Annie Raines, born near Boston, Massachusetts, July 3, 1969, took up harmonica at age 17. As a freshman, she left Antioch College to pursue a musical career. Fascinated by the sounds of Muddy Waters, Little Walter Jacobs, Big Walter and Sonny Boy Williamson, she spent countless hours listening to and absorbing the music of the Chicago blues masters. She began to busk locally and played gigs at local Boston clubs, and later traveled to Chicago where she met and played with Pinetop Perkins, Louis Meyers, and James Cotton. While working regularly on the regional blues circuit, Annie taught harmonica and began developing her own style within the blues tradition. Fast becoming one of the most sought-after harmonica players in New England, she had earned a reputation for playing with energy, soulfulness and taste, but she was ready to take her musical education to a deeper level. The, she met and began working with country blues master Paul Rishell, who lent musical support to her considerable harmonica, piano, singing and songwriting skills. This gave her the perfect opportunity to study country blues innovators such as Noah Lewis and Sonny Terry, and, more recently, to take up the mandolin. Nickname: City on a Hill, Beantown, The Hub (of the Solar System), Athens of America Official website: www. ... July 3 is the 184th day of the year (185th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 181 days remaining. ... 1969 (MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1969 calendar). ... Wikibooks has more about this subject: Harmonica A harmonica is a free reed musical wind instrument (also known, among other things, as a mouth organ, French harp, tin sandwich, blues harp, simply harp, or Mississippi saxophone), having multiple, variably-tuned brass or bronze reeds, each secured at one end over... Antioch College is a private, independent liberal arts college in Yellow Springs, Ohio. ... McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1915 or 1913–April 30, 1983), better known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician and is generally considered the father of Chicago blues. ... Little Walter (born Walter Jacobs) (May 1, 1930 - February 15, 1968) was a blues singer and harmonica player. ... There were 2 popular blues harmonica players that went by the name Sonny Boy Williamson Sonny Boy Williamson I, also known as John Lee Williamson was an American blues harmonica player, born in Jackson, Tennessee, whose first record Good Morning, School Girl was a hit in 1937. ... Chicago (officially named the City of Chicago) is the third largest city in the United States (after New York City and Los Angeles), with an official population of 2,896,016, as of the 2000 census. ... The blues is a vocal and instrumental form of music based on a pentatonic scale and a characteristic twelve-bar chord progression. ... Busking is the practice of performing in public places to receive donations of money. ... Pinetop Perkins (born Joe Willie Perkins in 1913) is an American blues musician from Mississippi. ... James Cotton (born July 1, 1935 in Tunica, Mississippi), is an American blues harmonica player, singer, and songwriter who is the bandleader for the James Cotton Blues Band. ... The states of New England are Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Noah Lewis (1895-1961) was a jug band musician, generally known for playing the harmonica. ... Saunders Terrell, better known as Sonny Terry, was born in Greensboro, North Carolina in 1911 and died on March 11, 1986 in Mineola, New York. ... Carved and round backed mandolins (front) A mandolin is a small, plucked, stringed musical instrument, descended from the mandora. ...

External links

• Paul Rishell and Annie Raines' website
• Annie Raines bio and sound sample on Hohner website