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Artist
Mitch Kashmar
12+ albums
bluesharmonica bluesharmonicablues rockharp
about
West Coast harmonica player MITCH KASHMAR (1960/Santa Barbara, CA - ) is one of the California disciples who soaked up the sound and the soul of Chicago and Mississippi and Cali-customized it. His theory is the California harp scene started with Arkansas native George "Harmonica" Smith, who settled in L.A. soon after leaving Muddy Waters' band. "Rod [Piazza] got some of it and Kim Wilson got some," Kashmar says of Smith's fat, rounded tones, which often sounded more like an entire horn section than a man with a harmonica. "I got some of it from them." Like Wilson, The Fabulous Thunderbirds singer and harmonica legend, Kashmar grew up in Santa Barbara. "[Wilson] would come back at holiday time, climb down from the T-Birds and play gigs with us," says Kashmar, who played with Wilson in 1981 while the T-Birds were recording Butt Rockin'. "He's one of those guys who'll do it right up till it's over and then some." Mitch Kashmar has come a long way since his youth in what is now often perceived as the quaint beachside community of Santa Barbara, CA. They've all known what the rest of the blues world is about to find out: Mitch Kashmar is a force to be reckoned with in the blues. Mitch Kashmar has been making a name for himself with his own albums and his appearances with rock and blues giants. Mitch Kashmar has shared the stage with some of the most influential blues musicians including John Lee Hooker, Big Joe Turner, Eddie 'Cleanhead' Vinson, Lowell Fulson, Jimmy Witherspoon,
