The Irish harmonica, with Joel Andersson

The Folk Music Podcast

In this episode I’m speaking with Swedish musician Joel Andersson. Joel is a harmonica player and harmonica customizer who specializes in Irish traditional music. Since I dabble a bit in harmonica playing myself, I knew that I would have a great time chatting with Joel. We talk about the instruments history in Irish music, as well as its place in the scene today. We also go through the different types of harmonicas and talk about some influential players and recordings. Predictably, there are some pretty nerdy moments, but I think that anyone curious about the harmonica in folk music will get great value out of our conversation.