Seward Daward Shah, known as Harmonica Shah (born March 31, 1946) is an American

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

and

electric blues Electric blues is blues music distinguished by the use of electric amplification for musical instruments. The guitar was the first instrument to be popularly amplified and used by early pioneers T-Bone Walker in the late 1930s and John Lee Ho ...

harmonicist The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica include ...

and singer. His playing was influenced by

Junior Wells Junior Wells (born Amos Wells Blakemore Jr.; December 9, 1934January 15, 1998) was an American singer, harmonica player, and recording artist. He is best known for his signature song " Messin' with the Kid" and his 1965 album '' Hoodoo Man Blues ...

Jimmy Reed Mathis James Reed (September 6, 1925 – August 29, 1976) was an American blues musician and songwriter. His particular style of electric blues was popular with a wide variety of audiences. Reed's songs such as "Honest I Do" (1957), "Baby Wha ...

Little Walter Marion Walter Jacobs (May 1, 1930 – February 15, 1968), known as Little Walter, was an American blues musician, singer, and songwriter, whose revolutionary approach to the harmonica had a strong impact on succeeding generations, earning him ...

Lazy Lester Leslie Johnson (June 20, 1933 – August 22, 2018), known as Lazy Lester, was an American blues musician who sang and played the harmonica and guitar. In a career spanning the 1950s to 2018, he pioneered swamp blues, and also played harmonic ...

, and

Little Sonny Little Sonny (born Aaron Willis; October 6, 1932, in Greensboro, Alabama) is an American electric blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter. His early mentor and inspiration was Sonny Boy Williamson II. Nevertheless, Little Sonny stated tha ...

Biography

Born Thaddeus Louis Hall, in

Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...

, California, Shah also spent time in

Somerville, Texas Somerville ( ) is a city in Burleson County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,312 at the 2020 census. Somerville is named for Albert Somerville the first president of the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway. Geography Somerville is l ...

, with his blues harmonica and guitar playing grandfather, Sam Dawson. Dawson had recorded for both

Alan Lomax Alan Lomax (; January 31, 1915 – July 19, 2002) was an American ethnomusicologist, best known for his numerous field recordings of folk music during the 20th century. He was a musician, folklorist, archivist, writer, scholar, political activ ...

and

Duke Records Duke Records was an American record label, started in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1952 by David James Mattis (WDIA program director and DJ) and Bill Fitzgerald, owners of Tri-State Recording Company. Their first release was Roscoe Gordon singing "He ...

. His mother, a

beautician Cosmetology (from Greek , ''kosmētikos'', "beautifying"; and , ''-logia'') is the study and application of beauty treatment. Branches of specialty include hairstyling, skin care, cosmetics, manicures/pedicures, non-permanent hair removal such a ...

, encouraged him to be a salesman for '' Jet'' magazine in the latter part of the 1950s. This allowed Shah access to Oakland's bars and

clubs Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Club (magazine), ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands a ...

, where he heard musicians such as

Lowell Fulson Lowell Fulson (March 31, 1921March 7, 1999) was an American blues guitarist and songwriter, in the West Coast blues tradition. He also recorded for contractual reasons as Lowell Fullsom and Lowell Fulsom. After T-Bone Walker, he was the most i ...

Jimmy McCracklin James David Walker Jr. (August 13, 1921 – December 20, 2012), better known by his stage name Jimmy McCracklin, was an American pianist, singer, and songwriter. His style contained West Coast blues, Jump blues, and R&B. Over a career that ...

Juke Boy Bonner Weldon H. Philip Bonner, better known as Juke Boy Bonner (March 22, 1932 – June 29, 1978) was an American blues singer, harmonica player, and guitarist. He was influenced by Lightnin' Hopkins, Jimmy Reed, and Slim Harpo. He accompanied himself ...

and

Big Mama Thornton Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton (December 11, 1926 – July 25, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter of blues and R&B. The ''Encyclopedia of Pop, Rock and Soul'' described Thornton by saying: "Her booming voice, sometimes 200-pound fra ...

. Shah told ''

Living Blues ''Living Blues: The Magazine of the African American Blues Tradition'' is a bi-monthly magazine focused on blues music, and America's oldest blues periodical. The magazine was founded as a quarterly in Chicago in 1970 by Jim O'Neal and Amy van ...

'' magazine that his grandfather's passion for the blues inspired him. "Well see I picked it up from him, he'd be out in the fields singin' all that (sings in a slow moan) 'Tell me how long, whoa, tell me how long it's been since you've been away from home' Well, that's raw! That's a big damn difference from 'Good Golly Miss Molly'". He moved to Detroit in 1967, and worked for

Ford Motors Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobil ...

for fifteen years. Shah bought himself a cheap harmonica in 1976 and, while operating as a

taxicab A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a Driving, driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of thei ...

driver, Shah was introduced to local blues

jam session A jam session is a relatively informal musical event, process, or activity where musicians, typically instrumentalists, play improvised solos and vamp over tunes, drones, songs, and chord progressions. To "jam" is to improvise music without ...

s. "Hell, that was it, no turning back then", Shah recalled. Over the years, Shah has played alongside

Bobo Jenkins Bobo Jenkins (January 7, 1916 – August 14, 1984) was an American Detroit blues and electric blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He also built and set up his own recording studio and record label in Detroit. Jenkins is best known for his re ...

Eddie Kirkland Eddie Kirkland (August 16, 1923 – February 27, 2011) was an American electric blues guitarist, harmonicist, singer, and songwriter. Kirkland, known as the "Gypsy of the Blues" for his rigorous touring schedules, played and toured with John ...

The Butler Twins The Butler Twins were an American Detroit blues and electric blues duo of the twin brothers Clarence (January 21, 1942 – December 22, 2003) and Curtis Butler (January 21, 1942 – April 9, 2004). Longtime semiprofessional performers in the l ...

and

Willie D. Warren Willie D. Warren (September 11, 1924 – December 30, 2000) was an American electric blues guitarist, double bass, bass player and singing, singer. In a long career, he worked with Otis Rush, Al Benson, Little Sonny Cooper, David Honeyboy Ed ...

. His debut album, ''Motor City Mojo'' was released by Blue Suit Records in 2000. ''Deep Detroit'' the follow-up album features Detroit rock turned blues guitarist Howard Glazer. His 2006 album, ''Listen at Me Good'', was recorded in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, and included contributions from the

Blues Music Award The Blues Music Awards, formerly known as the W. C. Handy Awards (or "The Handys"), are awards presented by the Blues Foundation, a non-profit organization set up to foster blues heritage. The awards were originally named in honor of W. C. Handy, " ...

winners Mel Brown on guitar, and

Willie "Big Eyes" Smith Willie Lee "Big Eyes" Smith (January 19, 1936 – September 16, 2011) was an American electric blues vocalist, harmonica player, and drummer. He was best known for several stints with the Muddy Waters band beginning in the early 1960s. Biograp ...

playing the drums, along with Julian Fauth on piano. He has toured across the United States, as well as in Europe, Russia, Japan and Australia. Closer to his roots, Shah still occasionally performs for free at John's Carpet House in East Detroit. He legally changed his birth name to Seward Shah. Shah's more recent release was the 2009 album, ''If All You Have Is a Hammer'', on his current record label, Electro-Fi Records.

Discography

Albums

*''Motor City Mojo'' (2000) – Blue Suit Records #114 *''Deep Detroit'' (2001) – South Side Records #4 *''Tell It to Your Landlord'' (2003) – Electro-Fi Records#3373 *''Listen at Me Good'' (2006) – Electro-Fi Records #3393 *''If All You Have Is a Hammer'' (2009) – Electro-Fi Records #3413 *''Live at the Cove'' (2011) – Electro-Fi Records #3422 *''Havin' Nothin' Don't Bother Me'' (2013) – Electro-Fi Records #3436 *''If You Live To Get Old, You Will Understand'' (2015) – Electro-Fi Records #3447 *''Ain't Gonna Worry About Tomorrow'' (2020) - Electro-Fi Records #3460

Compilation albums

*''Hastings Street Grease Vol. 1'' (1998) – Blue Suit Records *''Hastings Street Grease Vol. 2'' (1999) – Blue Suit Records

References

External links