HarmonicaUK Newsletter - June 2025

Welcome to the HarmonicaUK June 2025 Newsletter

Hello HarmonicaUK members!

Join us today, Saturday 14 June at 5 pm UK time for our Saturday Session with Annie Raines. Annie’s workshop is titled "Soloing concepts part 1: building riffs off of blues scales" and promises to be a great hour with a renowned player.

Annie is a native of the Boston area in the United States. Annie began playing at the age of 17, fascinated by the sounds of Muddy Waters, Little Walter, and Sonny Boy Williamson II, she immersed herself in the music of Chicago. She began to busk locally, playing gigs at local venues, and later travelled to Chicago, where she met and played with Pinetop Perkins and James Cotton. Annie can also be seen in the recently released documentary about James Cotton, Bonnie Blue: James Cotton's Life in the Blues.

A link to the session will be available in the members' area before the event. Please do not share this link; it's a members-only event.

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We’re also very happy to announce the lineup for the 2025 October Festival, and I think you agree, it’s going to be an event worthy of our 90th Anniversary year. This year, our featured artists are Lee Oskar, Steve Baker, Mat Walklate, and Joe Powers, who will lead workshops and perform in our Saturday evening concert. Phil Leiwy will again act as compere for the weekend, and John Cook will lead the auction. Please check https://harmonica.uk over the coming months for more details as they become available.

Hillscourt is now fully booked for the 2025 Festival, but we do have tickets remaining for Weekend players, meals and the Saturday concert. Please hurry, they are going fast.

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A few weeks after the HarmonicaUK festival, the 10th World Harmonica Festival, a vibrant gathering of performers, educators, enthusiasts, and music lovers from around the globe, returns to Trossingen, Germany, from October 29 to November 2, 2025.

This year’s festival promises an unforgettable week packed with world-class concerts, hands-on workshops, spontaneous jam sessions, and an unparalleled artist lineup that spans cultures, genres, and generations. 

Whether you’re a musician or a music lover, the World Harmonica Festival 2025 is your chance to celebrate the sound of the free reed and participate in a one-of-a-kind event in this pivotal location in the history of the harmonica. 

Tickets are now available.

https://www.world-harmonica-festival.de/

🎵🎵🎵,

Gene Myers
Chair