WOMEN
WHO PLAY HARMONICA
(BUT NOT USUALLY THE BLUES)
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Priscilla Ahn
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PRISCILLA AHN
is a Los Angeles based singer-songwriter who plays acoustic guitar, harmonica
and kazoo. Her music has been featured on The Tonight Show, Grey's Anatomy,
Knight Rider, Men in Trees, The Late Late Show and the movie, Disturbia.
more |
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 BECKY
ALLEN was honored recently for a lifetime in New Orleans
theater. Having done everything from serious drama to musicals, comedy and
cabaret, she encapsulated why she's stayed in the city. 'I'd rather work for New
Orleans people than anyone else because they love me hard, hard, hard," she
said. more |
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 CRYSTAL
BOWERSOX is a high energy singer, guitarist and harmonica player. She
took off on a tour of the world before she was 18. Crystal was the runner-up
(who remembers the winner?) on the 9th American Idol. She has
legions of fans. more |
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| MARILYN BENNETT plays in "The Other Band," a popular south of England folk and pop group. | ||
MICHELLE BRANCH
is a singer-songwriter, musician and actress who plays--besides the harmonica;
guitar, keyboards, percussion, accordion, cello and mandolin. She has reached
superstar status with million-selling recordings, movie roles and multiple
awards. more |
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| BRIGITTE BURGBACHER plays in the German harmonica quartet, Harmonicament. She is also a soloist with the Hohnerklang Orchestra. more | ||
 CHANG CHU-TING Chang Chu-ting, 27, began learning the harmonica from her dentist father while she was still in middle school, and has since won many trophies from numerous competitions in Taiwan and abroad. In 2002, she won the Asian Harmonica Competition's open traditional tremolo harmonica division as well as the creative tremolo harmonica division. MORE: more | COMMENT ALLEZ-VOUS ? is a Japanese harmonica trio featuring three women who play diatonic, chromatic, tremolo, bass and chord instruments. Founding members are; Nami Miyata, Reina Oba and Aya Kuada. | |
 KATIE COURIC
is a well known television personality who hosted the CBS Evening News
for five years until recently. Katie showed off her harmonica talent on the
Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.
more |
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| Cousin Emmy was a fascinating and enigmatic entertainer from the golden age of early country radio; flamboyant, colorful & sassy (billing herself as "the first hillbilly star to own a Cadillac"), yet "down home" & sincere. She wrote one of the great bluegrass classics of all-time, "Ruby (Are You Mad At Your Man)?" & influenced many performers, like Grandpa Jones. She danced & sang her way into the hearts of everyone who ever saw or heard her perform. In her heyday, she was one of the best-known & most popular country performers with a career that spanned from the mid-1930s into the 1970s, including an appearance at the Newport Folk Festival, at the Smithsonian & as well at the Hollywood Bowl. |  COUSIN EMMY (Cynthia Mae Carver) sang and played harmonica on recordings and radio in the late '30s. Born in 1903 in an area known as the Barrens near Lamb, Kentucky, Cynthia May was the youngest of eight children. Her father was a sharecropper who raised tobacco and Cynthia May began working in the fields as a child. From as far back as anyone remembers, she entertained her family in the fields by singing and creating musical skits. A self-described "natural show-off," she began teaching herself to play any musical instrument she could get her hands on, beginning on fiddle and banjo. Later, she taught herself guitar and harmonica. more | |
 CARA
COOKE is from Austin, Texas and describes herself as a "fiddle-type
harmonica player".
more |
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 SHERYL
CROW came from a musical family and started music lessons when
she was five years old. She wrote her first song at age thirteen She moved
to L.A. for better career opportunities and found them. She has achieved superstar status with
million-selling hits, numerous awards and sold out performances.
more |
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 HERMINE DEURLOO
was born in Amsterdam, she was smitten by the jazz bug at an early age. She
completed her studies at the Sweelinck Conservatory on alto saxophone. Then she
received a chromatic harmonica as a gift. It was love at first bite. She is now
much in demand as a soloist and session musician. Hermine has played with the
Metropole Orchestra, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and with many
distinguished musicians including Al Jarreau and Toots Thielemans. She has
toured the world giving concerts in Japan, America, China, Indonesia and Europe.
more |
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 CYNTHIA DUSEL-BACON is a geologist who works for the government. She was attacked by a black
bear while working in Alaska. She was rescued but lost both her arms in the
mishap. She has persevered and learned to do many things with her feet. She
continues her job for the government and plays harmonica for fun.
more |
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| NIKKI GADOUT is a well known French harmonicist. | ||
 KATHRIN GASS plays and teaches in Germany. She has won first prize at several harmonica competitions. Since 2002, she has been a lecturer at various workshops and the Hohner Conservatory. She plays with the Hohnerklang Orchestra.MORE: more |
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 MARY
GAUTHIER (go-shay) is an outstanding songwriter and entertainer who lives in
Nashville. She has won numerous awards for writing and performing. more |
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 NINA GERBER
A fixture on the West Coast folk and acoustic music scene, Gerber is rarely in
the spotlight because she doesn't sing, but those who know say she is the
pre-eminent accompanist for folk, acoustic, and Americana artists touring
California. Gerber's guitar has backed up artists ranging from Jerry Jeff Walker
to Ferron to Queen Ida to Barbara Higbie. She played guitar and harmonica with
Kate Wolf for many years and played on Wolf's last studio album.
more |
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 JANE
GILLMAN is a multi-talented performer who lives in Austin,
Texas, where she currently plays in the Sarah Pierce Band and with Sam Baker.
Jane plays a few other instruments besides harmonica, including; Guitar,
Ukulele, Mountain Dulcimer, Mandolin and Banjo.
moredownload: "Elsa's Tune" |
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 MICHAL
ADLER-GRONICH a virtuoso harmonica soloist, she is the
daughter of the founder of the famous Adler (harmonica) Trio. She grew up in a
world of harmonicas. She plays the lead in the trio, which is one of Israel's
proudest exports. She has appeared as a
featured artist on numerous television shows, and participates often in
recordings for movies and theater.
more |
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 SARAH
HARMER lives in Canada and gets rave reviews on her performances
and albums. She is a multi-instrumentalist and plays guitars and keyboards
besides the harmonica. She is one of Canada's most popular singers.
more |
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 TERRI HENDRIX was born, raised, lives and works in Texas. She
grew up in San Antonio and adapted San Marcos as home some years ago.
A classically trained vocalist and deft multi-instrumentalist (guitar, mandolin
and harmonica), Hendrix is a firm believer in the theory that
“life’s too short for one genre,” dodging musical pigeonholes by weaving
folk, pop, country, blues and swinging jazz into an eclectic style all her own.
Add to that her charismatic stage presence and reputation for always delivering
an energetic and spiritually uplifting live show and it’s no wonder why she’s
been embraced by three generations of loyal fans around the world.
more |
video | |
| AMANDA HOWER played harmonica in the Robert Randolph Family Band for several years. | ||
 KALEENA HUTCHINS is from Melbourne, Arkansas, and
performs regularly at John Taylor's Sons of the Ozarks Theatre and the Ozark
Folk Center in Mountain View, Arkansas. She has played harmonica since the age of
nine and has been honored to appear on The Shotgun Red Variety Show through the
endorsement of Hohner Harmonicas. Kaleena is 20 years old and has won several
awards which include: Arkansas State Fair Talent
Winner, Midsouth Fair First Sweepstakes Winner, CBS Living Room Live
Semifinalist, and America's Got Talent Standby Act for 2009.
more |
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 CHRISTINE
ELLEN "CHRISSIE" HYNDE from Akron, Ohio, is an American rock star, best
known as the leader of the rock/new wave band The Pretenders. She is a
singer,
songwriter,
guitarist and harmonica
player, and is one of the most well known women in modern music. A style-setter
in the early days of 1970s
punk and
new wave, Hynde has had a
major impact on the music scene.
more |
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 AKEMI IWAMA lives in Japan and was declared champion at the Asia Harmonica Competition. She is famous for playing three harmonicas at once! MORE: HER FACEBOOK PAGE | ||
 ELLA
JENKINS is a folk singer, song writer and musical educator. Her
musical legacy spans more than 40 years. Ella specializes in children's music.
more |
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 BARB
JUNGR Singer
and writer Barb Jungr was born and raised in the northwest of England. She
worked with now legendary comedians and performers on the emerging Alternative
Cabaret circuit in the UK (Julian Clary, Alexei Sayle, Arnold Brown) before
beginning to create the themed shows which became her trademark and led her to
the attention of Linn Records with whom she subsequently released 6 records
before moving to the Naim label in 2010 for her latest release, "The Men I Love."
Barb lives in London, writes,
tours, and is involved in charity work. more |
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 ANNE KIRKBRIDE
is an English actress who plays "Deirdre Barlow" in the ITV series,
Coronation Street. She has played this role for about 40 years.
more |
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ISABELLA KRAPF found a diatonic harmonica under the Christmas tree
when she was eight years old and she started to play
immediately. She says, "I only had troubles with the Blue Danube Waltz and so my parents
bought me a chromatic harmonica for my 10th Birthday. I was so happy with that
instrument that I never played on a diatonic harmonica again.
Through the years I took lessons in Jazz piano, singing percussions and trumpet
but for me it was quite clear that the harmonica was my instrument."
moredownload |
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 ANNA KRISTINA is a California native and performed in her first festival at age 11. She starred in her first play at age 16. She recorded her first album at age 17 and recorded her first original song at age 18. more | ||
 FAWN
LARSON lives in Louisiana where she plays harmonica, fiddle, guitar and
sings with several folk groups including Calico. She also holds harmonica
workshops frequently and is on the staff of the University of Louisiana at
Lafayette. more |
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 C
J LEEDY sings and plays harp with San Francisco blues/rock
bands, Delicate Pie and Colonel Angus.
more |
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| video |  LOK
LAY LEONG is a young harmonica champion from Penang Island, Malaysia.
She won the APHF Open Category competition as a solo artist in 1998. |
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 JENNIFER
DIANE LEWIS is an American singer-songwriter musician, and
actress. She is the primary vocalist of the indie rock
band
Rilo Kiley
and has released two solo albums. She currently
performs as part of the duo
Jenny & Johnny with her
boyfriend
Johnathan Rice
more |
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 CHRISTEN LIEN
is world famous as a viola and harmonica player who creates unique musical
landscapes encompassing east and west. Her story of a trip to the Amazon, where
she experienced some magical moments, playing the harmonica for the native
Achuars, is riveting and inspiring.
more |
video | |
 JULIE
JARRELL LYONS lived her whole life in the Blue Ridge Mountains
of North Carolina. She sang, told stories and played harmonica. Her songs and
stories were about the endurance of mountain women and their struggle to
maintain a family through hard times. In 1991, she was the subject of the Les
Blank film, Julie: Old Time Tales of the Blue Ridge.
more |
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 KAREN
MANTLER is the daughter of two professional musicians, Karen grew up
with music, sang on her mom Carla Bley's recording session when she was four.
She is proficient on several instruments besides the harmonica.
more |
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| LYNN MAYBERRY was an old time radio comedienne, who could do a great train imitation, they say. | ||
 MASH
McCLAIN is an accomplished singer/songwriter from Asbury Park, New
Jersey. more |
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 ANGELINA
MCKEITHEN is a well known country gospel singer and player. She
is the third generation of performers in the McKeithen family. Her singing
career started at the age of three. At age seven, she began playing drums. At
nine, her father showed her several chords on an acoustic guitar, and she began
performing with her family's band. At thirteen, she brought the harmonica to
center stage, for which she is now nationally known. At the age of fourteen, she
began singing and playing full-time with her family.
more |
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 JANALYN
AUTUMN MIKLAS lives in Mercer, Pennsylvania, and plays the
SUZUKI SCX-64 Chromatic Harmonica. She is the daughter of George Miklas (former
member of Jerry Murad's Harmonicats) and grand daughter of Stephen Miklas
who played the harmonica for General George S. Patton and General Dwight D.
Eisenhower.Janalyn began performing on the harmonica at age 5. At the age of 11, she performed her first harmonica solo with her father at the Mid-Ohio Valley Harmonica Championship. In 2010 she appeared with the HarpBeats and Harpettes in Akron, Ohio for the Buckeye Harmonica Festival. Later that year she played at the SPAH convention in Minneapolis. At age 12, she continues to perform at local venues with her father. With chord harpist Val Redler she plays in The Harpettes. She is advanced on the chromatic harmonica, flute, oboe and piano, and dabbles with the ukulele and rack-mounted harp. She dreams of pursuing a career in music. more |
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 video MINAMI RISA more video |
 RISA
MINAMI is a harmonica virtuoso who lives in Owariasahi-shi,
Aichi, Japan. She won the open championship at the Asia Pacific Harmonica
Festival's bi-annual competition in 2010. She started piano lessons when she was three years old and has continued to study and play ever since. Now a complete professional, she has won numerous piano, oboe and chromatic harmonica competitions. |
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 NAMI MIYATA
is a classical player, renowned in Japan and Europe. She plays in several groups
including Comment Allez-vous. |
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 NAIMA MORA is a very successful and popular model. She won
America's Next Top
Model. She has been featured on numerous magazine covers including
Cover and Vicious. She is also the lead singer and harmonica player
with the rock band, Chewing Pics.
more |
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 ALANIS MORISSETTE is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, record producer, and actress. She has won 16 Juno Awards and seven Grammy Awards. Her worldwide debut album was Jagged Little Pill released in 1995, still the best-selling debut album by a female artist in the U.S. with more than thirty million albums sold. more |
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 ALISON
MOYET is one of Britain's biggest pop stars. She has a big voice
and a passionate singing style. She originally came to prominence as the voice
of
Yazoo(known as Yaz in
the U.S.) but has been a solo artist since 1984. Alison has played roles in
several musical and dramatic stage and television shows. It has been a joyful
experience for Genevieve Alison Jane - an Essex girl born to a French father and
English mother who left school at 16, became famous at 21, and released her
triple-platinum solo debut at 23. more |
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 MILDRED
MULCAY was one of the
first women to play harmonica professionally. She was a trained musician working
in an all-girl band when she met Jimmy Mulcay, a Marine Band harmonica player. They hit it
off right away and a few weeks later were married. The first time they
played together on stage, Mildred played piano, but as she practiced and
experimented with a chromatic harp, she eventually became better than her
husband and took over the solos, while he switched to chords.The Mulcays were a
popular act, touring around the world, entertaining troops and appearing in
movies and on
radio
shows. Their recording of My Happiness became a million seller and a number
one hit. more |
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 HEIDI NEWFIELD is a bonafide country music star. She was lead singer, rhythm guitarist and harmonica player for the group Trick Pony, until she embarked on a solo career in 2006. video <--CMT more |
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 SIOBHÃN O'BRIEN is a singer and songwriter who performs with acoustic guitar
and harmonica. No newcomer to the entertainment field, Siobhan made her
first audio recording at the age of six, singing an old sea shanty. Siobhan has
roots from four generations in the music industry.
more |
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| MATTIE O'NEAL played harmonica on the WSB Barn Dance back in the 1950s. | ||
 VAL REDLER
is President of the Garden State Harmonica Club and plays a bass chord harmonica
in the duo, the Harpettes, with 12-year-old Analyn Miklas. |
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 SHAKIRA
ISABEL MEBARAK RIPOLL is a Colombian singer, songwriter, record producer,
dancer and philanthropist who emerged in the music
scene of Latin America in the early 1990s. She has
won two Grammy awards, seven Latin Grammies, and twelve Billboard Latin Music
Awards. She is the highest-selling Colombian artist of all time, having sold
over 60 million albums worldwide. more |
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 TAMARA RODRIGUEZ lives in Argentina. more |
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 SUSAN ROSENBERG An American harmonica
virtuoso, Susan has appeared in recital and as a soloist with orchestra, chamber
and jazz ensembles throughout the United States, Europe and South America. A
precocious child, she taught herself the instrument and began public
performances at age seven.
more |
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 SUSAN
SAUTER
started to play the harmonica at the age of eight and at the age of fifteen
became Harmonica Town Master for the city of Trossingen, Germany, home of world
renowned Hohner Harmonica Factory. From 2005 to 2008 Susan played in the
harmonica group called The Harmonix which won first place and became World
Champions at the World Harmonica Festival in 2005. At the World Harmonica
Festival in 2009 in Trossingen, Susan won first prize to become the World
Champion.
more |
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 CHRISTINE
SAYERS
is a truth seeking harmonica enthusiast. She is known for her outrageous
perspective and blunt delivery. She is happy to give her opinion on nearly
everything! more |
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 MOIRA SERFLING - Harmonica and Pop?...surely...new mode of songwriting from two perfectly different, yet, compatible styles of vocals accompanied by an ensemble of acoustic instrumentation and sounds, driven by an unrelenting innovative sound of loop station extra crispy, create the new birth in sound that is NERVLING. more |
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 JUDY
SMITH plays with her husband Al in the Harmonica Hotshots, a
long time Garden State group with high critical praise. "They combine
spectacular harmonica artistry with novelty tunes and light humor to present
high energy entertainment. |
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 NAOKO
TAKEUCHI started studying harmonica at the age of eight. She
quickly became proficient and won the championship in F.I.H. Japan Harmonica Contest
tremolo class in 1988, and twice in the chromatic class in 1992 and 1994. To
search for perfection, she furthered her study on chromatic harmonica with Yasuo
Watani at Hohner Konservatorium, Trossingen, Germany in 1994. This helped her
win
1st prize at the World Harmonica Festival in 1997. After graduation, she
returned to Japan and performs actively as a soloist, and occasionally with
orchestras and chamber music groups in Japan.
more |
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| REBECCA TARWATER was a folk singer and player from Rockwood, Tennessee. In the mid '30s. John and Alan Lomax discovered her and urged her to go to Washington D.C. to record some songs, which she did. more | ||
 MARY TRAVERS
was a French Canadian singer and musician known as Madame Bolduc or La Bolduc. During the peak of her popularity in the 1930s, she was known as the Queen of Canadian Folksinger. Her style combined the traditional folk music of Ireland and Quebec. She played the violin, accordion, harmonica, spoons and jaw harp. She was most likely the first woman to record on the harmonica. more |
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 GILLIAN WELCH
grew up in Los Angeles,
where her parents wrote material for The Carol Burnett Show. As a child she
became fascinated by bluegrass and early country music. She learned to play
guitar at age seven. In
the early '90s, she attended the Berklee School of Music where she began
performing her own material, and traditional country and bluegrass songs, as
part of a duo with her musical partner David Rawlings. Gillian has received
numerous awards and several Grammy nominations.
more |
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 MARIA WOLFBERGER is a
classical harmonica champion. She won the world harmonica championship in 1992
and 1993. |
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 YUKO
YANAGAWA began studying harmonica at the age of 9. She is one of the
far east's most prominent classical harmonica players and has won numerous
contests and awards since 1992 including: the overall Grand Prix award at the
All Japan Harmonica Contest, and more awards at the Asia-Pacific Harmonica
Festival's biannual competition.
more |
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 MILDRED ELLA "BABE"
DIDRIKSON-ZAHARIAS was one of America's best known female athletes and
she wore many hats in her short life. She did a brief stint in vaudeville playing the harmonica and running
on a treadmill.She pitched in major league spring-training games;
toured with a billiards exhibition, played on men's and women's basketball teams, and an
otherwise all-male, bearded baseball team called the House of David. Since golf
was one of the few sports that accommodated women athletes, Didrikson made up
her mind to become a championship player, and took
lessons. She lost in the first round of her first tournament. She won her second, the Texas Women's
Amateur Championship. She went on to win seventeen
consecutive amateur tournaments before turning professional in 1947. Then she helped found the Ladies Professional Golf Association
and was its leading money winner between 1949 and 1951. In 1950 the
Associated Press voted her "Woman Athlete of the Half-Century." more |
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