Hear Brandon Bailey perform two songs live in the NPR studio. The harmonica is a staple of American blues, beginning with the Memphis jug bands of the 1920s. In the 1960s, blues-influenced artists ...

DeFord Bailey was born on December 14, 1899, and he remains one of the most trailblazing musicians in country music history.

Among the harmonica’s many wonderful and unique traits, there is this: You have to really suck to be good at it. As one of America’s finest and busiest harmonica players, Denver’s Ronnie Shellist ...

“Classic Harmonica Blues,” out on May 21, features 20 tracks by the blues’ greatest harmonica players. Photo courtesy of Smithsonian Folkways Recordings In the early 20th-century, southern black ...

The Center for the Arts is pleased to present Mark Hummel’s Harmonica Blowout in the Marisa Funk Theater on February 14, 2024. Mark Hummel’s Harmonica Blowout celebrates 31 years of touring in 2024.

In the mid-1800s, a German harmonica manufacturer named Hohner started exporting his product to North America. Being relatively inexpensive, relatively easy to play and extremely portable, the ...

One of the major transitions in the blues took place after thousands of Mississippians moved to Chicago, and drew upon the acoustic sounds of the Delta to create electrified Chicago blues. One of the ...

To broach his uncertain future, Johnny Sansone first had to relinquish his familiar past. Photo by Timothy WhiteJohnny Sansone's new CD is an early contender for one of the best local albums of the ...

In the summer of 1963, a strange record by a 12-year-old boy who’d already racked up a string of flops spent three weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100. It’s largely a showcase for that ...

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, ... Telarc Blues culls their considerable holdings to provide a wholly satisfying collection of contemporary blues harmonica by contemporary and ...

There are myriad reasons why playing music is one of the most enjoyable and spiritually beneficial things to do on earth. Melody, rhythm and lyric are but three glorious aims. One drawback to playing ...

Nearly 60 years later, the Garrison Beach, Brooklyn native and president of the Long Island Harmonica Club will join the club ...