Last month we interviewed the Son of Dave. Here’s the second half of our chat with the beat-boxing harmonica man: this time, he rants about drum-machines, America, nun-raping pop songs, and why he wears sunglasses indoors. …So I asked some of our readers if they had any questions for you. Here’s one from Adam Gussow. [...]
Read more..An interview with blues harmonica man Benjamin Darvil Son of Dave found his coolness through the only legitimate means available to us skinny white guys: Wearing your granddad’s clothes and a creepy grin, and making bizarre, gut-busting music that goes oomph-a-doomph in the night. The one-man beat-boxing, harmonica-playing phenomenon has a new album coming out [...]
Read more..Elwood the Apprentice in conversation with the undisputed harmonica queen of YouTube. By turns bold as hell and surprisingly self-doubting, Christelle Berthon is one of the most closely watched harmonica players on the web (over 2 million pairs of eyeballs, according to her YouTube stats). She’s a different kind of harmonica hero: instead of gin-soaked [...]
Read more..You just wait till he does his walkabout and gets up on the table The Good Doctor found himself back in Vegas for the post-Christmas lull. It was strange seeing folks in coats and jackets complaining about the cold in a City that is normally a kiln. But the white tops on the nearby mountains, [...]
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.
Read more..Towards the end of last year, a student came for his first lesson at the Harp Surgery. ‘So can you already play anything?’ I enquired. ‘A few bits and pieces,’ came the reply, ‘I like the Low Rider tune.’ I nodded politely but had to confess I didn’t know it. So he played it for [...]
Read more..The blues keep following me around Ever since buying a copy of the 1990 W.C.Handy award winning album Harp Attack, Billy Branch has had me intrigued. He’s pictured on the cover as the new kid on the block, alongside three legends – Junior Wells, James Cotton and Carey Bell. Billy provides fresh reinforcement for the [...]
Read more..…he, whose heart was that of a little child, had answered to his name, and stood in the presence of The Master. William Makepeace Thackeray Prologue For anybody looking to master the art of Chicago and blues harmonica, look no further than Jerry Portnoy’s front porch. Study his Grammy Award winning work with the Muddy [...]
Read more..You know how it is when people evangelise. You smile, nod your head and then shove an invisible finger in each ear. The first time I heard Exile On Coldharbour Lane, I was unreceptive. My friend, on the other hand, was entering a transcended state even before he hit the play button. ‘You’ll love it!’ [...]
Read more..“Why we elected Bush worries my mind“ I must confess, having seen Charlie in action again after a break of seventeen years, I remain unconvinced about his credentials as a performing artist. Last time he was upstaged by his backing band. This time his lengthy digression into solo guitar and rack harp was brave, but [...]
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