08/16/2025
Harmonica enthusiasts are gathering in San Antonio this week, filling the River Walk with its bluesy sound, at the convention for the Society for the Preservation and Advancement of the Harmonica.
It’s about 95 sunny degrees on the patio of the Dakota East Side Icehouse as Claude Butch Morgan and Dave Moore lay down a groove. This is an ice-breaking gathering of a few dozen harmonica fans, most from elsewhere. The organization putting the event on is called HOOT, or the Harmonica Organization of Texas.
Justin Vasquez is producing the convention. “We've worked with us, with SPAH. This is Society for Preservation and Advancement of the Harmonica. Again, these organizations! We've got long names!" he laughed.
Mercifully, there was a breeze, and all the participants were all in the shade as the sun set. Musicians rotated all night each playing with a band for the first time.
Vasquez noted that the harmonica is very much a story of the United States: “I think over the years, the harmonica has had a very rich history, especially with the history with blues artists. I think it has fallen out a bit more as music has become a bit more ... a lot of the stuff is done a lot on computer.”
But not at this event.
Vasquez couldn’t be a bigger fan out of one of the world’s smaller instruments. That you can hold a harp in one hand, and make some soulful sounds.
“What I find really interesting about the harmonica is the fact that you can take this with you" — he paused to play for 15 seconds — "and just quickly put out an expression right out of your pocket.”
Read More👉 https://www.tpr.org/arts-culture/2025-08-12/national-gathering-of-harmonica-players-give-the-san-antonio-river-walk-a-bluesy-sound?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook =1755289733
