For a long time, my solos were mostly Chicago style blues licks stolen from LW or Jr Wells. But this doesn't always fit the song. Harmonica is maybe the instrument that is MOST similar to singing, so I think playing the vocal melody can really be a great approach!
What do you you think? Here's my band's cover of "69 Dollars":
Part of my mentality was that I was going last, after two guitar solos and a saxophone. The only way that I could make my mark is by leaning into the unique characteristics of the harmonica. For this song, I tried to think of the harp as a vocal substitute. There's a level of expressiveness that the guitar and sax can't match, I think.
My dad always said that there's three instruments that can really "cry": the violin, the saxophone, and (the people's instrument) the harmonica. ---------- Marc Graci YouTube Channel
If anyone's interested, we just released the video for this song. I was fortunate that someone from the maintenance crew at my apartment building must've forgotten to lock the door to the roof...
