[Harp-L] need some help from a harmonica history buff

Mark "Mad Dog" Friedman maddog@xxxxx
Sun Jul 12 20:16:40 EDT 2026


Hello  fellow harp history nerds,
In this modern guitar-centric blues scene, the role of harmonica in the history of the blues is often diminished. Having gotten deep in the harmonica music of the 1920' an 1930's, I  am obsessed with  harmonica hokum work of folks like Sonny Terry and Peg Leg Sam. I cover Peg Leg, and there is rarely anyone in the audience that has heard of him. I had not heard of him myself until Mad Cat Ruth mentioned him to me about a year ago when I went down this path of developing my solo harmonica songs. Buried in obscurity is some of most inspiring harmonica music of all time. In an effort to bring back this nearly lost tradition I just released an LP of 16 original songs for unaccompanied harmonica and voice. It is called HOT HARMONICA HOKUM, was released under the artist name Mad Dog Blues and is now on all the streaming services. (Here is link tree of direct links for all the services if you want to listen: https://tidal.com/album/534394472/u.)  This album revives a rare American tradition-marking the first full-length, unaccompanied harmonica and voice album to be recorded since J.C. Burris' landmark 1975 LP, One of These Mornings. The I need help with this is where or who can I send it to for a review that would understand the historical significance of this album.
Thank you in advance for maybe listening , advising and helping to spread the word.

Mad Dog Friedman
https://coloradocountryblues.com/mdb_solo.htm



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