The Legendary Shack Shakers

One of the bands that definitely got me interested in playing blues harmonica is The Legendary Shack Shakers. It's not traditional blues. It's more rockabilly, heavy rock n' roll, punk, blues. JD Wilkes plays blues style harmonica though and has a pretty powerful, unique sound, with tons of feeling (albeit very aggressive). He also sings much of the time through his harp mic and makes it work.

Check out Cockadoodledon't and Believe. Those two have the most bluesy type harmonica on them. I recommend the whole albums. Pandalerium is mostly gypsy music while Agridustrial is using blues harmonica for kind of Industrial hybrid style of music (banjo & harmonica blues industrial anyone?). Pretty cool in my opinion. They are a good example of how blues harmonica can be used in versatile situations and how "too much" distortion can sometimes have its place. Like nothing you've ever heard and the live shows can only be described as Slayer meets Elvis. Not for the feint of heart.

-Taylor