Alvin the Chipmunk

Alvin is a world renowned musician and the lead singer and harmonica player for the group Alvin and the Chipmunks. Alvin was created by Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. in 1958 and has been entertaining audiences ever since. Alvin is known as a the mischievous troublemaker who leads his brothers Simon, the tall, bespectacled intellectual; and Theodore, the chubby, impressionable one. The trio is managed by their human father David Seville.

In the 2007 CGI/live-action movie adaptation and its 2009 sequel, they were voiced in dialogue by Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gubler and Jesse McCartney, respectively. Bagdasarian, Jr. and Karman continue to perform the singing voices for Alvin, Theodore and the Chipettes, but Steve Vining now does Simon's singing voice. They are one of the most successful music groups of all time, earning five Grammy awards, an American Music Award, a Golden Reel Award, a Kids' Choice Award, and have been nominated for three Emmy awards.

Frederic Yonnet

Frederic Yonnet is best known for his strong improvisational skills and ability to play chromatically on a diatonic harmonica. As a result, he has the freedom to stretch a reed traditionally meant for one note into the equivalent of a multi-sound Swiss Army knife. This intense experimentation follows the tradition of great Black harmonicists like Howlin' Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson, and Little Walter, who revolutionized the harmonica as a Blues instrument during the Great Migration of the 1950s. "The range of sounds that you get from the harmonica is deep and wide. It can sound like a saxophone, a violin, a guitar, or piano. It can make people smile, laugh, and cry. Most importantly, it can make people dream because they aspire to do it too," says Yonnet.

Gary Allegretto

A down-to-earth guy with lifelong wanderlust and more than a few stories to tell, Gary Allegretto's resume reads like a men's adventure wish-list: back-country forest ranger, forest firefighter on a "Hotshot" crew, LA city firefighter, bouncer in a couple rough honky-tonks and a Blues bar, cowboy and ranch hand, beach lifeguard, white-water rafting guide… and traveling Bluesman. He's also the founding director of Harmonikids, an organization that gives music therapy with harmonicas to special needs kids worldwide. He started playing upon receiving his first harp at age 5 from his woodsman grandfather. Soon after, while attending a cultural festival he carelessly wandered away from his family… and into a Big Walter Horton performance. As the loudspeakers blared something about a lost child, he knew he'd found his calling… and he followed.

Clint Black

Prolific singer-songwriter Clint Black has long been heralded as one of Country music's brightest stars. His many talents have taken him even further, as Black has transcended genres to become one of the most successful artists in all the music industry. The 1989 debut of his critically acclaimed fan favorite, the Triple Platinum Killin' Time, marked a shift in the industry, with a return to the more traditional sounds of the genre. CMT lists this album as one of the 100 Greatest Albums in Country Music. More than 20 million of his albums have been sold worldwide. While it's well-known that Black is an accomplished singer and guitarist, people may be surprised to learn that his first instrument was the harmonica.

Sugar Blue

Blue received his first harmonica from his aunt, and proceeded to hone his chops by wailing along with Bob Dylan and Stevie Wonder songs on the radio, he was soon to be influenced by the jazz greats such as Dexter Gordon and Lester Young. Sugar Blue has used this background to his advantage, though, creating an ultra-modern blues style and sound that is instantly recognizable as his own. Blue began his career as a street musician and made his first recordings in 1975 with legendary blues figures Brownie McGhee and Roosevelt Sykes . The following year, he contributed to recordings by Victoria Spivey and Johnny Shines before pulling up stakes and moving to Paris on the advice of pioneer blues pianist Memphis Slim . While in France, Blue hooked up with members of the Rolling Stones , who instantly fell in love with his sound. The Stones invited Blue to join them in the studio. Besides his work on the Some Girls album, he can be heard on Emotional Rescue and Tattoo You .

Robert Bonfiglio

Called "the Paganini of the Harmonica" by The Los Angeles Times, Robert Bonfiglio has dazzled audiences at Carnegie Hall, the Hollywood Bowl, the Gewandhaus, Teatro Colón, Teatro Massimo, Kennedy Center, Boston Symphony Hall, Lincoln Center and throughout the world with his ability to play : Harmonica Concertos and turn right around and "sizzle" on the 'blues.

Billy Branch

Billy Branch has followed a very non-traditional path to the blues. Unlike many blues artists, he isn't from the South. Billy was born in Chicago in 1951 and was raised in Los Angeles. He first picked up a harmonica at the age of ten and immediately began to play simple tunes. Billy returned to Chicago in the summer of '69 and graduated from the University of Illinois with a degree in political science. He soon became immersed in the local blues scene spending a great deal of time at legendary blues clubs learning from such stalwart harmonica players like: Big Walter Horton, James Cotton, Junior Wells and Carey Bell. He made his first recording for Barrelhouse Records and began to work as an apprentice harp player in Willie Dixon's Chicago Blues All-Stars. He eventually replaced Carey Bell and worked with Willie Dixon for six years. Billy is also passing on the blues tradition to a new generation through his Blues In The Schools program. He is a dedicated blues educator and has taught in the Chicago school system for over twenty years as part of the Urban Gateways Project.

James Cotton

Cotton's harmonica techniques run the gamut from punching out piercing high register runs to a full-blown tonal range and makes the simplest riff a toy to be played with, turned inside out and altered in rhythm and intensity. After Sonny Boy Williamson took him in as an orphan, he set off to Chicago to play with Muddy Waters, where the master asked him to "play it like Little Walter". After telling Muddy " Hey man, I never will be Little Walter", Cotton came into his own. "On some nights I suck the keys right out of the harp and spit them right in my hand," he laughs. During one recent session he blew the top right off his harmonica - "just getting warmed up" said Cotton. As evidence of his power, two bulging 30-gallon Hefty bags full of ravaged harmonicas sit in his basement. "I'm a blues singer and harpist," says Cotton. "But no matter what category you stick it in - rock, blues, soul, psychadelic, jazz - it's still dance and party music. A lot of times people come expecting sad music - I like to change their minds 'bout the blues. I also want to let them know where I'm coming from, so I mix some older things in that young audiences might not know. I feel like, I got to teach the blues, to carry it on."

Magic Dick

Magic Dick arrived in post-war America to the Atomic Bomb, World Peace, Bebop and Rhythm & Blues. Dynamic change and growth in the arts and technology would be the hallmark of this era and by the time he was eight Dick knew that music, painting and physics would be his primary interests. He met J. Geils and Danny Klein and became a founding member of the J. Geils Blues Band in 1968. In 1970 the J. Geils Band recorded their first of nine albums for Atlantic Records and toured incessantly, jamming with many of the blues greats including Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Junior Wells and James Cotton. The band developed a reputation for 'getting crazy' and devastated audiences for fifteen years with their high-energy style of Rhythm & Blues and Rock & Roll. These recordings showcase Magic Dick's innovative harmonica playing, which served as a strong distinguishing sound for the band. Magic Dick's years of experimentation and searching for new sounds and stylings for the harmonica cultivated a strong desire to improve the flexibility and quality of the harmonica so as to better fit into contemporary music yet retain the best characteristics of harmonica sound and cultural history.

Rick Estrin

One day back in 1970, a 20-year old Rick Estrin had the opportunity to play harmonica with Muddy Waters and his band at the Sutherland Hotel on 47th and Drexel on Chicago's South Side. During the break, Muddy called Estrin over, shook his finger in his face, and shouted, "You outta sight, boy! You got that sound, boy! You play like a man, boy!" Rick Estrin ranks among the very best harp players, singers and songwriters in the blues world today. His work on the reeds is deep in the tradition of harmonica masters Sonny Boy Williamson II and Little Walter Jacobs, while at the same time pushing that tradition forward. The Associated Press called his harp playing, "endlessly impressive." The great guitarist Robert Lockwood, Jr. (who was schooled by Robert Johnson and who played on most of Little Walter's Chess recordings) told Estrin, "Little Walter would be very proud of you." His award-winning original songs have been favorably compared with those of Willie Dixon and the team of Leiber and Stoller. And his hipster, street-smart vocals are the perfect vehicle for driving his songs home.

Joe Filisko

It's not likely you will find many aspects regarding the current state of the diatonic harmonica that have not been influenced in some way by Joe Filisko. The harmonica is his full time job. His craftsmanship, musicianship and knowledge of the instrument and all aspects of its history are being acknowledged and praised by the likes of Howard Levy, Kim Wilson, Charlie Musselwhite, Gary Primich, Mickey Raphael, John Hammond, David Barrett, Madcat Ruth, Steve Baker, Mike Stevens, Doc Watson, Dennis Gruenling, Rick Estrin, The National Music Museum, the Harmonikamuseum Trossingen, The Starr-Gennett Records Foundation, The Paramount Blues Festival, The Country Music Hall of Fame, and the M. Hohner Company. Joe was given the honor of performing solo at the 2006 Country Music Hall of Fame Medallion Ceremony for the Induction of DeFord Bailey.

Joe teaches harmonica every Monday at Chicago's Old Town School of Folk Music, and performes regularly with Eric Noden.

Guy Forsyth

Guy is known today as a musician with gripping, powerful vocals as well as a master of numerous instruments. He started his musical development first with singing, and began playing harmonica at 16. Shortly thereafter he heard a very distinct and overwhelming sound on Kansas City radio that changed his life; it was Robert Johnson. After that, he borrowed a guitar, fell in love and learned to tune it with his feet from a friend who had lost both his arms in an accident. In college, he lasted a single semester at the University of Kansas, and then he found the music he had been seeking – gritty, organic folk and blues, "from a practical hands-on, gears, joints and joists level." And he struck out to learn it. It's been a long and dusty, winding road for Austin singer/songwriter Guy Forsyth that's lead to a recent surge in praise over his dazzling live shows and his rich Americana roots sound.

William Galison-

Like his obvious role model Toots Thielemans, William Galison is a gifted doubler. Already well established as one of the most original voices on harmonica from his wonderfully melodic, depthfully soulful work on film scores like "The Untouchables" and "Bagdad Cafe" as well as his own recordings like 19881s "Overjoyed" and 19901s "Calling You", Galison also reveals himself to be an accomplished guitarist on Got You On My Mind. This affecting collaboration with the Billie Holiday-styled singer Madeleine Peyroux has Galison demonstrating traces of Les Paul, Oscar Moore and Tiny Grimes in his easy swinging six-string repertoire while also showcasing his inimitable harmonica chops. And he delights with a few vocal numbers as well, which makes him a real triple-threat.

Dennis Gruenling

After spending some time in New Orleans in the early 90's, Dennis has been laying down some of the best blues & roots harmonica on the East Coast for 15 years. Along the way, Gruenling has shared the stage with many top names in the blues world, such as Pinetop Perkins, Snooky Pryor, Homesick James, Little Sammy Davis, A.C. Reed, Mick Taylor and Jimmy Dawkins, as well as contemporary masters such as Rod Piazza, Little Charlie & The Nightcats, Charlie Musselwhite, Kim Wilson, Steve Guyger, and Mark Hummel. Now after 10 years of leading a swinging jump-blues outfit of his own, being awarded "Best Modern Blues Harmonica Player" 3 years in a row (Real Blues Magazine) and developing "a sound that promises to re-define the role of the harmonica" ( HIP Magazine),
he pays tribute to the greatest and most influential harmonica player in blues history – Little Walter Jacobs on a disc dedicated to the master.

The Harmonicats

Originally they were named The Harmonica Madcaps and the group consisted of Jerry Murad (chromatic lead harmonica), Bob Hadamik (bass harmonica), Pete Pedersen (chromatic), and Al Fiore, (chord harmonica). They reformed later as a trio with Jerry, Al, and bass harmonica player Don Les. Pete Pederson and Gail Wallace remained contributors to the group throughout its existence, working on arrangements and occasionally recording. Their 1947 recording of "Peg O' My Heart" (Vitacoustic Records catalog number 1) brought them to public attention and sold over 1 million copies, reaching #1 on the Billboard magazine chart. Other charted hits: "Hair of Gold, Eyes of Blue," of which their version reached #22 and "Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom White".

Stan Harper

"Stanley Harper, better known as "Stan", was born in Brooklyn, New York, September 21, 1921. He learned musical notation, timing, harmony, composition and counterpoint. Mr. Harper also did some solo work, duets, trios, and quartets. His versatility was soon recognized in the United States by radio, television, record companies, and theaters. In the 1930Õs, Stan Harper had a harmonica group in Brooklyn, comprised of the best harmonica players in the world. Over the years, Stan Harper performed with Eddie Shu (Shulman), Carl Reiner, Howard Morris, Hal David, Werner Klemperer, Sam Wanamaker, and Leon Kirshner."

Taylor Hicks

Taylor Hicks bought his first harmonica when he was 16, for $2 at a flea market in Bessemer, Alabama,[4] and taught himself to play blues harp. He discovered that he possessed absolute pitch when he was able to recognize the pitches of ordinary noises and mimic them on the harmonica.[6] Hicks was 18 when he wrote his first song, "In Your Time", and he taught himself to play guitar when he was 19. Hicks got his start as a professional musician in his late teens and performed around the Southeastern United States for well over the span of a decade, during which he also released two independent albums. In 2006, when he won the fifth season of American Idol.. Upon winning Idol, he was signed to Arista Records, under which his self-titled major label debut was released on December 12, 2006. His energetic stage performances and influences derived from classic rock, blues, and R&B music had earned him a following of devout fans, who have been dubbed the "Soul Patrol."

Mark Hummel

Mark Hummel is a road warrior - a true Blues Survivor. Along the way, he has crafted his own trademark harmonica sound - a subtle combination of tone, phrasing and attack combined with a strong sense of swing. While Mark is new to Electro Fi Records, his earlier albums, constant touring and appearances at the major blues festivals have firmly established his solid reputation around the US and Europe. Since 1991 Mark has been both producing & performing at his annual Blues Harmonica Blowout™ series. These shows have grown to be a much heralded event & continue to draw sellout crowds wherever they appear. The list of participents is a who's who of Blues harp history, James Cotton, Charlie Musselwhite, Norton Buffalo, Kim Wilson, Huey Lewis, Carey Bell, Billy Boy Arnold, Rod Piazza, Rick Estrin, Paul deLay, Snooky Pryor, James Harman, Gary Primich, Sam Myers, in just the last three years of this 11 year event.

Robert Klein

Robert Klein is a lifelong, entertainer, comedian, actor, and musician. Robert got his start with the famous Chicago "Second City." He has appeared on Broadway and has received several Grammy nominations. . He has been a regular guest on "The Tonight Show" for over twenty years, and has guest-hosted the show on numerous occasions. He also appears regularly on "Late Show with David Letterman" and "Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Robert has hosted "Saturday Night Live" twice, and starred in the first "Cheeseburger" sketch with John Belushi and Dan Akroyd.

Klein's movie roles include "Hooper," starring Burt Reynolds, "The Owl and the Pussycat," with Barbra Streisand, "Rivals," with Joan Hackett, "The Landlord," "Darkside: The Movie." Klein has recently appeared in "Radioland Murders," "Mixed Nuts," "Jeffrey," "One Fine Day," "Suits," "Next Stop Wonderland," "Primary Colors," "Goosed," "Labor Pains," "Two Weeks Notice," with Hugh Grant andSandra Bullock, "How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days," with Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey, "Safety of Objects," with Glen Close, and "People I Know," with Al Pacino.

Robert is also an author and completed his first book for Simon & Schuster, an affectionate coming-of-age memoir about growing up in the '50s and '60s before embarking on a show business career. In "The Amorous Busboy of Decatur Avenue," he recounts his journey from an apartment in the Bronx, developing his talent in Chicago and the beginning of his show business stardom that is pure Robert Klein: witty, honest, self-questioning and always contagiously funny. Publishers Weekly writes: "...he unfurls an array of captivating anecdotes, writing with wry wit and honesty."

When Robert isn't making a movie, filming a one-man concert, performing on Broadway, at the White House, or hosting a television show, he relaxes by regularly traveling the country appearing at hundreds of colleges, universities, and theatres, or in Atlantic City performing his brilliant comedy for sold-out houses.

Charley Leighton

A native New Yorker, Charley was born in 1921, the last of six children and the first U.S. Citizen in a family of Romanian immigrants. His father died when he was eight years old and the large family pulled together, working in the fur and garment industries to survive. At age twelve, Charley fell in love with harmonica when he bought one at the 5 & dime for ten cents. "I'd play EVERYTHING! That harmonica was never out of my mouth! I was kicked out of our little street groups (laughs) because I never stopped!" Charley was instrumental in mentoring several well know New York harmonica players before his death in 2009. Charley will be missed.

Howard Levy

Howard Levy is a musician without limits. His musical adventures include journeys into jazz, pop, rock, world music, Latin, classical, folk, blues, country, theater, and film. He has appeared on hundred of cd's, won a Grammy (1997), won a Joseph Jefferson Award (1986) for Best Original Music for a Play, and has performed many times on American and European television and radio. Universally acknowledged as the world's most advanced diatonic harmonica player, Howard developed a fully chromatic style on the standard 10 - hole diatonic harmonica, revolutionizing harmonica playing and taking the instrument into totally new territory. Howard was a founding member of the Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, toured and recorded two albums with Kenny Loggins, and formed Trio Globo with Eugene Friesen and Glen Velez . Howard has also performed and/or recorded with Dolly Parton, Styx, Bobby McFerrin, Paul Simon, John Prine, Paquito D'Rivera, Ken Nordine, and many others, as well as touring and recording extensively in Europe with artists such as Rabih Abou Khalil and Michael Riessler.

Huey Lewis

Huey Lewis was born in New York City, and grew up in Marin County, California. In 1967, preparing to graduate from New Jersey prep school, was accepted by Cornell University, in Ithaca, NY - but on the advice of his father he decided to wait enrolling in college, and instead he headed for Europe. As he hitch-hiked around the continent he learned to play the harmonica whilst waiting for rides. Huey became an accomplished blues player, and gave his first concert in Europe, earning $150 for it, before returning to America. He joined the bay area band Clover eventually leaving them to start his own band Huey Lewis and the News. The News have gone on to sell millions of records. Huey is a tremendous talent and the narrator of Pocket Full of Soul.

Delbert McClinton

McClinton's early memories include going as a child with his parents to see Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys at The Cotton Club in Lubbock, TX, where he was born. His family moved to Ft. Worth when McClinton was 11, and just a few years later he started earning his Ph.D in real American music in a city known as a fertile incubator for a variety of styles. Out on the Jacksboro Highway at clubs like Jack's Place, Delbert mastered the craft of keeping the hard-drinking rednecks, cowpokes and roustabouts entertained all night long. And at the legendary Skyliner Ballroom, where McClinton's band was the only white act to play its Blue Monday nights AND be the backing band for the headliners, he received a first-class tutelage from the masters of blues music like Jimmy Reed, Howlin' Wolf and Sonny Boy Williamson.

McClinton cut a number of local and regional singles before hitting the national charts in 1962 playing harmonica on Bruce Channel's now classic "Hey! Baby." On a subsequent package tour of England, Delbert showed some of his harp licks to the rhythm guitarist for a young band at the bottom of the bill. The lessons he gave John Lennon were later heard hit singles by The Beatles. Delbert has continued recording albums, touring, and compiling award after award, including a Grammy in 2001.

Charlie Musselwhite

Whether it's the rough river town of Memphis of his childhood, the rough South Side Chicago juke joints where he cut his teeth as a performer or the disillusioned Twenty First Century New Orleans, Musselwhite's music still speaks loud and clear-- to the soul with passion and grace. When Charlie released his first record, 1967's defiant Stand Back, the country was in the midst of an unpopular war and entering the slipstream of rapid cultural and political change. Fast forward four decades and not much has changed. Neither has Musselwhite's musical wanderlust nor his creative ambition.

Lee Oskar

Born in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1948, Lee Oskar landed in the States in the mid 60's and is most popularly known as one of the founding members of the seminal jam band WAR. Together with Harold Brown, BB Dickerson, Howard Scott, Lonie Jordan, Charles Miller, and "Papa Dee" Allen, WAR started out supporting the former Animal front man, Eric Burdon. Together with Burdon, their very first recorded effort contained the popular tune Spill The Wine, unleashing the genre-busting sound of WAR for the first time. Not far down the road the group set out on their own to compose and perform huge hits like, All Day Music, City Country City, Me and Baby Brother, Low Rider, Why Can't We Be Friends, The Cisco Kid, Slipping into Darkness, The World is a Ghetto, and many others. Driven by his unique style and demand for quality, Lee set out to make a better instrument and decided to partner with Tombo of Japan, one of the oldest and most respected harmonica manufacturers in the world. With Lee's pioneering ideas and Tombo's uncompromising manufacturing process, the Lee Oskar Harmonica was born in 1983. Lee has not only been able to enjoy playing the kind of quality instrument he wished he had in the early days, but has made a fantastic instrument available to discerning players around the world.

Rob Paparozzi

New Jersey-based frontman, singer, & harmonica player Rob Paparozzi has been a blues performer since 1967. But Rob is far from being strictly a blues musician. In fact, he's at home playing a wide range of music, ranging from rock to blues to jazz to pop. This versatility is reflected in the long and remarkably diverse list of major artists Rob has worked with, including B.B.King, Dr. John, Bruce Springsteen, Whitney Houston, Carole King, Roberta Flack, Culture Club, Cyndi Lauper, Randy Newman, Jimmy McGriff, and James Galway.

Rob had been touring the world with the "Original Blues Brothers Band", featuring guitar legend Steve Cropper and special guest Eddie Floyd 2000-2007. Since 2005 to present Rob is Frontman-Singer for the Legendary "Blood Sweat and Tears"

Rod Piazza

Piazza's infatuation with blues began at a time when many of the masters were still in their prime years, and in the mid 1960s when the first blues revival was picking up steam, he was in the thick of it. By the 1970s, he'd already released five albums, and was one of the leading lights of the West Coast Blues scene. In the early '70s he joined forces with Otis Spann disciple Honey Alexander (now his wife) on piano, and when they formed the Mighty Flyers over three decades ago, his career really hit its stride. Since then Piazza and the Mighty Flyers have won or been nominated for just about every award that can be bestowed upon a blues band, played literally thousands of gigs around the world, recorded over a dozen highly acclaimed releases, and along the way virtually created a new style of blues - a combination of low-down Chicago grit, suave West Coast swing and jazz, and the rhythmic drive of the best early R&B and rock & roll. At this point in his career, Piazza has been recording longer than his mentor George "Harmonica" Smith did, or Sonny Boy Williamson (either of them!), or Big Walter Horton.

John Popper

John Popper originally wanted to become a comedian, finding he could use humor to make friends and avoid bullies, but when he and a friend performed a routine as The Blues Brothers, he found that he enjoyed musical performance. From there, he took up the harmonica. Popper played trumpet in the Princeton High School Studio Jazz Band, and convinced the teacher to let him play harmonica instead, after an in-class solo on the song "She Blinded Me With Science". He formed several garage bands with friends in Princeton, New Jersey, one of which evolved into Blues Traveler in 1987.

After graduating from high school, the group's members all moved to New York City, where Popper enrolled in The New School for Social Research. Popper attended for three years but devoted himself to the band full-time once they signed a record contract in 1990. Originally hailed as a "jam-band", Blues Traveler crossed over into mainstream pop/rock radio success with their 1994 album four, which garnered the group extensive media exposure. The Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal in 1996 was awarded to "Run-around", a song which Popper composed.

Jerry Portnoy

Jerry Portnoy was born in 1943 and grew up in the blues rich atmosphere of Chicago's famous Maxwell Street Market during the golden age of Chicago Blues. He began his professional career in the late 60's and since that time has performed, live and on television, to more people in more places than any other blues harmonica player. During a career that includes six years as a member of the fabled Muddy Waters Blues Band, another six as leader of the Legendary Blues Band, four years at the head of his own band The Streamliners, and another four as a featured member of the Eric Clapton Band, he has maintained a constant touring schedule that has carried him to every state in the union and twenty-five foreign countries on five continents, with performances at the White House, Carnegie Hall, Radio City Music Hall, the Smithsonian, London's Royal Albert Hall, and at major jazz festivals worldwide. He has lectured at the Berklee School of Music in Boston, and his definitive 3/CD instructional package, Jerry Portnoy's Blues Harmonica Masterclass, is widely regarded as a premier teaching tool for those wishing to learn the instrument.

Gary Primich

Blues harmonica player, vocalist, and songwriter, the late Gary Primich was among a rare breed of musicians on the blues scene today — those who learned directly at the feet of the masters and proved themselves on the mean streets and ghetto club stages of Chicago. A dedicated musician who not only revered tradition but forged his own innovative sound, Primich honed his meaty, fat-toned harmonica chops and energetic R&B vocal style at Chicago's storied and legendary Maxwell Street Market. Performing there in the late '70s and early '80s along greats like Big Walter Horton, Johnny Littlejohn, Sunnyland Slim, and John Henry Davis, Gary received a first-hand blues education that could never be taught in a classroom.

Mickey Raphael

Mickey Raphael's career as Willie Nelson's Harmonica player has spanned almost three decades. His intelligent playing style has become a hallmark of Nelson's crossover sound, earning him a large audience worldwide. In 1988, Raphael, released his first solo project, entitled Hand to Mouth. The ethereal collection of songs features a variety of timeless instrumental tracks, including The Search and Gypsy and Breathless. Due to popular demand, the project was re-released in 2000.

Annie Raines

Annie Raines was born in 1969 in Boston and grew up in the suburb of Newton, Massachusetts. She picked up the blues harp at 17 and made her stage debut at the 1369 Jazz Club in Cambridge a few months before her high school graduation. Enthralled by the recordings of Muddy Waters, Little Walter Jacobs, Big Walter Horton and Sonny Boy Williamson, she became a fixture at Boston area blues jams. She briefly attended Antioch College and 1988 interned with Washington, DC homeless rights activist Mitch Snyder, who persuaded her to drop out of school to pursue her musical career. One of the few female blues harmonica players in the country, Annie played the New England club circuit with local bands, and traveled to Chicago where she met and played with many of her musical idols including Pinetop Perkins, Louis Myers, and James Cotton. She also enjoyed yearlong stints with the Tarbox Ramblers and the Susan Tedeschi Band, going on to perform on Susan's first three albums. She lives in Boston with her number one musical hero, Paul Rishell.

Jason Ricci

Ricci started playing music in punk bands at the age of 14. After the harmonica lead him to blues music he turned his attention in that direction. In 1995, Ricci moved from Portland to Memphis, TN, where shortly there after he placed first in the Sonny Boy Blues Society contest at 21 years of age. Later that same year Ricci recorded his first album, Jason Ricci (Self titled). In Memphis, Ricci began playing with David Malone Kimbrough, son of blues great Junior Kimbrough, and soon was a part of the bands of both Kimbroughs and was sitting in with R.L. Burnside . After overcoming some life challenges, he started his own band Jason Ricci and New Blood and has been touring the world ever since.

Peter Madcat Ruth

Peter Madcat Ruth has established an international reputation through his exhilarating, riveting virtuosity on the harmonica. His expertise on this instrument has amazed audiences world-wide. He is equally at home playing blues, folk music, jazz, country, or rock and roll. Performance Magazine refers to him as "A harmonica virtuoso who is rapidly approaching legend status." Madcat's music has been evolving for over 45 years. It started in the Chicago area in the early 1960's, with Madcat playing folk/blues on guitar and harmonica. By the late 60's he had immersed himself in the Chicago Blues and was studying harmonica with Big Walter Horton. In the early 70's Madcat moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan where he was a key presence in two of Ann Arbor's finest progressive rock bands: New Heavenly Blue and Sky King. By the mid 70's Madcat was touring the world with jazz pianist Dave Brubeck. In the 80's, Madcat went solo infusing the folk/blues tradition with elements of rock and jazz.

Wade Schuman

Founder of the eclectic band Hazmat Modine, Wade Schuman was brought up in Ann Arbor, MI, a city known for its music scene, before relocating to New York. His mastery of early blues styles earned him opportunities to record with some of New York's greatest, including an appearance on Joan Osborne's Grammy-nominated Relish. Schuman also performed opposite Chicago native Randy Weinstein, a fellow harmonica great with a stellar performance record and member of Hazmat Modine as well. Randy plays a "sheng" from time to time.

Corky Siegel

Corky Siegel's career began with a fortunate break when he formed the legendary Siegel-Schwall Band that toured the major rock palaces and clubs in the 60's and 70's. Mr. Siegel's partnership in the renowned Siegel-Schwall Band, his performances as soloist with orchestras world-wide, and his collaborations with conductor Seiji Ozawa in bringing a ground-breaking blues-classical sound to national attention are all a reflection of Mr. Siegel's prodigious talent. Mr. Siegel continues to perform as guest soloist with symphony orchestras world-wide. His newest project Chamber Blues, with the West End String Quartet, and Frank Donaldson on world percussion, blends classical and blues styles in a chamber music setting.

Les Stroud

Les Stroud continues to forge new pathways as a prolific, creative force. He single-handedly created, produced, wrote, filmed, hosted, edited and composed the theme music for the first two original, one-hour pilots for what would eventually become the hit Survivorman TV series. He remains the only producer in the history of television to produce an internationally broadcast series entirely written, videotaped and hosted alone and is credited with starting an entire new genre of television known as 'Survival Shows'. He always has a harmonica with him out in the wild.

Kim Wilson

Kim Wilson first came to national prominence in the late '70s when he and his band, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, came roaring out of Austin, Texas to inspire a whole generation of roots oriented musicians. His authoritative singing and peerless instrumental virtuosity not only enthrall the crowds that flock to his performances, but also have set a standard, which continues to inspire and challenge musicians around the world. Born in Detroit in 1951, he grew up in California and fell under the sway of the blues in the late '60s, honing his chops under the tutelage of people like George Smith, Luther Tucker and Peewee Crayton.

Muddy Waters called Kim, "The greatest harmonica player to come along since Little Walter."