challenge now. Two of which, Shane Johnson’s Blue Train and The Juke Joint Sinners, made it to the finals at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, TN.
Shane Johnson’s Blue Train was voted “Best Blues Band” in the Quad Cities in 1999 and 2000. Resch co-wrote and produced most of the songs on two CDs with Shane Johnson’s Blue Train. The first in 1998, was self-titled, and the second, in 1999, was called Big Legged Woman. Blue Train’s first CD sold well over 2000 copies. The song, “With You Tonight,” from their 2nd album, appeared as the first cut on Bob Door’s 6th Iowa Blues Compilation album in 1999. The song, “Out On The Town” appeared on a compilation CD of Quad City bands called A Taste of Quad City Music in 1999.
In 2001, John Resch & Detroit Blues were voted “Best Band in the Quad Cities,” and their CD, We Get Around, was voted “Best CD” that year. John also wrote and produced that album.
His current band, John Resch & Doggin’ Out, as of 2025, is entering its sixth year together. With the addition of the upright bass, they are leaning more into the jump, swing style of bands such as Little Charlie & the Nightcats, and Rod Piazza & the Mighty Flyers.
John is grateful and fortunate to continue to have some of the finest musicians in the Quad Cities by his side. This band is the most recent to earn a trip to the International Blues Challenge.
But a bio about John Resch would not be complete without mentioning his extensive roles as a volunteer with the Mississippi Valley Blues Society for over 20 years now. Although he is currently on the Finance and Public Relations committees, during the past several years John has also served as a member of the Board of Directors, as Treasurer, and President. In that time he has also been directly involved with the planning and execution of their annual festival. In 2016, the “Doris Pierre Volunteer of the Year” award was bestowed upon John by the Mississippi Valley Blues Society. During this period he has gained a much greater appreciation for the time and dedication that’s required to keep an organization that promotes the preservation of the blues relevant, not to mention solvent.
Needless to say, John Resch’s talents and efforts over the years have now earned him an honored place in the Iowa Blues Hall of Fame.
Photo by Kevin Richard Schafer
