Meet the Band
Rich Hammer
Rich started playing professionally in 1979 with The Johnny Lang Band, playing traditional wedding music and old-time standards throughout the Chicagoland area. A few years later, in 1983, Rich joined "The Keystones" and performed as a house band 3 times a week, 5 sets every night. During his time with this band, Rich developed his rock-solid chops and became well-versed in all the 1950’s through 1980’s rock hits, Motown, British Invasion, as well as country and blues. The Keystones and Croozin' the Loop bands joined forces at the end of the 1980's and established Croozin' the Loop, which soon became one of the area’s premier classic rock bands. Highly sought after, Croozin' the Loop performed well over a thousand shows during the next 15+ years. After a short hiatus, Croozin' the Loop re-established itself in 2011, and has continued rockin' the Chicagoland area ever since!
Joanne
Joanne's lovely voice and keyboard artistry bring a special dimension to the band's sound. Her singing style covers a wide range including Janis Joplin, Patsy Cline, Joan Jett, and Linda Ronstadt. Joanne has loved piano since taking lessons at an early age. After taking classes at the Old Town School of Folk Music she was newly motivated to continue pursuing her interest in music, and subsequently played with several Chicago-area bands before joining Croozin' the Loop in 2016. Joanne also enjoys songwriting, and has released a CD containing several of her original songs, available on ReverbNation (https://www.reverbnation.com/theautographs).
Joanne and Al also perform together as an acoustic duo they call "The Jetset", and have also written and released a number of original songs together! See their page at www.jetsetsongs.com
Tommy Frentzel
Tommy was born and raised in Wisconsin. (He proudly proclaims, “Yes, I am a Cheesehead!”) He moved to the suburbs of Chicago in the 70s and soon began his musical career playing bass and guitar. As a founding member of the country rock group "Deadwood Express", Tom played the Chicago area and southern Wisconsin until 1986, going on to play in a number of other bands performing classic rock at local festivals, clubs, and special events. In 2004 Tommy teamed up with some fellow music lovers to form the group "Roy and the Orbitz", where he played guitar to songs from artists such as Roy Orbison, Elvis, Buddy Holly, The Beatles and other greats from that era. In this, his latest adventure, Tommy has returned to his roots as bass player and vocalist for Croozin' The Loop!
Al Engelmann
Al is lead guitarist and vocalist with Croozin' the Loop. Currently residing in Bolingbrook, he was born and raised on the southwest side of Chicago. He began playing guitar in the late 1970’s, initially influenced by artists such as Eric Clapton, Led Zeppelin and The Who. He began performing with his first Chicago area band at the age of 15, and greatly expanded his musical interests as fellow musicians and mentors introduced him to a diversity of styles including Motown, British Invasion, Chicago Blues, and Jazz. Al has played with a number of area bands and music projects through the years, finally joining up with Croozin' The Loop in 2011 as the band was re-forming. Al also writes and records his own music, and has released a CD of original songs, "One Million Memories", which can be found on Spotify, on-line music sellers (CD Baby, Amazon, and iTunes) or at www.alengelmann.com.
Al and Joanne also perform together as an acoustic duo they call "The Jetset", and have also written and released a number of original songs together! See their page at www.jetsetsongs.com
