Rick Kogan: How Billy Branch bought a harmonica, found the blues and changed his life

The blues world was changed forever on a sunny day around 1960 when a little boy walked into a five-and-dime in Los Angeles. ...
NPR

Harmonica Blues With A 'Brand' New Beat

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 ...
Smithsonian Magazine

Inhaling the Blues: How Southern Black Musicians Transformed the Harmonica

“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 ...
NPR

Beyond The Blues: The Blues Harmonica In Jazz

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 ...
Los Angeles Times

Blues harmonica player James Cotton, Mr. Superharp, dies at 81

Mississippi blues harp player James Cotton was certainly considered lucky for the break he got joining Muddy Waters’ band in the late 1950s, taking over a spot previously held by such venerated ...
The Independent

Willie 'Big Eyes' Smith: Blues drummer and harmonica player renowned for his work with Muddy Waters

Willie "Big Eyes" Smith was a stalwart of the Chicago blues scene. A multi-award winning drummer, best known for his long tenure in Muddy Waters' band, he had more recently emerged as a bandleader in ...