Tomlin’s Harmonica Podcast

Welcome to Tomlin’s Harmonica Podcast. This is the place to be for a variety of harmonica-related content including interviews, lessons and discussions about all aspects of harmonica playing.

01. Will Wilde

In the first episode of Tomlin’s Harmonica Podcast” I will be chatting to the “Hendrix of Harmonica” Will Wilde about teaching, Jason Ricci, amplified harmonica and his new album.

02. Roly Platt

This week I am joined by the fabulous Roly Platt. With over 1800 recordings to his name, Roly is one of the most versatile and in-demand session harmonica players on the planet. He is also the inventor of the Harp Wah which has found its way into many harmonica players gig bags since he released it in 2017.

03. Ronnie Shellist

This week I am joined by Ronnie Shellist. Not only is he a brilliant player but he is also an excellent teacher who works hard to share his gift with as many people as he can. He was the first teacher on YouTube and has gone on to innovate in the field of harmonica education with online courses and seminars. Ronnie is also my teacher.

04. Lee Sankey

This week’s guest can only be described as a renaissance man. He has carried out neuroscience research about musicians, worked with Barclays as a design director and started his own product design consultancy. All of this, plus he is a world-renowned harmonica player and excellent teacher. He is Lee Sankey…

05. Liam Ward

This week’s guest is a winner of the National Harmonica League Player of the year and has been described by Adam Gussow as “A complete bluesician in every respect”. He is an excellent band leader and teacher who I have the pleasure of working with on a regular basis. He is my harmonica brother from another mother – Liam Ward

06. David Barrett

As well as being a Grammy-nominated harmonica player, this week’s guest is the world’s most published author of blues harmonica lesson material. He runs a successful online harmonica school as well as the world’s first brick-and-mortar school for the study of Blues. He is David Barrett.

07. Joe Filisko

This week’s guest is harmonica royalty. He is a world-renowned customiser, harmonica historian, masterful teacher and incredible player specialising in pre-war blues styles . He is Joe Filisko

08. PT Gazell

This week’s guest is a true innovator of the diatonic harmonica. He has taken an alternative approach to filling in the “missing” notes on the instrument by adding valves according to his own special method. He has also recorded and performed with many great musicians over the past 40 years including Ricky Skaggs and Brendan Powers in styles ranging from Bluegrass to Jazz. He is PT Gazell.

09. Jason Ricci

This week’s guest is one of the world’s best known harmonica players. He has played with many great musicians including Johnny Winter and Walter Trout. He is well known for his lightning fast playing and complete mastery of the overblows and overdraws which he combines with an extensive pedalboard to create a unique sound on the harmonica. He is one of my all-time harmonica heroes. He is Jason Ricci.

10. Adam Gussow

When I asked my students who they wanted me to chat to on the podcast, today’s guest kept coming up. His career has seen him busking in Harlem, touring round the world, teaching thousands of harmonica students on YouTube, releasing solo records, writing books and teaching English and Southern Studies at the University of Mississippi. On a personal note, I wouldn’t even be playing harmonica let alone teaching it if it hadn’t been for his videos. He is Adam Gussow.

11. Todd Parrott

This week’s guest takes a mixture of sweet country and gospel melodies and fuses them together with heavy blues chops to make him one of the most exciting modern harmonica players on the planet. He has a complete mastery of the overblows and overdraws and knows how to play them with extreme taste. He is Todd Parrot.

12. Brendan Power

This week’s guest is a versatile player on the diatonic and chromatic and is comfortable playing many different musical genres including but not limited to Irish folk, Jazz, Pop and Blues. He has recorded and toured with huge names ranging from Sting to Van Morrison. And, As well being an inspirational player, he is also a hugely creative harmonica customiser. He is Brendan Power.

13. Shane Sager

This week’s guest is a prodigious talent on both diatonic and chromatic harmonica, he is a Berklee College of Music graduate and he is Sting’s harmonica player. He is Shane Sager

14. Winslow Yerxa

You probably know this week’s guest as the author of the best-selling instructional books “Harmonica for Dummies” and “Blues Harmonica for Dummies” but there is so much more to the story than that. He is comfortable playing diatonic and chromatic across a wide variety of genres including Blues, Jazz and French/Canadian/Scottish Folk. He has been described by Jason Ricci as a mad scientist of harmonicas and harmonica music. He is none other than Winslow Yerxa…

15. Hank Shreve

Not only is this week’s guest an awesome diatonic and chromatic player but he is also an amazing band leader, singer, drummer, keyboard player and lap-steel player. Jason Ricci describes him as a fiery, open minded, unique and musical harmonica player. He is the sensational Hank Shreve…

16. Aki Kumar

This week’s guest is a fantastic harmonica player, performer and songwriter. Having given up a career as a software engineer to become a musician he has gone on to develop a unique style blending classic West Coast Blues Harmonica with traditional Indian music. He is the inimitable Aki Kumar.

17. Practice with Vid Gobac

This week’s guest is not a harmonica teacher or player but he is a fantastic musician, teacher and composer. I thought it would be fun to pick his brains about the process of practice as a student of an instrument, how best to do it and why it is important. He is my good friend Vid Gobac.

18. Carlos Del Junco

Over the past 30 years, this week’s guest has pushed the harmonica to new technical heights while still staying true to the Blues tradition. He is a technical wizard who has won too many awards to list plus he is a fantastic and thoughtful teacher. He is Carlos del Junco.

19. Beginner’s Story: Patrick

This week’s podcast is the first in a series where I will be interviewing beginners instead of pros so that you can hear what it’s like starting out on the harmonica journey. Our first beginner guest will be Patrick who started playing about a year ago.

21. Beginner’s Story: John

This week’s podcast is part of a series where I’ll be interviewing Beginners rather than Pros so you can hear what it’s like starting out on the harmonica journey. Although this week’s guest John has been playing for 30 years, he has recently realised he needs to go back to the beginning and strengthen his foundations.

22. Beginner’s Story: Peter

This week’s podcast is part of a series where I’ll be interviewing Beginners rather than pros. Today’s guest is Peter who started playing a few months ago at the start of lock down and is already getting over some big hurdles in his playing.

23. Beginner’s Story: Paula

This week’s podcast is part of a series where I’ll be interviewing Beginners rather than pros. Today’s guest is Paula who started playing at the start of lock down. She is already fully committed to the journey and has great goals for the future as well as some awesome tips for anyone else starting on the harmonica.

24. Beginner’s Story: Frans

This week’s podcast is part of a series where I’ll be interviewing Beginners rather than pros. Today’s guest is Frans from Sweden who started playing a few years ago and has already achieved some of his goals including playing with a band.

25. Beginner’s Story: Jerry

This week’s podcast is part of a series where I’ll be interviewing Beginners rather than pros. Today’s guest is Jerry who has been playing for a while now but realised he needed to take his practice more seriously after he got a taste of playing in public.

26. Being a One Man Band with Juzzie Smith

This week’s guest is a fantastic multi-instrumentalist from Byron Bay Australia. He plays up to six instruments simultaneously including drums, percussion, guitar and harmonica. Sometimes he even does this while juggling. He is the inimitable Juzzie Smith.

27. Harmonica Vaudeville

Today’s guest is a well-known harmonica player and teacher on YouTube. He works hard to teach harmonica in a fun and creative way. In his own words he teaches with a touch of the absurd. His name is Benjamin Tremblay Carpentier but you might know him better as Harmonica Vaudeville.

28. Pro Players Top Harmonica Tips for Beginners

For today’s episode, I thought it would be fun to ask some of my harmonica friends and colleagues for their top practice tips for Beginners. This is definitely the “secret sauce” from some of the world’s top players and teachers. Although it is advice for Beginners, any level of player will benefit from listening to this.

29. Elin Luffar Lo Öberg

My guest today is a versatile player and songwriter from Sweden who is passionate about combining roots music with contemporary rock and pop. She is the fantastic Elin Öberg also known as Luffar Lo.

30. Learning to Improvise with Harry Higgs

Today’s guest is one of my favourite musicians and people. He is my first-call guitarist Harry Higgs. We will be chatting about different approaches to improvisation over a nice beer.

31. Beginner’s Story: Steve

This week’s podcast is part of a series where I’ll be interviewing Beginners rather than pros. Today’s guest is Steve who decided to start playing about a year ago when he realised that it was time to start a new challenge.

32. Beginner’s Story: John S

This week’s podcast is part of a series where I’ll be interviewing Beginners rather than pros. Today’s guest is John who made the decision to pick up harmonica when he retired last year.

33. Beginner’s Story: Steve L

This week’s podcast is part of a series where I’ll be interviewing Beginners rather than pros. Today’s guest is Steve who got the push he needed to start learning when Covid lockdown started.

34. All About Tone! with Liam Ward

Today’s episode is part of a new series where I will be discussing big topics with my good friend Liam Ward from learntheharmonica.com. Today we are chatting about Tone!

35. A harmonica lesson with Hank Shreve

Today’s episode is part of a new series where I will be getting a lesson from an awesome harmonica player/teacher. This episode’s lesson is from Hank Shreve and we will be talking about all things improvisation and he will be giving me the low-down on his approach to improv!

36. Embouchure (Tongue-Blocking, Lip Pursing and U-Blocking) with Liam Ward

Today’s episode is part of a new series where I will be discussing big topics with my good friend Liam Ward from learntheharmonica.com. Today we are chatting about Embouchure. We’ll be looking at tongue-blocking, lip pursing and u-blocking.

37. Konstantin Reinfeld

I’m very excited about today’s guest. He is an OPUS Klassik award winning harmonica player and he has been described as a wunderkind since he first started playing. Equally at home in jazz and classical environments he is the fantastic Konstantin Reinfeld.

38. A harmonica lesson with Filip Jers

Today’s episode is part of a new series where I will be getting a lesson from an awesome harmonica player/teacher. This episode’s lesson is from Filip Jers. He will be showing me how I can bring jazz elements into my Blues playing.

39. Steve Baker

Today’s guest is one of the most influential figures in the harmonica world. He has played professionally for more than 40 years, he wrote The Harp Handbook and is a consultant for Hohner. He has been closely involved in a lot of the great developments to the instrument that we know and love. He is Steve Baker!

40. Richard Sleigh

In today’s episode I’m joined by someone who has a truly holistic view of the instrument. He is an extremely well-respected player, teacher and customiser. He has studied the construction of the harmonica in great depth which has led to him discovering some great ways to improve the instrument. He is the awesome Richard Sleigh!

41. U-Blocking with Philip Jackson

In today’s episode I’m joined by Philip Jackson who is a good harmonica player who u-blocks and is also a National Harmonica League’s blues and rock contest winner. Philip is going to set the record straight about u-blocking versus puckering and tongue-blocking.

42. July Q and A with Tomlin

Today’s episode is going to be part of a semi-regular series where I answer listener questions.

43. Meet My Student Lise

Today’s guest is one of my students over at tomlinharmonicaschool.com called Lise. We’ll be hearing her play and learning about how she started playing harmonica.