Blues singer, guitar and harmonica player Jesse “Lone Cat” Fuller was born on this day in 1896. Fuller began playing music when he was five, ran away from home when he was ten. In the 1940’s he worked with Leadbelly and allegedly taught Bob Dylan how to play the harmonica on a neckbrace.
Astronaut Wally Schirra took the harmonica into outer space when he was aboard the Gemini IV mission in 1965. Schirra was born on this day in 1923.
Blues singer and harmonica Mark Dufresne was born on this day in 1953. He began playing the harmonica in the mid-1970’s and has worked out of the Seattle area since the early 1980’s, working with several Blues greats and recording some albums of his own.
Blues harmonica player John Lee Henley taught himself how to play the harmonica while growing up in Mississippi. After moving to Chicago in 1943, he worked with several blues greats, including Muddy Waters, Big Joe Williams and others. Henley died on this day in 1995.
That’s it for today. Have fun and practice!
