One of my first goals was to get good enough to play live at open blues jams at the clubs in the area. Do that on a fairly regular basis now, which has taught me a lot of the dynamics of playing in a band vs. woodshedding alone at home. I also sit in with local bands once in a while as well.

I play Hohner Special 20s mostly, using either a Green Bullet mike with a controlled magnetic element, or a vintage JT-30 with a crystal element. Started out with the tiny Pignose as a practice amp, fooled around a while with a Behringer X V-amp, which does some credible tube amp simulations, and now I primarily use either a sweet vintage Kalamazoo Model 2 tube amp scored from eBay, or my big 30 watt Peavey Delta Blues, a modern tube amp, another eBay score.

Influences include the usual suspects: the two Walters, the two Sonny Boys, and then the living masters like Kim Wilson. I live near Boston, and we have some harp legends right in our backyard, like Jerry Portnoy, Annie Raines, and Magic Dick.

I take occasional lessons from Annie, and belong to a harmonica club she started called the Boston Harmonica Innovation Project (B-HIP). Were working on some of her group arrangements of blues classics to do some future public performances.

Reviews:

Bo Knows
''Cool voxing and harping paisan :)''
   --Lips Angelo

Bo Knows
''Chug, chug, chug. Fit just right. Vox are getting better. Don't know if it's recording technique or your voice!''
   --Ringer

Bo Knows
''Brett, not easy to play, sing and following the rythm, like what you did''
   --RonDutch

Bo Knows
''Harp simple but 'just right.' Nice tribute, too.''
   --BeelzeBob

Jimi Lee Swing Shuffle
''Yeah man...go cat go :) Liked the adapted lyrics to this beat Brett. Bene!''
   --Lips Angelo

Bo Knows
''nice chord rhythms Brett - cool vox and comping - solo nice and dirty!! - good one!!''
   --htrain

Jimi Lee Swing Shuffle
''Tough act to follow with all these great renditions of this BT.''
   --Ringer

Bo Knows
''cool piece of the style jummie Brett!!''
   --floppy lips

Bo Knows
''Your words really make me understand harp. Rocks out. Put on your Magic Dick leather pants and go to town.''
   --Rick

Bo Knows
''Nice vocals and opportnely chugging; Fine! :-)''
   --polypheme

Bo Knows
''Nice low chuggin bits blended in well with your vocals, i'll have to try the amp thing one day.''
   --Steamrollin Stan

Jimi Lee Swing Shuffle
''Typical Blues sound and groove, well done!''
   --polypheme

Jimi Lee Swing Shuffle
''@Tony: I have not had a lesson in nearly two years, but maybe everything I've learned is starting to come together finally. Thanks!''
   --Brett

Jimi Lee Swing Shuffle
''Good stuff Brett. Swinging !!! I don't know if you are taking lessons but your playing sure improved lately !''
   --Tonyh

Jimi Lee Swing Shuffle
''BRETT!!!!!! done good,here there everywhere, but kicked in at the right times, bit harsh in a few bits but who gives a shit....yo!!!!!''
   --Steamrollin Stan

End of the World Blues
''Nice tone paisan and I agree with other comments on your improved playing. Nice baby!''
   --Lips Angelo

Jimi Lee Swing Shuffle
''Brett your in my hert!!all solid take no need for rescue''
   --floppy lips

End of the World Blues
''That was more than a try. It was a finished product. Very good acoustic.''
   --Ringer

Jimi Lee Swing Shuffle
''Nice try Brett, tone was great''
   --Lindy Harper

End of the World Blues
''Really nice acoustic sound. Well played.''
   --edsanmi

Jimi Lee Swing Shuffle
''man, you sure got that vox working now!! really like it - lyrics work well with this - harp balance maybe a bit hot but nicely played in both comp and solo - effective bleeds and rhythmic riffs - good one Brett!!''
   --htrain

Jimi Lee Swing Shuffle
''Nice one Brett. I like the idea of using the lyrics from another song. Thought the harp was a bit harsh sounding, try to get a bit less distortion.''
   --7LimitJI

End of the World Blues
''Excellent playing Brett. You're improving every track! This had a whole load of tricks in it, wahs,trills,growls,the works!''
   --7LimitJI

End of the World Blues
''Still on that streak, playing at a higher level, think maybe it's hear to stay!''
   --BeelzeBob

End of the World Blues
''well done, real nice tone on the chords/doubles''
   --dmb

End of the World Blues
''Your tone as really improved a lot lately. great job !''
   --Tonyh

End of the World Blues
''solid tone and techniques - liked the hits @ :25 - no hiding when it's accoustic and this shows how well you are playing!! - nice hand fx and warbles - good one Brett!''
   --htrain

End of the World Blues
''Your vibrato is beautiful these days. Nice licks and hand effects. Among your best ones Brett.''
   --Frosty

End of the World Blues
''You got it going nicely mate, no probs listening at all, maybe a bit of delay if you want to be picky but it sounded ok. hy5's!!!!!''
   --Steamrollin Stan

End of the World Blues
''I think you followed the guitar just right. Well done, Brett!''
   --Windsaver

Bellyacher Boogie
''Got a great honking sound out of that set up. Nice package.''
   --Ringer

Bellyacher Boogie
''boogie all over just to good even the lines are woogie!!''
   --floppy lips

Bellyacher Boogie
''fine total song, way to squeeze a fine honk from a sweet rig''
   --dmb

Bellyacher Boogie
''Another good take Brett. Keep it up :o)''
   --7LimitJI

Bellyacher Boogie
''What a wonderful Job,I would love to do this track but i am not that cleaver, well done''
   --Lindy Harper

Bellyacher Boogie
''You really fit in the backing track comfortably and well. Great ear! Enjoyed your story!''
   --Rick

Bellyacher Boogie
''great opening - lyrics creative and funny - good use of space - solid harp work - ingenious calendar Wed to Tues - never set mine up like that ;-) another good one Brett!!''
   --htrain

Get Your Kicks
''I got my kicks from this for sure paisan! Nice!''
   --Lips Angelo

Bellyacher Boogie
''Kickin ass brother, next time i'm at Vegas i'll call you in for a trade place thing. hy5!!!!!!''
   --Steamrollin Stan

Bellyacher Boogie
''Great job, set the bar pretty high with this, production-wise. Had me rolling! Love the Kazoo, it'd be killer with a good delay pedal. Now let's see what Lips can do with this BT...''
   --BeelzeBob

Get Your Kicks
''Smooth and cool Brett!''
   --BlueInGreen

Get Your Kicks
''nice one, real nice harp love the growl, great lyrics''
   --dmb

Get Your Kicks
''Recording and mix was very good. Your vox improves all the time. Some great harp as well.''
   --Ringer

End of the World Blues
''Nice accoustic tone. Maybe a few notes off the rithmm but you brought a great song out of this superb backtrack. Congrat''
   --edsanmi

End of the World Blues
''Yeah paisan. Some fine lickage and good 'in the groove' playing.''
   --Lips Angelo

Get Your Kicks
''Man what great lines just getting better all the time comes all together! good one !!''
   --floppy lips

Get Your Kicks
''So enjoyed this brett, excellent matey! Tone was great, vocals, playing, plus''
   --Lindy Harper

Get Your Kicks
''cool take on the Route 66 theme - liked the lyrics and vocals - sure have come a long way with vocals - harp solos solid (maybe choppy IMHO) - good one Brett!''
   --htrain

Get Your Kicks
''Can hear you improving with every new track.Well played,musical and swung like a swingie thing :o)''
   --7LimitJI

Get Your Kicks
''Great work on the harp playing at the front. Nice lyrics! Enjoyed it a lot!''
   --Rick

Minor Mood
''I missed some more variation. Well played and good tone.''
   --edsanmi

End of the World Blues
''Very good Brett. I bet every acoustic guitar playing is happy to play some delta blues together with you if you play it like this.''
   --Windsaver

End of the World Blues
''Way to go Brett ! Your best post so far. ''
   --7LimitJI

End of the World Blues
''Some tasty stuff in this, another good treatment of this BT. Would sound good at a live jam fo' sho'!''
   --BeelzeBob

End of the World Blues
''One your best brett, I liked how you did this track!''
   --Bro.Bob

End of the World Blues
''its the way you play it !! chords chill ps hero for progress!and like what you did to it!!''
   --floppy lips

End of the World Blues
''well done Brett - solid acoustic tone - BinG's comments offer lots - great SB tongue rolls - liked what you did here!!''
   --htrain

End of the World Blues
''Great job Brett!Acoustic has come a long way.1 sggstion:Try relax embchure/jaw/throat to max;bring air in/out gently.Listen for optml resonance.Prctice lots of vry long soft notes straight & wth bnds up/down.Do same softest to loudest like inhaling note.''
   --BlueInGreen

End of the World Blues
''Nice acoustic work. It fit well with BT.''
   --Ringer

End of the World Blues
''Great success here Brett! The overall result is like pieces of a puzzle interlocked together. And your tone is perfect for the BTrack. I love the beginning especially.''
   --Rick

Minor Mood
''Evil sounds from your harp good attitude very well done! and yeeah some tastefull intermetzzo!''
   --floppy lips

Minor Mood
''Sounding good in all aspects of the mouth!!! Left some good spacing.''
   --Ringer

Minor Mood
''Scatting made me smile, nice whistling too. Harp was a bit too simple to my taste, I think you could have used some double bends in hole 2 and 3 to get more variety.''
   --Frosty

Minor Mood
''Some cool harp sound and vocals - and whistling Brett. On harp, could use a little more syncopation on the accented notes to improve the flow. You got that on the vox and whistling.''
   --BlueInGreen

Minor Mood
''Big grunty sound Brett. I think you tried a bunch of stuff outside your comfort zone....hehe, including scatting. Good stuff.''
   --Lips Angelo

Minor Mood
''Another good one, K2 sounding great.''
   --BeelzeBob

Minor Mood
''gutsy successful move Brett! - some melody lines on harp a little hesitant but kept moving nicely - very cool scatting - well done especially given it is 'experimental' stuff - liked it!!''
   --htrain

Minor Mood
''gutsy successful move Brett! - some melody lines on harp a little hesitant but kept moving nicely - very cool scatting - well done especially given it is 'experimental' stuff - liked it!!''
   --htrain

Minor Mood
''Well done Brett.This is good.You're a brave man scatting ! I'll need to try 3rd on my also un-used High G :o)''
   --7LimitJI

Minor Mood
''Great sound from that high G! At first I thought it was a chromatic harp played in third position.''
   --Windsaver