COUNTRY BLUES FOR HARP + GITARRE<br>
For registrations see e-mail address below.
One day before their concert at the "Mississippi Blues & Barbecue Festival", The Suitcase Brothers, Victor and Santos Puertas, will share and explain their secrets of pre-war blues playing on guitar and harmonica in a WORKSHOP.
DATE
Saturday August 16, 2025
14-17 incl. break
2x 90 minutes
PROCEDURE
Guitarists and harmonica players will be taught separately by Victor (harmonica) and Santos (guitar) Puertas in the first part of the workshop. In the second part, the two combine their knowledge of playing together and their love of country and piedmont blues.
COST
85 Euro (it is not possible to split the two halves of the workshop). Please register at contact@fascination-education-network.de. Payment on site.
DON'T MISS: THE CONCERT
On August 17, 2025, starting at 3 pm, The Suitcase Brothers will play at the Mississippi Bles & BBQ Festival at the Kulturbrauerei Berlin. Also in the line up: Big Creek Slim Band and the Juke Joint Smokers.
FEN SPECIAL - Workshop for guitar and harmonica
A unique opportunity to experience the Suitcase Brothers in a workshop. At the beginning they will teach guitarists and harmonica players separately. In the second half of the workshop they will share their knowledge and experience with the participants. The workshop will be in English.
Part 1a - fingerpicking blues guitar with Santos Puertas
This workshop is an introduction to blues fingerpicking on the guitar. We will learn how to build a solid foundation to have a confident approach to the style. We will learn about muscle memory, ghost notes to make our sound bigger, turnarounds and the most common and frequently used inversions of seventh chords on the first four strings of the guitar. We will also work on three difficulty levels of the song Sugar Babe by Mance Lipscomb, arranged by the late Steve James, one of my mentors and teachers in the past. In this half of the workshop just for us guitarists, we will have a lot of time to "pluck"!
Part 1b - country blues harmonica with Victor Puertas
In this special workshop we will go deep into the country blues harmonica, everything to do with the rhythm, tone and specific phrasing of the country blues masters like Phil Wiggins, Sonny Terry, Annie Raines and all the pre-war harmonica masters. Different positions, special reed and hand techniques and every little detail we need to know to improve our harmonica skills!
Part 2 - The Suitcase Brothers: How they approach the pre-war blues
This is a unique opportunity to talk blues music with these two great musicians and learn more about their approach to country and piedmont blues. Experience the connection between the two brothers, who have been playing side by side for more than 20 years, and how perfectly their two instruments harmonize. References to Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, Cephas & Wiggins or Paul Rishell & Annie Raines are of course not to be missed.