Mark Hummel's Blues Harmonica Blowout™

Mark Hummel's 35th Annual Blues Harmonica Blowout

CURTIS SALGADO is the original co-singer in Robert Cray’s Band who became the inspiration for John Belushi’s Blues Brothers when he came to meet Curtis while filming Animal House in Eugene, OR. Curtis joined Roomful of Blues in the early 80s and also Santana for a brief spell. Salgado has long been a major draw in the NW and lately has spread his name worldwide as a phenom vocalist and fine harmonica player. Over the last decade Curtis signed with Alligator Records and released four Blues Music Award winning CD’s. He has also been named Entertainer and Soul Singer of the Year multiple times. Curtis’s newest CD is Fine By Me and has entered the Billboard Top Ten in the Blues Charts.

MAGIC DICK is the original harp man from the J. Geils Band, whose many hits flooded the airwaves during the 1970s and 1980s. Chart-toppers like "FreezeFrame", "Centerfold", "First I Look At The Purse", "Must a Got Lost", "Give It To Me" and Magic Dick's own "Wammer Jammer" were in the Top Ten off and on for 20 years and made them one of the few top bands (other than WAR) that featured a harmonica prominently in the frontline. Dick went on to start Bluestime with J. Geils after the original band broke up, making two CDs for Rounder Records.

RJ MISCHO started playing at the age of ten and by the time he was 19 he was working as a full-time professional musician. He began his career in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota an area that has spawned many famous musicians. RJ cut his teeth with the legends of the Twin Cities’ Blues scene Percy Strother, Mojo Buford, Sonny Rogers, and Lazy Bill Lucas. He then formed Blues Deluxe, quoted by the Minneapolis Star Tribune as “Minnesota’s hardest working Blues Band”.  It was in 1992 that RJ caught the attention of Blues fans worldwide with the release of Ready to Go. 

In 1996 RJ Mischo moved to California where he continues to grow and develop his skills. He established himself a wider audience with a prolific performance schedule at major venues and festivals across the United States, Europe and up and down the West Coast.

MARK HUMMEL is the Grammy nominated, two time Blues Music Award winning creator of the Blues Harmonica Blowouts since 1991. The annual Harmonica Blowout is a traveling road show that has hosted every major player on the instrument from James Cotton, John Mayall, Charlie Musselwhite, Magic Dick, Lee Oskar, Kim Wilson, Rod Piazza, Rick Estrin, Howard Levy, Jason Ricci and dozens more.

Hummel has played with a who’s who of blues legends, Jimmy Rogers, Brownie McGhee, Lowell Fulsom, Eddie Taylor, Percy Mayfield, Charles Brown, Jimmy McCracklin and many more.

Hummel has been featured on over thirty recordings since 1985, including his Grammy-nominated, Blues Music Award-winning 2014 Blind Pig Records release, Remembering Little Walter.
 
Mark is a celebrated figure in the world of blues and has long been recognized for his exceptional talent and deep reverence for the blues tradition.

Harmonica Blowout History