Gary Smith

Gary Smith is regarded as one of the fathers of Blues Harmonica in the San Jose/San Francisco Bay Area. Gary had an active band as early as the late 1960’s, recording his first record in 1972 and playing the first note at first San Francisco Blues Festival in 1973… now the longest continuously running blues festival in the United States. Gary has mentored countless harmonica players and band members over the years, including myself 21 years ago. I was 16 at that time and everything he taught me left a huge impression on my playing. It’s very difficult to find a mentor… on the harmonica and everything that’s embodied in the music we love to play… the blues. I was very fortunate to have a blues harmonica father like Gary and for that reason he was a large part of why I teach today… it gives me great pleasure to provide that same type of mentoring to my students. It’s hard to think of any harp player with a bigger tone and presence on the bandstand than Gary. He’s also a master of mixing blues harmonica influences… most prominently Little Walter, James Cotton, Junior Wells and Paul Butterfield. I enjoy listening to him because of his no-nonsense, traditional playing style with an abundance of new ways of mixing classic lines with fresh new ideas… all staying true to the classic Chicago Blues style. To learn more about Gary Smith and his music visit his Facebook page at www.facebook.com/garysmith.