Tom Ball was born in Los Angeles and shares birthdays with his early harmonica hero Sonny Terry. Tom began playing guitar at the age of eleven and took up harmonica two years later. A teenage member of the Yerba Buena Blues Band in the mid-1960’s, he played Love-Ins and Sunset Strip nightclubs before leaving the...
Category: Blog
The following interview originally appeared in the National Harmonica League magazine as part of my regular column, Reeds for the Record… Tim Kobza is a performer, producer, composer, session-player, author, and educator in Los Angeles, California. His television and film credits include the hit shows The Office, Felicity, Desperate Housewives, The Real World and the major motion picture,...
This article is the second installment in a series I’ve been working on for the Lone Wolf Blues Company’s blog, Tightcup.com, on the ins and outs of studio harp playing. I’m a huge fan and endorsee of Lone Wolf’s fantastic gear and their Harp Tone+ is a must have for me. Check out the article...
I have been a fan of the prodigious diatonic player, songwriter, and YouTube video creator extraordinaire Alex Paclin for a few years. One of the most impressive diatonic harmonicists I have heard, he is not only pushing the limits of the instrument but also playing with fire and soul. When I heard he moved to...
Where were the Sheriffs? A good question indeed. To answer this simple query we must backtrack a bit. You see after years of peace in their little town the Sheriffs of Schroedingham had become quite bored. They felt like all their hard-earned skills – the lassoing, the sharp-shooting, the boot and badge polishing, the graphic...
Tom Ball was born in Los Angeles and shares birthdays with his early harmonica hero Sonny Terry. Tom began playing guitar at the age of eleven and took up harmonica two years later. A teenage member of the Yerba Buena Blues Band in the mid-1960’s, he played Love-Ins and Sunset Strip nightclubs before leaving the...
“Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee for the new millennium.” -Michael Ross (Moderne Guitar) The Sheriffs of Schroedingham are the Los Angeles-based Americana duo of Ross Garren and John Schroeder. Combining a deep respect for the great masters of American folk music, conservatory-honed chops, modern production techniques and more than a spit of humor, the Sheriffs...
The following interview originally appeared in the National Harmonica League magazine as part of my regular column, Reeds for the Record… Mike Turk is a Boston-based chromatic and diatonic harmonica player who has released six critically-acclaimed albums as well as having had an active studio career. Highlights of his session work include recording with Jerry Lee Lewis, the...
When guitarist Molly Miller asked me to record a video of Paul Simon’s “Still Crazy After All These Years”, I didn’t know what she had in store. Recently Molly’s been putting out a series of fantastic arrangements of classic tunes (mostly for solo guitar) and I was just happy to participate. Molly came up with...
It was a calm, sleepy night in the town of Schroedingham. Much like the night before. And the night before that. And the week and month and year before that. In fact the town hadn’t seen so much as a cat up a tree in as long as anyone could remember. Their guard was down...