Roots probably grow in early childhood!

I started playing actively at the age of 7 (harmonica). At 16, I heard on the radio for the first time “Muddy Waters” with his hit “Mannish Boy”. There was a harmonica player playing on it, which fascinated me very much! I wanted to learn to play like this guy on the record and got my first blues harp. There it “grabbed” me with the blues and the harmonica and I practiced and practiced…..! At the beginning it must have sounded terrible, because although the scheme was not particularly complex and the harmonica has “only” 10 holes, it seemed to me almost impossible to bring these warm and soulful tones from this instrument.

In 1993, I was invited to Chicago by U.S. blues guitarist Jon McDonald.

This was definitely my biggest leap and formative for my future music career. It was more of a blues drill in the beginning, so I was able to take home the experience of about 40 concerts and “Jamm-Seesions”. The blues name “Harprise” was given to me by musician friends from Chicago, which means; harmonica rise. I used to listen to the radio station ¨Blues before sunrise¨ at night and play harp to it. Thus, ¨harp¨ and ¨sunrise¨ resulted in Harprise.

Some bands

As a singer and harp player I made my first band experience in 1985 with ¨More¨. Until 1993 I played in various bands as a singer and/or as a harp player. 1994-1996 as frontman with The Soul Damage Club, CD 1995 ¨Live in the Tis¨. 1997-1998 Guest frontman with the Lazy Poker Blues Band. 1998-2002 with Bluesland. With Mojo Swamp I played for 4 years Delta Blues and songs from the origin of the blues, and played in div. renowned clubs and at festivals such as; the Piazza Blues Festival 05 in Bellinzona, Blues Festival Baden and the Musikfestwochen Winterthur. Live CD ¨Movin’ down the Line¨ in 2004.

Since the beginning of 2006 I am on the road with my Blues Crew

I am always happy to discover new facets of the blues…there is a beginning to the blues, but there is no end…!

I had the honor of working with…

…Lefty Dizz, Casey Jones, Jon McDonald, Rita Chiarelli, Marla Glen, Sulaiman Hakim, Bob Margolin, Freda Goodlett, Zach Prater, Bonny B. and Richard Köchli to play.