Eugene Chadbourne (born January 4, 1954)[1] is an American banjoist, guitarist and music critic.

[3] Although he was drawn to Jimi Hendrix and played in a garage band, he found rock and pop music too conventional.

[2][4] Returning to the United States, he moved to New York City in the mid-1970s and played free improvisation with Henry Kaiser and John Zorn.

[2][3] For many years he was in a duo with Jimmy Carl Black, who played drums for Frank Zappa.

[3] A solo album, Songs (Intakt, 1993), featured politically oriented originals, such as "Hello Ceausescu", and covers, such as Nick Drake's "Thoughts of Mary Jane", Phil Ochs' "Knock on the Door", and Floyd Tillman's "This Cold War With You".