Gary Allegretto

Gary Allegretto can barely remember a time when Blues and Roots music wasn’t a powerful part of his life, and playing harmonica wasn’t as natural as his own voice. You might say he found his life’s purpose literally under his nose when as a young child he received his first harmonica from his grandfather. Before long he discovered and taught himself to play the Blues. This early strong devotion to the music he loves began a journey that has rewarded him in abundance. Indeed, down the road his performances have captivated and intrigued audiences at innumerable venues and festivals nationally and worldwide. Allegretto has led one of the finest Blues bands in Angeles for over two decades. He has been joined on stage by such notorious artists as Prince, Warren Haynes, Mick Taylor, David Lee Roth, Bruce Willis, and Queen Latifah and many others who have notably requested to “sit in” with Gary and his band during his performances. He’s been repeatedly praised in the pages of prominent Blues press including Blues Revue, Living Blues, Blues Blast, Big City Blues, Blues Matters, and more; who have called his musicianship “world class,” “virtuosic,” “masterful," and “exemplary." Further, Gary’s recordings have received Grammy® Award nomination considerations, including Best Contemporary Blues Album and Best Traditional Folk Album. His music has topped the Blues, Roots, and Western radio charts nationally and internationally. He has recorded with such heavyweight and diverse artists from Pinetop Perkins (legendary Mississippi Bluesman from Muddy Waters band) to Ivan Neville (New Orleans’ Neville Brothers). Gary’s music crosses musical genre boundaries, earning him further accolades such as the Academy of Western Artists “Will Rogers Award” and a “Best of the West Award.” His songs have been featured on major film and television productions as diverse as the soundtracks of Disney’s blockbuster “The Good Dinosaur” and Johnny Depp’s film “Rum Diary.” Gary is also featured prominently in award-winning harmonica documentary film “Pocket Full Of Soul” and the award-winning Blues documentary film “Sidemen.” For nearly 3 decades Hohner, the world’s top harmonica manufacturer, has professionally endorsed Gary as one of their elite artists. They have further honored him with his signature model “Harmonikids” harmonica. Gary is also a leading Blues educator with extensive teaching credentials at dozens of annual Blues workshops and camps (including harmonica director for 5 consecutive years at the prestigious Pinetop Perkins Foundation’s Masterclass). His work in education has earned him one of the Blues Foundation’s highest honors - the “Keeping the Blues Alive (KBA) Award". For more about Gary’s artistry please see: http://www.garyallegretto.com.

Of special note, Gary is the founder and director of Harmonikids (see www.harmonikids.org), a nonprofit humanitarian organization that has provided music therapy with harmonicas and lessons special needs children internationally for over 3 decades. He has provided aid to multitudes of challenged children - from the earthquake devastated Port Au Prince, Haiti, to the tsunami refugee camps of North Sumatra, Indonesia to the Katrina evacuee trailer villages of Louisiana and many hundreds of points in between. Gary’s celebrated charitable work has earned him the Blues Foundation’s aforementioned “KBA” Award, an “Artists for a Better World Award” and the internationally syndicated radio program E-towns “E-achievement Award.” For info about Harmonikids please see www.harmonikids.org.

This interview was held at the 2016 SPAH Convention in San Antonio, Texas. You can learn more about Gary here http://www.garyallegretto.com