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 ...

Blues harmonica master Carey Bell died on May 6 of heart failure in his hometown of Chicago. He was 70. Bell – the 1998 winner of the Blues Music Award for Traditional Male Artist Of The Year – was a ...

From a musical perspective, opposition to the status quo has been a driving force in Deborah Henson-Conant’s art and in her career. Though raised by musicians, she didn’t like taking lessons as a ...

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 ...

ASPEN Several years ago, after meeting and jamming with DJ Logic at a San Francisco benefit concert, John Popper put together the John Popper Project. The quartet, a side gig from Popper’s day job as ...

Why are we asking for donations? Why are we asking for donations? This site is free thanks to our community of supporters. Voluntary donations from readers like you keep our news accessible for ...

Back in 1991, East Bay bluesman Mark Hummel called on some of his fellow local harmonicats to help him put on a show at Ashkenaz in Berkeley. It wasn’t anything fancy — just a killer showcase for the ...

When my music makes someone happy, helps them unwind, relax and have fun, it is a greater achievement and fulfillment than any award I can receive. Born and raised on the prairies in the small farm ...

ASPEN John Popper has two theories for how the harmonica came to be his instrument of choice.The first is that the harmonica was easy to play. Popper was detected, as a 3-year-old, harmonizing in the ...

A recent Friday, 10:21 a.m.: Sitting on a 5-gallon bucket in front of tourists waiting to get on the Powell Street cable car, Vincente "Blue" Blupriest belted out his version of the blues with a ...

Blues harmonica virtuoso and onetime Muddy Waters sideman James Cotton died on Thursday at a medical center in Austin of pneumonia. He was 81. A rep for the musician confirmed his death. Cotton, who ...

Most musical instruments are not primarily associated with one particular style of music, especially in these days of cross-cultural collaborative adventures. Sure, notable harmonica artists can be ...