 LADY A has made a place on the Florida blues map from the panhandle to Key West with her strong, earthy vocals and harmonica solos. She has worked with K.C and The Sunshine Band as well as many other touring and recording pros. She also hosted a popular radio show in the Florida Keys. more |
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| KIM ADDONIZIO also known as Little Lola, is an internationally acclaimed poet and fiction writer who fell in love with the harmonica several years ago and now performs at her readings and with other musicians all over the US. She founded the word/music group Nonstop Beautiful Ladies and is currently working on a CD to accompany her book My Black Angel: Blues Poems and Portraits with woodcuts by Charles D. Jones. more: |  |
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 GAYE ADEGBALOLOA became famous with the group Saffire, The Uppity Blues Women. She tours nationally and internationally, and has won numerous awards including the prestigious Blues Music Award. Gaye composes, sings and plays acoustic guitar, slide guitar, and harmonica. more |
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 CHERYL ARENA is from Boston, Massachusetts, Cheryl began playing harmonica and immersing herself into the Blues in 1987. Boston was an inspiring place to be as she was surrounded by so many talented harmonica and horn players. Her earliest childhood memories relating to music were listening and singing along with her mother's Louis Armstrong and Billie Holiday records. Her true passion though was in learning to play an instrument so at age 8 her grandmother set her up with accordion lessons..not exactly what she had in mind, but it was a start and lead to playing other instruments like guitar and bass guitar, and eventually finding the one instrument that truly resonated with her?the harmonica. more |
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 PEARL BAILES harmonica diva in the nation's capitol received her first harmonica as a birthday gift, and soon found herself unable to go anywhere without it. Her emphatic playing adds an antic energy to any performance. When not playing with the Capitol Hillbillies, she can be found teaching 10-year-olds. more |
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 KAT BALOUN grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio. Her mother was a classical pianist & organist, and she directed the church choir in which Kat and her father sang. Her mother started her on the piano at 5 and at 7 she learned the violin. Then at 13 she picked up the harmonica. During her teens and twenties she played only occasionally. but in 1991, she met several musicians while living in San Francisco. They inspired her to start playing the harmonica again. In 1994 she moved to Berlin and put a band together and she has lived there ever since. more |
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 MARIANA BARSATO is a member of the South American women's harmonica group, Mulheres Gaitistas. She lives in Argentina. more |
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 INGRID BERRY is the daughter of Chuck Berry and has been performing with him and as a solo artist for many years. She played herself in the 1987 movie, Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll! more |
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 CHRISTELLE BERTHON was unknown to much of the blues world until recently, but she's a star on the internet! Christelle is a classically trained musician who found the harmonica when she was 24 and it changed her life. She has yet to make an album, but you can find many of her videos on line. Her fluid, beautiful style won her second place at the World Harmonica Championships in 2009. more |
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BIG NANCY (Wertheim-Swarbrick) a hometown gal from New Jersey, leads her band, Supreme Court. Nancy was born in Somerville, New Jersey and raised in nearby Green Brook. Her love of music was handed down to her by her father, an avid fan and player of Dixieland music. Much of her love of Blues and Gospel chord patterns comes from recordings, old movies, and cartoons. Nancy became enamored with the Blues Harp while watching a Woody Guthrie documentary featuring Sonny Terry. more | |
| DIANE BLUE is a soul-stirring vocalist, skillful harmonica player and a crowd-pleasing entertainer. Voted "Outstanding Female Singer" in The Blues Audience 2011 Readers' Poll, Ms. Blue is a soulful and sassy performer with a strong and energetic delivery, serving up her own spin on soul, blues and R&B. She won the 2010 Massachusetts Blues Challenge, earning the honor of competing at the 2011 International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tennessee. She was nominated "Best Blues/R&B Act" and "Best Female Vocalist" in 2007 by the Providence Phoenix and also nominated "Best Local Blues Act" by Motif Magazine in 2007. more | * |
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 LITTLE JENNY BOHMAN was considered to be one of Sweden's best blues players. With her band, Blue Beans, Jenny played at many festivals and won two of the top Swedish blues awards. Jenny passed away after a long battle with cancer in November, 2010. more |
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KATIE BRADLEY Katie's stage presence, talent and luminosity wins her new followers wherever she plays. Katie extends her musicality, rhythm and love for rich melody in the Blues by playing Blues harp. Katie has been complimented by Paul Jones for her intuitive playing, and it often sets her apart from most other performers as she adds an extra dimension to her performance. In 2014 The world-famous harmonica maker Anthony Dannecker endorsed Katie Bradley with her own customised harps, uniquely hand crafted in response to her own playing style. - more | |
 GRACE BRIM was known as the "Queen of the Harmonica." She performed, toured and recorded with her husband, John Brim. His recording of "Strange Man" in 1950 was one of the first recordings to feature a woman on harmonica. more |
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 SUNNY BRYAN is from Annapolis, Maryland, where she plays in the Sunny Isle Blues Band. "She sings and plays some mean blues harp and is a very cool lady." Sunny has been playing in the Washington D.C. area for some years with guitarist Mark Ingino. more |
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 STACIE COLLINS is called a "harmonica blowin? hell-cat." Stacie is blazing a trail traveled by few women. Sporting a hard-core honky-tonk wail while backed by a slam-bang rock 'n' roll band, she weds Stones fried rock-n-roll, gut bucket blues and vintage honky-tonk. Based in Nashville, TN, she tours the US, Scandinavia and Europe regularly and has even spawned a Japanese tribute band! more |
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| MARIA COYOTE lives in Sweden where she pursues many interests. She is an activist, engaged in many causes to protect the earth and its species. Maria has an incredible nine-octave voice range--certainly a world record. She likes the real roots blues. more |  |
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 GENEVIEVE DARTEVELLE is Belgiums only female harmonica player. She lives in Brussels and plays with numerous blues groups including; Bluesdealers Deluxe, The Excellos, Hobo Jungle, and others. She plays many festivals and is a huge fan of American roots music. more |
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 KAZ DELLA ROSA is from Melbourne, Australia where she has been playing harmonica for nineteen years. She was a founding member of the band, Mojos, with Fiona Boyes. She has won many awards for her playing and was nominated "Harmonica Player of the Year" at the Goulburn Festival. more |
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DANA DIXON  Fronted by singer/harmonica player Dana Dixon the band plays a mixture of authentic Texas, Chicago and west coast blues plus superb original numbers. Dana is regarded as one the the best female blues harmonica players in the world by many "who's who" harmonica websites and forums. After Blues legend Lazy Lester heard Dana Dixon play harmonica for the first time he remarked 'That girl is a wizard on that harmonica'.more |
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| EILEEN DORSEY played harmonica with her own professional harmonica group, The Harmonica Star Revue, for over 25 years. She continues to teach and play chord, chromatic, diatonic and bass harmonicas. She has made three CDs. more | ||
 NITA ERICKSON plays harmonica and sings with the band Modoogus in Nebraska. more |
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| JOYCE ETTINGOFF lives in Silver Spring, Maryland. She grew up in Philadelphia and lived in that area until 1966. She plays country, Piedmont Blues and some big band Jazz. She has been playing the harmonica since age three and was taught to play harmonica by her Uncle Morris Rose who had worked for Disney very early on doing sound effects and music in the beginning cartoons. |  |
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 YVONNE FIMBRES is a well known Marilyn Monroe impersonator, singer, actress, pin-up model and harmonica player in Northern California. She is also known as "Hotlips Harmonica." more |
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 KATE FREEMAN is part of the duo Wildsang, two musicians who "sound like a hell of a lot more!" Kate plays harmonica with her guitarist partner Hillary Kay, who is a grand-niece of jazz legend Joe "King" Oliver. Formerly from New Mexico, now residing in Northern California, Wildsang offers contemporary lyrics with down home acoustic sounds. more |
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 JILL FROMEWICK plays in the group, Grit Pixies, home based in Asheville, North Carolina. more |
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 GENEVA RED grew up just outside of Chicago. She acted as a child in her parents' acting troupe and was a seasoned performer by her teens. She is one of only a few harmonica players who front their own band and tours extensively all over the world. more |
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| BOBBI GIORDANO lives in Florida and plays on the East coast. She designs and builds harmonicas. more | ||
| MARLA GLEN is a well known singer, songwriter, and harmonica player. She grew up on the South Side of Chicago, the daughter of a blues guitarist. Her mother was friends with B.B. King. Marla was given a toy harmonica as a child and she was just eleven when she wrote her first song, "Repertoire," a title that has won three gold records and one platinum. Since 1998, Marla has made her home in Heilbronn, Germany. more |  |
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 DJ GOSPER is an Australian singer, songwriter and blues-harp player. She is known as Canberra's "jazz and blues force of nature" and Australia's queen of the blues-harp. She is also known for frequently changing her hair colour and her name. She fell in love with the harmonica 20 years ago. She has been performing ever since. Her songwriting, vocal and blues-harp abilities have been acknowledged through numerous awards from Canberra Roots Music and the Canberra Blues Society. In 2012, Dorothy-Jane was a top 3 vocal finalist in the Australian Blues Music 'Chain' Awards and awarded Best Jazz/Blues Artist in the inaugural Music ACT Music Awards "MAMA's". The Dorothy-Jane's latest album, "Woman on the Run", launched in August 2013 reached top 10 of the Australian Blues and Roots music charts. more |
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 TRINA HAMLIN grew up in the Midwest, earned a degree in music from Berklee College and graduated to the New York City club scene. She has played at the Newport Jazz Festival and produced five albums of her own music. moreDOWNLOAD "ONE GOOD REASON" [right click and "open in new window" to listen] |
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 TIFFANY HARP Tiffany Harp is a traditional American Blues Harmonicaplayer. She was born in Southern Brazil, Itajai, Santa Catarina. She started playing harmonica at the age of 16. A naturally gifted Harmonica Player, she is self-taught, listening to recordings of Blues Players, and has been playing professionally since 2003 and with surprising development, drawing attention to her technical ability and strong footprints of mastery reminiscent of the 1950's and 1960's recordings of Chessand Checker Records (something rare and refreshing today). She has gained popularity worldwide having many loyal fans.more |
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 LINDY HARPER is known as the "Kiwi Blues Queen". She is from New Zealand and has been playing guitar, harmonica and keyboards since she was 5 years old. She played with Stevie Ray Vaughan on a New Zealand TV commercialmore |
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 JESSE MAE HEMPHILL grew up in a musical family in Mississippi. She took up the guitar at the age of eight and moved on to other instruments including the harmonica, drums, tambourine, fife, flute, acoustic and electric guitar, trombone, saxophone, diddley bow, Jews harp, organ & piano. She won several Handy Awards and is an American blues legend. more |
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 KATE HENSHAW lives in Australia and plays in the band Lyrebird. She also acts and plays keyboards, flute, drums, piano, guitar, bass guitar, harmonica, and oboe. more |
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 LOUISE HOFFSTEN is a gutsy, hard rocking singer and harmonica player who is a longstanding popular star in her native Sweden--so popular they put her on a stamp! more |
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BONNIE HOFKIN is another one of those players that you will seldom hear much about or get to read about on the internet. She lives in California but her heart remains in Scotland where she often visits and can be found playing various venues up in the Highlands. Catch Bonnie play if you get a chance, you will not be disappointed. She is also a surperb artist: more | |
 LYNN ANN HYDE is a multi award winning songwriter, singer and instrumentalist. ("Best Traditional Act" 2001-02-03, Cascade Blues Association; twice nominated for "Best Harmonica") She has also won two "Best of Competition" awards from Songwriter's Circle and the Portland Songwriters Association. She has attracted endorsements from Hohner Harmonicas and Baldoni Accordions. Lynn Ann performs with her husband and musical partner Stu Kinzel. She is the only woman to perform at Portland?s annual blues harmonica summit, the "Blues Harp Blow-off" and Seattle?s "Harmonica Blow-off". more |
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 STACY JONES was born and raised in Seattle. She began playing the piano at four years old. At seven she picked up the guitar and at eight her father started bringing her up on stage to sing with his band -- she hasn't been able to stay away from the stage since. Stacy was introduced to the blues at age 14. At sixteen she started learning how to rip on the harmonica. more |
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TRACY K Tracy K's talents boast seven music  awards (including harmonica player of the year), three releases, several guest recordings and highlights that include being the first female in the Toronto Blues Society's Harmonica Workshop; performing at their prestigious Women's Blues Revue; writing a song for a movie; writing a song for CBC's "Canada Reads, Ontario Rocks"; opening for harmonica legend James Cotton and songster Ramblin' Jack Elliot, and sharing a playbill with her first female blues influence Koko Taylor. On tour she's been known to level the joint with her Joplin-esque vocals and killer blues harp . She hails from the top of Blues Highway 61 in Thunder Bay, Canada. more download: "Stop! Wait a minute" [right click and "open in new window" to listen] |
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 DENISE KAUFMAN A musician since her teenage years, Denise's fingers are at home on the strings of a Hawaiian slack key guitar, electric bass, and blues harmonica. She was a member of the first all-woman rock band "The Ace of Cups" of the 1960s, touring and opening for artists as big as Jimi Hendrix. |
She was one of Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters, and traveled around the country on "The Bus" exploring and stretching the boundaries of her consciousness through the psychedelic adventure. On the walls of her home hang photographs of Denise surfing double overhead waves during the last El Nino that passed through the Pacific Ocean. Denise divides her time between Venice Beach and Kauai, where she can be found surfing her favorite breaks. more The Ace of Cups "The Bus" |
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 JENNY KERR is a multi-instrumentalist as well as a poetic and passionate songwriter. She is known for foot-stomping live shows and her powerful voice. Kerr is a skilled player of finger style guitar, claw hammer banjo, harmonica, piano, and dobro. With her band of road-tested rogues, she forays into swamp rock, straight-up soul, backwater honky tonk, and old-time blues. Jenny tours the world and has headlined festivals in Germany, France, Spain, Norway, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria and Mexico. download: "When I get Home" [right click and "open in new window" to listen]more |
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 BETH KOHNEN is a full time blues musician living directly across the bay from San Francisco. She has taken her music to Paris, the South of France and New Orleans. Beth grew up in South Portland, Maine, and spent her early years playing Bach on the piano and climbing trees. |
At sixteen, her family moved to Pittsubrgh, PA, where she studied piano with a professor at Carnegie Mellon and sneaked into Crawford's Grill to hear live blues and jazz. In 2001, Beth recorded her first CD with Grammy Award winner Steve Freund. In 2005 she began playing at Biscuits & Blues in San Francisco and released her second CD. She released her third album with Blues Award nominee Rusty Zinn in May, 2011.more download EASY [right click and "open in new window" to listen] Beth welcomes email at bkohnenx@yahoo.com. Listen to her last CD at www.jango.com |
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 BEATA KOSSOWSKA was born during the heyday of the flower power generation and is a true cosmopolitan, multilungual world traveler, singer and harmonica player. She now lives in Germany where she performs and teaches when not touring. more |
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 JILL "CHILLY" KURTZ plays in the band Caged Heat in the Boston area. Chilly plays a mean blues harp. Combined with the punk attitude of her band, it makes for "some of the best new music out there." more |
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JESSICA LAUREN Sista Wonder, Lady Light, analog keyboardista, harmonica queen, multi-instrumentalist, 5-Star Astro-Navigatrix. Cult figure on the London scene for like 15 years. Favorite place in the world: Out the back with ocean water in the dreads baby, but it been sooo long... more |
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 TERRY LEONINO is half of the duo Magpie with Greg Artzner. These well-known folksingers play everything from traditional, classic country, swing, and blues of the 1920s and '30s, to contemporary songs written by themselves and others. Terry and Greg are internationally known for their work in the environmental movement. more |
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 CECILIA LoFORTI is an Iconography Artist, Musician, Feng Shui Practitioner and CERT Certified Emergency Responder for Human and Animal Rescue, who started playing the harmonica at the age of twelve in Italy with her mother. She is a world traveler who has lived in six countries and five states, and traveled to 48 countries and 35 states before landing in Portland Oregon. It is her goal to entertain the "world" with her harmonica in hand! She is known as "Ms Harmonica". When she's not traveling, she is designing in her art studio or working on her band project and writing music! more |
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| TERESA "T-BIRD" LYNNE Teresa "T-Bird" Lynne is a southern gal through and through. She was born in Louisiana and raised as a "military brat", moving a lot and living many places in the Deep South. This gave her exposure to a wide range of blues, soul and gospel music. They say she was playing a harmonica before she could walk. As a teenager, Teresa hit the road, stopping to jam wherever she could and eventually landing in Michigan. After a few years there, she headed south to Nashville and integrated into the city's great music scene. In 1984, she visited Denver and fell in love with the mountains. She was inspired to move to Colorado, where she has become "The Mistress of the Blues", a musical force all along the Rockies. more |  |
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 MICHELLE MALONE was born in the deep south and listened to her mother sing in the church choir every Sunday. She took the religious roots and mixed in some blues, folk and rock to create her signature sound. Armed with a bottleneck slide, a blues harmonica and a powerful voice, she started performing professionally while in college and now tours and performs more than 150 days a year. She has won many awards including Best Female Vocalist, Best Acoustic Guitarist and Album of the Year. more |
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| SWEET MARTA and her band "The Blues Workers" combine Texas, West Coast and Chicago blues. From Barcelona, Spain, they have become big favorites at European festivals. See her website for more |
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 GUTA MENEZES is a young harmonica virtuoso from Brazil who also plays trumpet, flugelhorn, saxophone and bagpipe! |
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 JACKIE MERRITT is an accomplished visual artist and musician. She plays harmonica, guitar bass and bones in several bands including M.S.G-The Acoustic Blues Trio, Blues Xchange and Miz A & The Freedom Band. Her harmonica is featured on the PBS series "Cultivating Life." She paints, draws and teaches art at several schools. Her series on "Women of the blues" is one blues fans will enjoy. more |
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 ELLEN "HARPCHIK" MILLER has lived her whole life in Chicago. She is a successful real estate agent as well as a down home harmonica player. more |
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 SARAH MESSIAS is from Brazil and another member of the South American group, Mulheres Gaitistas, several young players who love the blues. more |
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 ZOLA MOON is a bombastic singer and entertainer who lives in Southern California. Her influences come from blues, blues rock, folk, roots, Janis Joplin & Big Mama Thornton. Her song writing and singing have received rave reviews from magazines, newspapers, radio DJs, and web sites around the world. more |
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 DOROTHY MOORE is a singer/songwriter and multi-Grammy Award nominee who burst into prominence in 1976 with a number one hit, Misty Blue. She is a Mississippi native with 18 albums to her credit. Dorothy took up the harmonica only recently. more |
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 LINDA MOSS plays harmonica with the California group, Kelly's Lot, and is involved in many other musical projects. She is highly respected, referred to as one of the "world's most famous female woman harmonica players!" by one enthusiast (her daughter). Linda started playing harmonica professionally at age 15 in Chicago after playing clarinet, oboe and piano in the Chicago Youth orchestra for several years. Soon, she began playing in Chicago blues clubs and is said to have performed with Muddy Waters, Junior Wells, Son Seals and other blues legends. more |
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| MULHERES GAITISTAS (Women Harmonica Players) is a group of South American women who play the blues. Members include Sandra Vazquez, Sarah Messias, Maria Barsatto and Natasha Seara. | ||
| OCTAVIA Suzuki Music USA and Godin Guitars endorsee Octavia is noted for outstanding harmonica performances, dynamic vocals and expressive guitar playing. This multi-talented artist?s musical arsenal includes The Octavia Blues Band and Infusion With Octavia Jazz Band. Octavia has produced five successful albums including the fiery blues album ?Down In The Hollow" and a folk album, ?A Touch Of Wisdom?. Her most recent album "It Ain?t What You Get, It?s What You Give" is upbeat and exciting. Octavia is currently producing her second jazz standards album featuring pianist Marty Mellinger, recorded during a captivating live performance. DOWNLOAD COLD DAY IN HELL [to listen, right click on the link and "open in new window"] Album previews and show dates are available at: more |
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LIZ PENNOCK began performing professionally  as a solo artist in 1975. Undaunted by what might seem a limitation, Pennock was born minus two fingers on each hand, a fact not evident from the other side of the piano. She has developed her own powerful ivory-tickling style, inspiring countless listeners. Pennock’s songwriting ranges from the romantic “My Best Fan” to the rollicking “He Plays the Boogie.” Liz also plays trombone and was an endorsee for Hohner harmonicas from 1998 thru 2011. |
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 ROXY PERRY was a child prodigy. She started out fronting swing bands at the famous Glen Island Casino in New Rochelle, New York, and performed her first major concert at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles at the age of nine. Roxy launched her blues career in the late ?80?s, when she quickly became known for her exciting live performances at clubs, concert halls and festivals throughout the U.S. and abroad. She has won many awards including a Grammy nomination. more |
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 MATTIE PHIFER has been performing with bands since 1967 when she and her seventh grade friends formed the Wild Surfs. At age twelve, Mattie was playing guitar and singing songs by the Rolling Stones, The Animals, The Beatles, and other top groups of the 60s. During College in the 1970s, Mattie performed songs from the women's movement with friends who later formed a group named Mama Tried. Mattie then ventured into a more rock/blues oriented group known as the Sensible Pumps, an "all female blues band" of the southeast and toured in the late 1980s. In the '90s, she joined forces with singer Kimberly J. Miller to perform "The Women of the Blues" at the Smithsonian Institute. Currently she plays in the Phifer-Marshall Band. more |
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 RACHEL PLAS is an exceptionally talented young player from France. Her mother taught her to play the flute and she learned the harmonica from a little book. At the age of eight, she began six years of harmonica school. At the age of thirteen, she won her first harp contest. Since then she has appeared at several blues and harp festivals. There are rumors she is also a Judo champion. Rachel is currently studying at the University of Sorbonne in Paris. more |
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 VICTORIA PURINGTON lives in the Seattle area where she helps recovering addicts through music. But on weekends you will probably find her playin' the blues! more |
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 ANNIE RAINES is one of the most well-known woman harmonica players in America. With her partner, Paul Rishell, Annie has been blowing up a "storm" along the East Coast and elsewhere for years touring internationally at festivals, clubs, and concert halls; and teaching workshops and seminars. Paul & Annie were featured in the 2007 jug band music documentary, Chasin' Gus' Ghost. They have performed on diverse radio and TV shows including A Prairie Home Companion, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and PBS's Arthur. more |
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 PAULA RANGELL started studying classical music on the clarinet when she was seven. At fourteen, she picked up the harmonica and a growing love of the blues and jazz. This prompted her evolution as a saxophone player. Her band, Paula and the Pontiacs, is a New Orleans band that will rock you with "gut-bucket" blues, classic R&B, and soulful originals. Living Blues magazine says "Rangell is a fine instrumentalist and, more importantly, an effective vocalist who has her timing and delivery down". more |
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 GENYA RAVAN is a rock ?n? roll pioneer. She has single-handedly busted down the male-dominated walls of every facet of the record industry. Being part of the first successful all-girl band, Goldie and the Gingerbreads, she paved the way for bands like Fanny, The Go-Go?s and The Bangles. She went on to front the powerful horn band Ten Wheel Drive, and she has many production credits, including starting her own record label. more |
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 ROCHELLE RAYA got her first harmonica at a Sly Stone concert when he threw his harp into the audience and she caught it. It was the beginning of a beautiful relationship with the harmonica. Rochelle has been a heavyweight in the Phoenix, Arizona blues scene for many years. In 2001, she was inducted into the Arizona Blues Hall of Fame. more |
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 DIANA REDLIN is formerly from Montana where she played in the Moonlighters band among others and was highly rated as a harmonica player. She has been playing on stage since 1972 and has opened for Koko Taylor, Albert Collins, Buddy Guy and Junior Wells and others. A few years ago Diana relocated to Southern California where she also designs jewelry. Several websites display her artistic creations. She hasn't played on stage recently, but continues to jam with friends often. |
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| JENNY REED musical career has taken her throughout the Eastern United States from Cape Cod to New Orleans playing blues, jazz, soul and standards. After coming to Los Angeles, Jenny worked with numerous musicians performing in many venues Since arriving in San Francisco Jenny Reed has performed in concerts, clubs,fairs and festivals throughout Northern California and in the San Francisco Bay Area. more |  |
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 AUREA REGINA an is a musician who plays harmonica and alto flute. She lives in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. |
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 ROBIN ROGERS had a short, but mercurial love affair with the blues. Her powerful voice catapulted her to the top of the charts in just two years. Her second album, Back In The Fire, debuted at #3 on the charts. On December 15, 2010 she received a Blues Music Award nomination for Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year. Two days later she succumbed to cancer. (btw...she won the award.) more |
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| KELLIE RUCKER has been performing professionally for more than 30 years. She has opened for many blues legends and recorded three solo albums along with many appearances on other recordings. Her big brother gave her a harmonica when she was 12 and before long she started sneaking into blues clubs to hear artists like James Cotton, Johnny Winter and Roomful of Blues. She was still a teenager when she joined the Bill Blue Band and toured Scandinavia. In 1985, Rucker moved to California, where she teamed up with guitarist Debbie Davies, to form a band that toured the west coast extensively for over two years. Then she caught the eye of blues guitarist, B.B. Chung King, and was invited to join his band, The Screaming Buddaheads. She recorded and toured with the band for over five years, becoming a sought after 'gun-for-hire' harmonica player and singer on LA recording sessions. more |  These days, Kellie performs in concerts all over Europe playing her own songs from her CDs, Ain?t Hit Bottom, Church of Texas, and In the Meantime: The Music of Soul Return. She plays Lee Oskar Harmonicas exclusively, and is a Lee Oskar Harmonicas featured artist. |
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 JUDY RUDIN has been playing the harmonica for more than 40 years. Currently she plays with the Front Porch Band out of L.A. more |
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 RHONDA RUCKER practiced medicine for five years before becoming a full-time folk musician. She is a versatile performer, singing and playing blues harmonica, piano, and banjo. Rhonda has recorded eight albums with her husband Sparky. Their 1991 release, Treasures and Tears, was nominated for the W.C. Handy Award for Best Traditional Recording. more |
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 NEDRA RUSS was born in the Bay Area of California and raised in the gold country, where nature and the outdoors inspire her paintings and digital art. Nedra picked up a harmonica at an early age and has never put it down. more |
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 ELIZABETH G. SCHULZ is a naturalized American who emigrated from Scotland with her family in the 1960's. "After finally playing onstage at SPAH in Denver and meeting some especially incredible people, I know I'm firmly on the right path...finally. Music has taken over my life, along with the harmonica playing of the brilliant Jason Ricci" more |
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 NATACHA SEARA is from Buenos Aires, Argentina, and is a member of Mulheres Gaitistas. |
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 JANE SIET is an artist-photographer who graduated from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, and was a scenic artist for Broadway, operas, movies, and commercials in NYC before moving to So Cal with her husband Mark. She became a harmonic player in 1995 after picking up a harmonica in Mark's studio. Within six months they were gigging together as J J Slim every weekend until 2002 when they stopped gigging, and she stopped playing. Her husband says, "The harmonica was just another expression for her amazing artistic talents." They produced one album titled "One Shining Star." Mark has started gigging again and thinks Jane will join him by and by. more |
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 CLAUDIA SIEVERLING plays the blues around Portland, Oregon. more |
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 JOVANA STANKOVIC In February 2014, she attended several blues sessions, to discover her new love, blues harmonica. Soon, she started taking private lessons with blues harmonica player and frontman of the best Serbian blues band Raw Hide (Jovan Ilic), and the blues era in her life could begin. After only four months of lessons, she started performing as a guest musician on other bands gigs. Her idols in blues are Sonny Boy Williamson II, Little Walter, Charlie Musselwhite, John Lee Hooker that type of blues and that sound is what she is aiming for to learn to play. She found herself in their sound and music and is hoping to create an expression of her own, based on these masters music. She lives and works in Belgrade, Serbia. Blues Awards. more |
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 WILLOW STONE lives near Seattle, Washington. She hosts a blues jam every week in Everett, which just won the "Best Jam" award at the Washington State Blues Awards. more |
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CATRIANA STURTON is an Ottawa, Ontario based singer, songwriter and multi- instrumentalist. She has had a prolific career, performing in bands such as Plumtree and with members of Sloan and Blue Rodeo and many other collaborations. Catriana got her start at an early age when her parents gave her classical violin lessons for eight years. In her teens, while shopping for some fiddle music, she saw a harmonica and bought it. This led to a passion for the Blues. more | |
 SUNNY GIRL "When I was three, my parents bought me a Casio keyboard and I was taught the basics. After learning the C Major Scale, my father gave me my first harmonica. He created a system to help me learn where the notes are on the harmonica and he showed me how to play my first song, "You Are My Sunshine". My sister Rockyn? Robyn is learning keyboards and we are working on material as well. more |
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 ANNETTE (MISS HARP) TABORN comes from Kalamazoo, Michigan, where she was a vocalist and harmonica player for more than 20 years. Annette co-founded the Kalamazoo Blues Association and served as director of their Blues Festival the first two years, After relocating to Seattle, she currently plays with James Curley Cooke as a duo and in their four-piece band, Blues To Burn. Annette was recently appointed to the Seattle Music Commission. more |
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 VIKKI THORN (n?e Simpson) is an Australian harmonica player, guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter, famous as one-third of the folk rock band The Waifs. She lights up the stage with her singing, playing and dancing. more |
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WILLIE MAE "BIG MAMA" THORNTON was and still is the most well known woman player of blues harp in America. She was a robust, strong-willed woman who became famous as a singer and songwriter, but she also played harmonica and drums. Two of her recorded harp solos are; "Your Love Is Where It Ought To Be" and "Big Mama's Shuffle." Watch Big Mama kick butt on these two treasures.more ~ Rock Me Baby |
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MARION TURNER lives in Victoria, Australia where she plays harmonica and sings in the award-winning duo, Salty Dog, featuring Steve Plater on guitar. They have recorded eight albums together and are currently recording another and won a Band of the Year award.. Their album, "Jack of Diamonds" picked up a Female Artist of the Year award for Marion, a title she has now won three times. Marion also plays in The Zephyrs, who specialize in 50s rock. more | |
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LUCY VAN SICKLE plays and sings in the Pittsburgh area. Her warm tone and skillful vibrato inspire other harpists. She is also a "vocal powerhouse with a set of pipes that would make an opera star blush." more | |
 SANDRA VAZQUEZ began private music lessons at the age of ten and went on to study with many accomplished players such as Lee Oscar. From that early start, she devoted her life to music, giving private lessons and performing at many shows, festivals and recitals. Sandra is a member of Mulheres Gaitistas and is billed as "Argentina's Best Harmonica Player!" more |
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 LIEDEWIJ VEENHUIS lives in The Netherlands where she plays harmonica with Bradley's Circus. more |
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 OFIR VENTURA specializes in blues, rock and folk and currently lives in Israel. Ofir took up music at the age of 6 where she enrolled in music and keyboards lessons and, at the age of 16, she discovered her love for the harmonica and the blues. |
Since 2010, Ofir has played in an Israeli blues rock band Electric Blue and in 2014, recorded their debut album at Bardo Studios. more Ofir is endorsed by Yonberg Harmonicas. more | |
| MINNIE WALLACE played with the Memphis Jug Band and was the mother of Lucille Hegamin. Minnie recorded four tracks of hokum blues with her band. Strangely absent from most lists of blues women and harmonica players, Minnie Wallace?s powerful vocal delivery suggests a tent show background and might even have harkened back to minstrel show days. | ||
 JULIE WHITE played harmonica and guitar in and around Hesperia, California. She loved to jam. She passed away, succumbing to cancer, in November 2009. more |
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