Born in Savannah, GA, Hartwell grew up amidst real estate goons and sharecroppers in neighboring South Carolina. At age 17 he joined the road crew for soul legend Clarence Carter, which eventually led him to Chicago and some bad acting gigs. After purchasing a 4 Track from the trunk of a coke addled restaurant manager, Hartwell returned to old friends and amplifiers in Charleston where they dug GBV, The Band and gave rise to a string of lo-fi outifits including The Aamerican Tenants and Sleeping on Bonneville. In 2003 Hartwell and Will Eskridge took refuge in Nashville and formed The Ex-Lovers, releasing the well received This Might Kill Us in 2004. That band only lasted a year before imploding, after which Hartwell returned to South Carolina again, bought a video camera and aped Fellini. After relocating to New York City in 2008, Hart has been playing solo and with his new, Crazy Horse meets The Shondells backing band, War Party.

"Hartwell Littlejohn, who hails from Charleston, S.C., and today resides in Greenpoint, took the stage in scuffed boots, jeans and a work shirt with rolled-up sleeves. Backed by bright, full chords, he used plain language to honest ends. He mined traditional southern-blues territory—wine, pills, shame, Georgia—and the songs were charged with the authenticity so conspicuously lacking in most of the New York “anti-folk” scene. The slight drawl he sang with was still audible if only more subtle in his between-song banter. In the set’s best moments, the guitar fell silent or quiet and Hartwell’s straining, soulful and toneful voice rang out" - NY Press