Video of the Day 2 April 2017: Will Pound solo
We've featured Irish traditionalist Will Pound on this site before. We came upon this performance recorded at Aberdeen's Button Boxes & Moothie Festival in November 2015 recently, and we like it for a few reasons, not least that there are damn few harmonica players in...
RIP James Cotton
Anyone who's ever cared more than slightly about blues harmonica knows who James Cotton was. Cotton had a huge sound, and it certainly made an impression on me. In 1979, I went to Nashville to do a "masterclass" session for oak publications with Charlie mcCoy...
My Favorite Song in Da Whole Wide World: Big Country, “In a Big Country”
I like lots of music. When I'm out driving in my car, I turn on the radio and flip through the stations until I hear something I've never heard before, then I listen to that for 10 minutes or so. You never know what you're...
RIP Ralph Stanley
I only saw one performance by Ralph Stanley so far as I know, and that one on television, but it was a good one to watch. It was some years ago at the Grammy awards; he sang "Oh Death" a capella, just him and a...
Video of the Day 13 May 2016: Jerome Peyrelevade
Jerome Peyrelevade is one of the astonishing diatonic players who seem to be sprouting like weeds in France right now. This video highlights excerpts from his latest record, which features Jeyrome blowing with power and precision on some very cool modern jazz. Every piece on...
Video of the Day 4 May 2016: Eric Bibb and JJ Milteau, “Where Did You Sleep Last Night”
I've been a fan of Jean-Jacques Milteau's harmonica playing for a long time. In the decades of his career he's done everything from traditional blues to jazz-rock, always with a strong tone and precise moves on the instrument. As I learned from an interview he...
Video of the Day 24 Feb 2016: Will Pound and Eddy Jay, “Floating Candle”
I hadn't heard of Will Pound (or Eddy Jay, for that matter) before I heard this performance, but I expect to hear from him again. This is a thrilling uptempo performance of traditional Irish music played on two free-reed instruments: diatonic harmonica and acordian. Pound's...
Video of the Day 28 Sep 2015: Frederic Yonnet with Ed Sheeran
Love Ed Sheeran, especially when he's cranking out a tune with nothing but a guitar, his voice, and a looper. On this video he's also got Frederic Yonnet on harmonica. Yonnet is representing harmonica well at the highest level of rock and pop music; most...
The 2015 Battle of the Bands is Over, and It Was a Blast
On stage with Gartner in the Cloud, Sep 12 2015 I played the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. And it was great. No, my band, Gartner in the Cloud, didn't win the Playoffs for the Inc. Magazine Battle of the Corporate Bands in 2015....
Vidoe of the Day 25 August 2015: Jason Ricci: Fox Chase
This terrific live performance by Jason Ricci at SPAH 2015, recorded only a couple of weeks ago as of this writing is a very modern update on a traditional harmonica style. The precision Ricci puts into the articulation of his rapid lines and rhythms is...
