Blues Harmonica Episodes

Mark Feltham grew up with a love of country music and just knew he had to play harp when he heard Stone Fox Chase on the UK music programme, Old Grey Whistle test. As he entered the London music scene he found he had to adapt his style to create a fusion of melodic and blues playing, which has served him very well throughout his career. Best known from his work with Punk Blues band, Nine Below Zero, Mark also played with Rory Gallagher for a long spell. Alongside this he has had a great career...

Jerry Portnoy joins me on episode 20 of the podcast. Jerry grew up with the sounds of Maxwell street in his ears. It took him a few years to pick up the harp, but when he did he enjoyed a tremendous career. Starting out with Johnny Young’s band, he had only been playing for six years before his talents landed him the greatest harmonica chair there ever was, playing with the Muddy Waters Blues Band. Jerry went on to play in the Legendary Blues Band and then with guitar legend Eric Clapto...

Rachelle Plas is a French player who learnt her craft at an early age in group lessons provided by Greg Zlap in Paris. She won various competitions at French music festivals which led on to her touring Europe and beyond with her band. After making a splash at the World Harmonica Festival in Germany, Rachelle became the face of Hohner’s Golden Melody harmonicas. She has gone on to record two albums since, with her fusion of blues, soul, pop, rock & electro bringing her fast flowing harmonica styl...

A grammy award winner, Peter Madcat Ruth has enjoyed a long career, from playing jazz with the Brubecks, to numerous solo projects and playing in various bands and duos and trios. Madcat has loved Sonny Terry from the start and has really mastered the style, and gives some pointers during the podcast. Select the Chapter Markers tab above to select different sections of the podcast (website version only). Madcat's website: http://www.madcatmusic.net/index.html Equipment: Shaker microphones: htt...

Always looking to push himself in new directions, Carlos has released an eclectic mixture of genres across the range of his albums. But each song is underpinned with his great sounding fusion of blues / jazz harmonica, with a great tone. Carlos is also known for his overblowing technique, and he shares how to use this to compliment his sound. Carlos is also a passionate teacher of the harmonica, and is running some Webinars on how to transcribe music to aid learning. Select the Chapter Marker...

Charlie McCoy is the leading figure in Country harmonica playing, where he joined the Nashville scene in 1961. With over 13000 sessions to his name, Charlie is probably the most recorded harmonica artist of all time. Although best known as a country harmonica player, along with his 40 solo albums, Charlie has played with some of the truly legendary names in popular music, from Roy Orbison, to Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and Paul Simon. Select the Chapter Markers tab above to select di...

Rod Piazza developed his exciting brand of West coast jump harmonica in Southern California, where he formed his own band before joining forces with George Harmonica Smith, to form Bacon Fat. Two harps, what a sound! Rod has an extensive discography, both as a solo artist, and also with his long term band, the Mighty Flyers, alongside his wife Honey. Rod talks us through his evergreen career and how he has burned it up on stage for so many years. Select the Chapter Markers tab above to select d...

Kim Wilson is without doubt one of the great harmonica players around today. He grew up within the vibrant music scene in California, learning his chops on the bandstand, which he hasn't got off since, touring extensively all his life. Kim's long term band, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, has brought him commercial success, and he has also maintained his own dedicated blues band for many years. He leads from the front, and absolutely knows what it takes to deliver the blues to an audience. Selec...

Joe Filisko has made the study of the harmonica his lifelong passion. His detailed knowledge of early recordings has helped him become the pre-eminent pre-war harmonica player of our time. He built his knowledge of the harmonica from the inside out, producing revered custom harmonicas still used by some of the big names in harmonica today. Joe has been playing in his duo with Eric Noden since 2003, and is also a renowned harmonica tutor, both online and in workshops around the world. Joe display...

Billy Branch is a Chicago blues harp player who grew up learning directly from some of the classic generation of Chicago players, such as Carey Bell, James Cotton and Junior Wells. And he played in Willie Dixons band for 6 years. Billy has been nominated for three Grammy awards. He has become a real ambassador of the blues and takes great pride in maintaining that legacy with his long term band, the Sons of the Blues. A great technical exponent of the harmonica, with great soul, Billy released...

Today I talk to Giles Robson, who released two highly successful albums in 2019. Giles started out with a more blues rock fusion approach before returning to a more traditional blues style, but with a modern twist, which has won over audiences across Europe and America. He has done this with a real dedication to the art and a keen sense of how the music industry works. This led to Giles winning an award for best acoustic blues album in Memphis in 2019. Giles tells us of all the ingredients that ...

Steve West Weston is the man in the hot seat in episode two. Steve grew up among the vibrant music scene in Essex, listening to Dr Feelgood among others. He started out playing in various bands on keyboard before finding his harmonica mojo as the front man in West Weston and the Bluesonics, and he hasn't looked back since. He has become the harmonica player of choice for Mud Morganfield when he's touring Europe, as well as playing with Trickbag in Scandinavia, and then playing on the number 1...

First up in the podcast I'm delighted to welcome a certain Mr Paul Lamb. Paul is a living legend of blues harmonica. He's been performing for over 45 years now, would you believe. He has a multitude of great albums to his name, and is inducted in the Blues Hall of Fame. Paul tells us how it all unfolded, meeting greats such as Junior Wells and his harmonica hero Sonny Terry along the way. With some tips on how aspiring harmonica players can try to emulate his tremendous success. The secret i...