Our Lady of blessed acceleration don’t fail me now As we know, every Blues Harp player grows twitchy when they hear the sound of Cop Cars in pursuit. Unless, of course, they happen to be driving one themselves. But have you ever tried to imitate the sound of a police chase on the harmonica? Grab [...]
Read more..Ignoring the politics of blues music is like ignoring the crocodile swimming in your Coco Pops. Elwood the Apprentice looks at Gussow’s essays on how to position yourself within the blues tradition. “He was wearing a pink tuxedo and patent leather shoes. He towered over me… Suddenly he was quivering with anger, his finger in [...]
Read more..All the nice girls love a sailor As an island nation, a good deal of Britain’s military, economic and cultural tradition is drawn from its seafaring experience. So what better way to mark the romance of our heritage than a good old sea shanty? A few years ago the Doc was chaperoning the West Sussex [...]
Read more..After chatting to Joe Filisko, Elwood the Apprentice wonders if blues harmonica really needs a war of the clones Those of you who’ve been paying attention will see that I recently posted a (rather overdue) Q&A with Chicago harmonica master Joe Filisko. In a very short conversation in a very noisy pub, which I’ll admit [...]
Read more..Elwood the Apprentice chats to the master of old-school blues harmonica. Considering Joe Filisko devoted decades of his life to studying and mastering the styles of bluesmen long deceased, there’s nobody in the world who knows more about what it takes to be Little Walter, Big Walter, or any kind of Sonny.
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