Youthful harmonica prodigies have the blues

By Cory Doctorow at 9:48 PM February 8, 2010

Murray sez, "I recently launched a podcast at the UK-based harmonica website www.harpsurgery.com. The episode here features five young players aged 14-18 (with one 22-year-old to mess up our average) who are playing WAY beyond their years... and in some cases, pushing harmonica-playing into dark scary places where it was never meant to go. The podcast is a little ragged but the playing is great. I thought it pertinent to send this through after Roger Daltrey's shabby harp solo at last night's Super Bowl show. Any one of these kids could destroy Roger Daltrey with a single fog-horn like blast from their instrument. All he'd leave behind is a smoking pair of hush puppies."

Damn skippy: these kids are honkin' and smokin'.

Harmonica Podcast: The Kids Are Alright

Alternative link

MP3 link

(Thanks, Murray!)

10 Comments

| Leave a comment

boingboing'd already?

Uh oh, site is overloaded. I uploaded the podcast file here: http://www.mediafire.com/?ydctyoozzmi

Please download from there if possible.

Thanks for putting up an alternative link; is there a part two to this?

That first kid is ridiculous. Wow.

Aw, c'mon, what's with the Roger Daltrey slam? Music is an exhibition, not a competition.

And as an aside, I hope I still rock as hard as Daltrey does when I'm 65.

Post more bluesy shit that was great.

I'd also add that in the vocals department, anyone capable of producing audible speech is destroying Roger Daltrey. I loved how Baba O'Riley had to be completely rearranged to accomodate his non-existent range.

@BookGuy - Would you be so accomodating if he was noodling around on a drumkit or a trombone?

@HDN - There's a part 2 coming up with some other youngsters we've unearthed, but i couldn't say when it'll be ready to send out. Jay Gaunt is, indeed, ridiculous. Apparently he's very popular with the girls at his school.

Respect your elders, kids. Roger Daltrey has had a long, hard, awesome life. Cut him some slack.

@Murray_H

I don't think I follow you. Are you implying that there is some minimal skill level required on harmonica, trombone, or drums before someone is allowed to play in public? I hope that doesn't get around. Thing of the devastation wrought on middle school concert bands alone.

He played a decent version of the solo that was on the original record. The whole performance was a bit rough, but it worked for me, virtuoso-like harmonic ability or no.

I think he meant it's easier to spot a noob on those instruments. "Enthusiastic amateur" is the required standard with harmonica.

Leave a comment

Anonymous

More items

Patent for a screw-in coffin

Donald Scruggs of Chino, CA was awarded a patent in 2007 for a self-boring coffin. (Via Random Good Stuff)... More.

Old Nintendo NES system and five games sell for $13,105 on eBay

John Park says: "Some woman had an old Nintendo and a few random games for sale. Turns out one of them was a super rare collectors dream game, so it went for around $13,000!" Up for auction is an original Nintendo NES gaming system with 1 hand control.  There are 5 games with it. They are, Family... More.

Sarcasm: Save the newspaper!

In the latest Search Engine podcast, Jesse Brown brings the sarcastic funny on the need to save newspapers from the net. JESSE BROWN: Save the Newspaper! Previously:Search Engine video podcast: Free Hossein Derakhshan, even if he's ... Search Engine's YouTube channel launches: Does the... More.

Beautiful Japanese gramophones

Alan sez, "A Japanese company is producing gramophones with natural touches such as bamboo needles." The player is produced by world-class hobbyist supplier Gakken, and the quality shows. This gramophone supports all record sizes, features speed and tone adjustment, and even lets you record mu... More.

Anthropomorphize your pets with the Pet Speaker

Pet Acoustics' "My Pet Speaker" purports to entertain animals by transforming your music into sounds they enjoy. It is recommended for dogs, cats, and horses. My suspicion is that this $250 item's only verifiable success is turning the press release cliché "unleashed" into a pun. [Pet Acoustics]... More.

• audio • blues • kids • music • podcast

Features

Reviews Videos
More Features