Breathe in, breathe out

When I was in junior high school, we always tried to coax our science teacher into playing his harmonica during class. Not only could he play an awesome blend of folk and blues tunes, he also could play the harmonica with no hands—and he was good at it. We loved watching that harmonica bob up and down in his mouth as he belted out the “12 Bar Blues Boogie.” Although it was cool, we mostly just reveled in it to escape learning about Newton’s second law of motion.

But if you’re simply looking for an excuse to hear awesome harmonica music by amazing players, check out the Sacramento Blues Society’s annual Harmonica Blowout on Sunday. Local blues masters Andy Santana, Dave Croall, Two-Tone Steiny, Rich Baum, Dan McKinley, Gary Mendoza and 15-year-old Kyle Rowland will offer up some amazing blues jams. And just because a teenager is playing in the Harmonica Blowout, don’t think it’s an easy instrument to pick up. First of all, Rowland was like a harmonica wunderkind at age 10. And secondly, those square holes are tiny, so you’d better practice.