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Happy Hour Harmonica Podcast

Annie Raines interview

April 05, 2023 Neil Warren Season 1 Episode 83

Chapters

Annie is from the Boston area of the US

What first drew Annie into music

Started playing some piano when seven years old, but was a bad student

Picked up music again in high school, playing a keyboard synthesiser

Did some singing in the synagogue, but didn’t know what she was singing in Hebrew

Started playing harmonica age 17, after looking for a book on how to juggle

Learnt to play harmonica from a John Gindick instructional book

Juggling and playing harmonica, and Juzzie Smith

Studied the John Gindick book in some detail

Studied the John Gindick book in some detail

Was given a tape of blues players from a younger student at school and Annie felt an affinity to the music of Muddy Waters

Started attending a blues jam in Cambridge, Massachusetts

Annie got up to take part in her first blues jam about three months after first going to the club

Joined the Cambridge Harmonica Orchestra

Learnt how to breathe through the harmonica in the orchestra

Some of the other well known members of the Cambridge Harmonica Orchestra

Annie met George Mayweather, who became a mentor for Annie

Annie took lessons from five different people from the Cambridge area, including Jerry Portnoy

First harmonica was a Pocket Pal which came with John Gindick book

Still tinkered on the piano but couldn’t improvise on that

Later developed singing and learnt to play mandolin

Dropped out of college to focus on music

Started teaching harmonica age 19 and received ten tapes of the harmonica greats

Slim Harpo was also an inspiration

How parents reacted to Annie dropping out of college to pursue music

Income from music wasn’t great in the early days

Had a tweed amp that had to carry on the bus

Paying gigs started a few years later playing with Shirley Lewis, and Annie could quit the day job

Practise regime followed

Did some work tuning harmonicas for Magic Dick’s harmonica venture

Teamed-up with Paul Rishell for the first time in 1992

Paul Rishell played harmonica friendly songs

Thought country blues was easy to play before experiencing it with Paul Rishell

Got gigs with Paul Rishell and started touring with him and playing a regular gig

First album recorded with Paul Rishell was I Want You To Know in 1996

Moving To The Country album was released in 2000, winning a WC Handy Award for Best Acoustic Blues album

Annie played three songs on Paul Rishell’s Swear To Tell The Truth album, before their partnership was established

Paul’s wife became seriously ill but still encouraged them to get out playing as they were starting to make a name for themselves

Goin’ Home album from 2004 and Annie’s singing

Harmonica is such a good instrument for giving a voice to a voiceless person

Chromatic harmonica

Heard Charles Leighton at the SPAH convention, who is a great chromatic player

A Night In Woodstock album with Paul Rishell also released as a DVD

A Night In Woodstock was released as album sales were dropping, so Annie and Paul set-up their own record company

Annie and Paul appear in a documentary called ‘Chasin’ Gus’ Ghost’

Guesting on other musicians albums, including Pinetop Perkins

Also recorded with John Sebastien

Played with Susan Tedeschi, with whom Annie was the first woman to play on the House of Blues stage in Boston

Being a female blues harmonica player

Released Blues Harmonica Blueprint instructional material

Has given harmonica workshops in various locations and lots of teaching of harmonica

10 minute question

Harmonica of choice is the traditional Hohner Marine Band

Hohner Super 64 is chromatic of choice

Created lot of different tunings when working on Magic Dick company harps, but generally doesn’t perform with different tunings

Overblows: doesn’t use them on a gig

Doesn’t do much maintenance work on own harmonicas

Is a Hohner endorsee

Embouchre: 70% tongue blocks, 30% pucker

Uses a small Vibro Champ amp mostly now as playing with Paul Rishell in a duo most of the time

Fender Deluxe Reverb is choice when need a large amp

Mic-up small amp when needed

Acoustic microphones: typically SM58 or a beta SM57

Amped microphones: Astatic 200 crystal mic

Effects: Boss RV3 (reverb pedal with delay), and a tape Echoplex

Info

Happy Hour Harmonica Podcast

Annie Raines interview

Apr 05, 2023 Season 1 Episode 83

Neil Warren

Annie Raines joins me on episode 83.

Annie is an early pioneer as a female blues harmonica player. Hailing from the Boston area of the US, she drew on the rich source of harmonica inspiration from nearby Cambridge, regularly attending a jam there in her youth, and meeting many great players and joining the Cambridge Harmonica Orchestra.

Annie then teamed-up with her long time musical partner, Paul Rishell, after also meeting him around the Boston area. They have now been performing and recording together for over 30 years, releasing seven albums, and winning a WC Handy award for one of them. Annie has also guested on albums with several other artists, including Pinetop Perkins.

Annie teaches harmonica and has released an instructional video, and gives workshops at various harmonica gatherings.

Links:

Annie and Paul's website:
https://www.paulandannie.com/

John Gindick’s website:
https://gindick.com/harmonica/

Cambridge Harmonica Orchestra:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ReDMrEdmbA

George Mayweather: What I'd Say:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wp-pAk4epI

Blues Harmonica Blueprint instruction:
https://truefire.com/techniques-guitar-lessons/blues-harmonica-blueprint/blues-harmonica-blueprint-introduction/v5544

Tomlin Harmonica School:
https://www.tomlinharmonicaschool.com/

Videos:

Annie singing You’ve Been A Good Old Wagon:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKgydSYSC7k

Charles Leighton playing In A Sentimental Mood:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsPhW6UXE00

Canned Heat Blues: from Live In Woodstock DVD:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ux-lQaoZewk

Harmonica UK Virtual Festival 2020:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RD4PzISV2FQ

Augusta Blues / Swing week 2013:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTXpwCMrs5c

Duet with John Sebastien:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmPOnRUDZAE

Podcast website:
https://www.harmonicahappyhour.com

Donations:
If you want to make a voluntary donation to help support the running costs of the podcast then please use this link (or visit the podcast website link above):
https://paypal.me/harmonicahappyhour?locale.x=en_GB

Spotify Playlist:
Also check out the Spotify Playlist, which contains most of the songs discussed in the podcast:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5QC6RF2VTfs4iPuasJBqwT?si=M-j3IkiISeefhR7ybm9qIQ

Podcast sponsors:
This podcast is sponsored by SEYDEL harmonicas - visit the oldest harmonica factory in the world at www.seydel1847.com or on Facebook or Instagram at SEYDEL HARMONICAS

Support the Show.

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Annie Raines joins me on episode 83.

Annie is an early pioneer as a female blues harmonica player. Hailing from the Boston area of the US, she drew on the rich source of harmonica inspiration from nearby Cambridge, regularly attending a jam there in her youth, and meeting many great players and joining the Cambridge Harmonica Orchestra.

Annie then teamed-up with her long time musical partner, Paul Rishell, after also meeting him around the Boston area. They have now been performing and recording together for over 30 years, releasing seven albums, and winning a WC Handy award for one of them. Annie has also guested on albums with several other artists, including Pinetop Perkins.

Annie teaches harmonica and has released an instructional video, and gives workshops at various harmonica gatherings.

Links:

Annie and Paul's website:
https://www.paulandannie.com/

John Gindick’s website:
https://gindick.com/harmonica/

Cambridge Harmonica Orchestra:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ReDMrEdmbA

George Mayweather: What I'd Say:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wp-pAk4epI

Blues Harmonica Blueprint instruction:
https://truefire.com/techniques-guitar-lessons/blues-harmonica-blueprint/blues-harmonica-blueprint-introduction/v5544

Tomlin Harmonica School:
https://www.tomlinharmonicaschool.com/

Videos:

Annie singing You’ve Been A Good Old Wagon:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKgydSYSC7k

Charles Leighton playing In A Sentimental Mood:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsPhW6UXE00

Canned Heat Blues: from Live In Woodstock DVD:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ux-lQaoZewk

Harmonica UK Virtual Festival 2020:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RD4PzISV2FQ

Augusta Blues / Swing week 2013:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTXpwCMrs5c

Duet with John Sebastien:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmPOnRUDZAE

Podcast website:
https://www.harmonicahappyhour.com

Donations:
If you want to make a voluntary donation to help support the running costs of the podcast then please use this link (or visit the podcast website link above):
https://paypal.me/harmonicahappyhour?locale.x=en_GB

Spotify Playlist:
Also check out the Spotify Playlist, which contains most of the songs discussed in the podcast:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5QC6RF2VTfs4iPuasJBqwT?si=M-j3IkiISeefhR7ybm9qIQ

Podcast sponsors:
This podcast is sponsored by SEYDEL harmonicas - visit the oldest harmonica factory in the world at www.seydel1847.com or on Facebook or Instagram at SEYDEL HARMONICAS

Support the Show.

Annie is from the Boston area of the US

What first drew Annie into music

Started playing some piano when seven years old, but was a bad student

Picked up music again in high school, playing a keyboard synthesiser

Did some singing in the synagogue, but didn’t know what she was singing in Hebrew

Started playing harmonica age 17, after looking for a book on how to juggle

Learnt to play harmonica from a John Gindick instructional book

Juggling and playing harmonica, and Juzzie Smith

Studied the John Gindick book in some detail

Studied the John Gindick book in some detail

Was given a tape of blues players from a younger student at school and Annie felt an affinity to the music of Muddy Waters

Started attending a blues jam in Cambridge, Massachusetts

Annie got up to take part in her first blues jam about three months after first going to the club

Joined the Cambridge Harmonica Orchestra

Learnt how to breathe through the harmonica in the orchestra

Some of the other well known members of the Cambridge Harmonica Orchestra

Annie met George Mayweather, who became a mentor for Annie

Annie took lessons from five different people from the Cambridge area, including Jerry Portnoy

First harmonica was a Pocket Pal which came with John Gindick book

Still tinkered on the piano but couldn’t improvise on that

Later developed singing and learnt to play mandolin

Dropped out of college to focus on music

Started teaching harmonica age 19 and received ten tapes of the harmonica greats

Slim Harpo was also an inspiration

How parents reacted to Annie dropping out of college to pursue music

Income from music wasn’t great in the early days

Had a tweed amp that had to carry on the bus

Paying gigs started a few years later playing with Shirley Lewis, and Annie could quit the day job

Practise regime followed

Did some work tuning harmonicas for Magic Dick’s harmonica venture

Teamed-up with Paul Rishell for the first time in 1992

Paul Rishell played harmonica friendly songs

Thought country blues was easy to play before experiencing it with Paul Rishell

Got gigs with Paul Rishell and started touring with him and playing a regular gig

First album recorded with Paul Rishell was I Want You To Know in 1996

Moving To The Country album was released in 2000, winning a WC Handy Award for Best Acoustic Blues album

Annie played three songs on Paul Rishell’s Swear To Tell The Truth album, before their partnership was established

Paul’s wife became seriously ill but still encouraged them to get out playing as they were starting to make a name for themselves

Goin’ Home album from 2004 and Annie’s singing

Harmonica is such a good instrument for giving a voice to a voiceless person

Chromatic harmonica

Heard Charles Leighton at the SPAH convention, who is a great chromatic player

A Night In Woodstock album with Paul Rishell also released as a DVD

A Night In Woodstock was released as album sales were dropping, so Annie and Paul set-up their own record company

Annie and Paul appear in a documentary called ‘Chasin’ Gus’ Ghost’

Guesting on other musicians albums, including Pinetop Perkins

Also recorded with John Sebastien

Played with Susan Tedeschi, with whom Annie was the first woman to play on the House of Blues stage in Boston

Being a female blues harmonica player

Released Blues Harmonica Blueprint instructional material

Has given harmonica workshops in various locations and lots of teaching of harmonica

10 minute question

Harmonica of choice is the traditional Hohner Marine Band

Hohner Super 64 is chromatic of choice

Created lot of different tunings when working on Magic Dick company harps, but generally doesn’t perform with different tunings

Overblows: doesn’t use them on a gig

Doesn’t do much maintenance work on own harmonicas

Is a Hohner endorsee

Embouchre: 70% tongue blocks, 30% pucker

Uses a small Vibro Champ amp mostly now as playing with Paul Rishell in a duo most of the time

Fender Deluxe Reverb is choice when need a large amp

Mic-up small amp when needed

Acoustic microphones: typically SM58 or a beta SM57

Amped microphones: Astatic 200 crystal mic

Effects: Boss RV3 (reverb pedal with delay), and a tape Echoplex

Future plans