Retroactive Harmonica Blowout

Sounds like a Bob Dylan title circa 1966, but in fact it's a reference to tomorrow's show, when I'll be joined in the studio by Mark Hummel, the man behind the Blues Harmonica Blowouts that have been a staple of blues in the Bay Area and beyond for the past 20 years. He and guitarist Rusty Zinn will play live on the air and peddle Mark's new studio album, Retro-Active, along with an aural retrospective of the harp blowouts, Still Here And Gone 1993-2007. In the true spirit of getting behind the music, both of these  albums will be available as thank-you gifts for listeners who contribute to KALW's Spring Membership Drive -- 'cause you know the blues don't come free. I mean, I guess it does, actually (radio's fatal flaw), but that's a whole nother discussion.

Retro-Active features the talents of Charlie Musselwhite, Steve Freund, and of course Rusty Zinn, but it's on Still Here And Gone
(with performances recorded at Ashkenaz, Moe's Alley, and the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company), that the harp luminaries really pile up: Carey Bell, Lazy Lester, Magic Dick, and many more. Listen local, think global, and tune in Wednesday at 9 pm for some mean harmonica blues.