It used to be the most common combination for a duo in blues music, but nowadays it seems to be getting harder and harder to find the old harmonica-and-guitar mix that dominated the scene for so long. Sure there are still some really good harp players out there, but more and more the genre is becoming dominated by the guitarists. Off the top of my head I can only think of three or four harp players who are even band leaders anymore, and none of them are the household names that people like Sonny Boy Williamson (either the original or the copy) or Corey Bell once were among blues fans.
One of the reasons for there being fewer and fewer harp players is the fact that while it's a fairly easy instrument to just pick up and start blowing, to really master its intricacies a player must be willing to dedicate themselves to years of daily practice. I remember reading of one harmonica player telling how he'd spend up to eight hours a day in front of a mirror practicing to ensure that his technique was as good as it possibly could be. How many people do you think are going to be willing to put that kind of effort into learning an instrument which really doesn't offer the opportunities for fame and glory that the guitar does?
Thankfully that doesn't seem to have completely stopped people from picking up the harmonica and learning how to play; and I don't doubt there are plenty toiling away in obscurity in bars and honky tonks around the world.
One of those who deserves far more recognition then he likely gets already is Bob Corritore, who is one half of a great guitar-and-harmonica duo. The guitar half, Dave Riley, was born in Hattiesberg, Mississippi and moved to Chicago when barely a teenager. He was living near Maxwell Street when he was drafted and sent off to Vietnam, and there he eventually ended up in a military band that toured bases and opened for USO shows. Those are the types of life experiences that are bound to give you the blues, but it wasn't until the mid-1990's that Riley returned to his Mississippi roots and the music of the Delta full time.
Lucky To Be Living on Blue Witch Records is the duo's second recording and will be released on September 9. Their first disc together, Travellin' The Dirt Road, was nominated for a Blues Music Award as Best Acoustic Album in 2008, and there's no reason why this new disc shouldn't receive the same consideration. This collection of ten songs, four of them originals written by Riley, covers a lot of territory musically as it mixes the slow, drawn-out deep blues that carries with it echoes of the slaves whom the music sprung from originally, with the uptempo swing of the juke joints that dot the byways and highways of the South. While their sound is filled out by bass and drums on most tracks—and piano and an extra guitar helping out on tracks two, six and ten—the focus remains solidly on the two leads throughout.
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