Video of the day 1 February 2012: Brendan Power “Jasmine Flower” live in Shanghai
My first session with the Digitech RP255 as recording interface
Ed Abbiatti, the leader of the great Italian rock band Lowlands, asked me to play on several cuts on his upcoming CD, scheduled for release in early 2012. I did the first sessions in my home studio, using a Line 6 UX2 audio interface and…
Missed the One Ton Pig show, but had a great gig with George Kilby Jr.
A conflict prevented me from showing up for the One Ton Pig show tonight (Jan. 17) at the Silver Dollar in Jackson WY, but I had a great gig earlier today with George Kilby Jr. George is a very experienced and accomplished blues guitarist and…
Hohner releases professional quality harmonica service videos aimed at the player
The post below is copied verbatim (with permission) from a message by renowned harmonica player Steve Baker to the Harp-L list. We agree with Steve that it’s important news for harmonica players. His message follows. In an unprecedented step for a major harmonica manufacturer, Hohner…
Upcoming performances: Tuesday 17 January in Jackson WY, and Friday 27 January in Westport CT
I have a couple of gigs coming up; mark your calendars now if you’re in the neighborhood. On Tuesday, Jan. 17, I’ll be sitting in with my favorite Chicken Fried Prison Music band, One Ton Pig, at the Silver Dollar in Jackson, WY. I’m awaiting…
Video of the Day 7 January 2012: Maria Joao Mendes with Wim Dijkgraaf
Wim Dijkgraaf is the Dutch-born jazz chromatic harmonica virtuoso behind the Effortless Harmonica Blog. He’s also a key member of Portuguese jazz singer Mario Joao Mendes’s topnotch Brazilian jazz band. This video is a promo for Mendes’s new CD; Wim’s harmonica kicks in at about…
Video of the Day 31 Dec 2011: Climb Jacob’s Ladder, “Do the Funky White Boy”
This isn’t the first time I’ve featured a video from Climb Jacob’s Ladder, Paul Messinger’s killer band from North Carolina. This tune has a humorous lyric, but there’s nothing whimsical about the harp. Messinger uses at least three different sounds on this piece: he starts…
Gear Review: Tech 21 Blonde v2 Fender Amp Modeling Pedal
The Tech 21 Blonde (v2 in this case) is a stompbox amp modeling pedal designed to emulate a range of Fender amps, a role that it fills very well. It’s one of a series of “Character” pedals from Tech 21, whose experience building analog amp…
A few thoughts on the failure of Harrison Harmonicas
Our post on Harrison Harmonicas going out of business provoked more comments from visitors than any other post we’ve written. One recent post said in effect that HH was a great idea that was killed by greedy market forces–an interesting idea, but one we take…
Video of the Day 8 December 2011: Climb Jacob’s Ladder
Climb Jacob’s Ladder is a North Carolina band that does a hot mix of rock, reggae, and world music. Harp player Paul Messinger is up front and center, and he sounds killer with this crew on both acoustic and electric harp. You can hear his…
