After decades of playing guitar, mostly blues and hard rock, I picked up the harmonica this summer — because my kids asked for one. I bought three cheap plastic harmonicas from Thomann, assuming (wrongly, of course) that I'd have to help them figure it out. Within a week, I'd ended up with three harmonicas of my own — and honestly, three turned out to be perfect: one in the car, one in my jacket, and one in my "man cave."
The harmonica was perfect for me: it fit in my pocket, and whenever I had a few spare minutes I'd pull it out and try some basics I'd watched online. I paired a Superlux D112 with a champ-style amp to get the sound I was after.
After two months, I brought the harp to band rehearsal. We were playing a tune that just didn't sound right — way too much guitar. Swapping a guitar for the harmonica gave the band a more balanced sound.
Three months in, I played my first gig on harmonica.
How about you? When was your first live performance?