This channel features an ongoing series of free-form lessons in the subtleties of contemporary blues harmonica. Beginners will learn useful things here, but most of my conversation is oriented towards intermediate and advanced players who have learned some or most of the basic techniques but KNOW they are missing something. It's that "something" that I'm going to explore here. I'll also use this channel to share footage of Sterling "Mister Satan" Magee, Nat Riddles, and the other mentors and players from whom I've learned and with whom I've shared stages.

If you're a beginner looking for guidance, or if you're an intermediate or advanced player seeking additional challenges, please visit my website, Modern Blues Harmonica (URL below), where I've got lots of other blues harp materials for sale, including a staged series of videos and tabs featuring classic and contemporary repertoire by Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson, and many others.

When I'm not uploading quick-hit blues harp lessons to YouTube, I'm an associate professor of English and Southern Studies at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, MS. I've published widely in the areas of American and African American literature, and I have three books to my name: MISTER SATAN'S APPRENTICE: A BLUES MEMOIR (1998), SEEMS LIKE MURDER HERE: SOUTHERN VIOLENCE AND THE BLUES TRADITION (2002), and the forthcoming JOURNEYMAN'S ROAD: MODERN BLUES LIVES FROM FAULKNER'S MISSISSIPPI TO POST-9/11 NEW YORK (2007). Between 1986 and 1998 I was the harmonica-playing half of Satan and Adam, a Harlem-based blues duo with three CDs on the Flying Fish and Rounder labels: HARLEM BLUES (1991), MOTHER MOJO (1993), and LIVING ON THE RIVER (1996).

About the KudzuRunner handle: I am an enthusiastic road racer and compete regularly in Memphis and N. Mississippi at distances from 5K to the marathon.