HarmonicaJoe.com

Congratulations to local Lehigh Valley, PA favorites The James Supra Blues Band for winning album of the year for the World Of Harmonica blog!  Way to go guys!

Welcome to HarmonicaJoe.com! Many of you might have found your way here through my old harmonicasongs.net website. Since I am no longer selling harmonicas, I have decided to post everything over here. I will be updating more often and am working on some new blues harp programs that will be available as digital downloads. This [...]

Here is a link to a cool website that has info on the late harmonica great Don Brooks. Mickey Raphael states that listening to and meeting Don was his influence to really get going playing the harmonica. http://ctmh.its.txstate.edu/artist.php?cmd=detail&aid=207&start=0&letter=

There is a fantastic show on HDNet TV that is a tribute to Ray Charles that features Willie Nelson, Wynton Marsalis, Nora Jones and Mickey Raphael. Mickey has loads of solo time and makes the most of his space. He is playing Lee Oskar harps in various keys to fit the songs. The songs featured [...]

I have written and erased this post a few times already. Everytime I start typing it comes out as a negative piece about how employers are draining the life out of the common worker by doing more with less people and blaming it on the economy. This has been on my mind since I read [...]

Here is Katie Couric Playing harmonica on Craig Ferguson’s show on December 7, 2010. She plays harmonica at the end of the clip.

Years ago when the only harmonica worth while for playing blues was the venerable Hohner Marine Band. It sounded great but leaked air around the wood comb which made them play inconsistantly. There were some musicians that would soak their harps in a glass of water and there are even some stories of soaking them [...]

Here is a paragraph that pretty much sums up how fantastic a musical instrument the harmonica is. From the classic John Steinbeck novel The Grapes Of Wrath… “A harmonica is easy to carry. Take it out of your hip pocket. Knock it against your palm to shake out the dirt and pocket fuzz and bits [...]

The question I get asked the most is how to figure out what blues harp or harmonica to use when playing with a band.  I have made a chart that takes all the guessing out of this.  Don’t be the guy on the bandstand frantically testing out harmonicas trying to figure which is the correct [...]