Heavy Metal Harmonica
Gig Seeker Pro

Heavy Metal Harmonica

Band Rock Metal

Calendar

This band has not uploaded any videos
This band has not uploaded any videos

Music

Press


"Blow Wind Blow"

Thursday, December 6, 2007
By Nick Welsh

If speed is the essence of heavy metal, then harmonica player Nicky Shane is the essential metalhead. In fact, he’s got a world record to prove it. Shane "who will be playing a benefit concert for the Santa Barbara Foodbank at SOhO on Tuesday, December 11" holds the record as the world’s fastest harmonica player, at least according to the people keeping score for Guinness.

A native of San Jose, California, who played the bar scenes from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara before settling down in town, Shane said the record was not achieved without great personal sacrifice to his lips. It took more than 100 takes of “When the Saints Go Marching In” before Shane managed to accomplish his goal of correctly playing 104 notes in 20 seconds. For those not endowed with a built-in metronome, that translates to 285 beats per minute, fast enough to make even the most espresso-addled exhausted. Compounding the difficulty, Guinness required the first four bars of the tune to be played at their typical tempo, meaning Shane had to make up for lost time with a vengeance throughout the remaining bars. “My lips were falling off,” he said of the experience. “The recording engineer left the booth after the first four hours.”

And that wasn’t all. The event had to be videotaped and audio-taped according to the big book’s exacting specifications. Shane also had to collect affidavits of support from prominent musicians, business people, and even a high-ranking police official willing to attest to his accomplishment. But, Shane said, it was all worth it. When the certificate came in the mail, the harmonica player was in a trance for two weeks. The record makes Shane the man to beat for wind instrument speed, but the Santa Barbara musician is hardly resting on his laurels as the world’s quickest-lipped musical hyper-ventilator. When Shane’s not blowing a mean, heavy metal harp, he also does stand-up comedy. And he’s probably the world’s foremost painter of Ruben-esque mermaids.

A true Jack of All Trades, Shane decided a couple months back that he also wanted to try his hand at community outreach, so he called the Santa Barbara Foodbank to see if it was in need of a musical benefit. The Foodbank, having just given away nearly 5,000 Thanksgiving turkeys "and in serious need of replenishing its pantries before Christmas" gladly said “yes.” But even without the holiday crunch, demand for the Foodbank’s assistance has more than doubled in the past five years.

Joining Shane as co-conspirators in sonic philanthropy is the band Psycho Surfers. Shane swears he plays some melodic rock, not just heavy metal. With a CD of gentle jazz already under his belt, he can switch genres at the drop of a hat. But when Shane gets to the “Saints,” if you don’t play close attention, you’ll definitely miss it. - Santa Barbara Independent


Discography

Heavy Metal Harmonica Debut Album 2002, available at cdbaby.com
new EP 2007

Photos

Bio

Most people have a hard time juggling more than one career, then again, some people crave it. Nicky Shane is one of those people.
Over the years, Nicky has bridged multiple career paths, from semi-pro football to a broad theatrical career that included a 14 year world tour as a professional stand-up comic and motion picture actor/director.
And at every turn his harmonica was there. Nicky shapes unique grooves and lays down shredding solos that have guitar players constantly stunned, when they realize it's not a les paul but just a 10-hole harp.
Nicky formed HMH at the turn of the century with the idea of a metal act with harmonica leads, that met with great enthusiasm by friends and fans alike.
the first self-titled album was released in 2002 and after being certified by Guinness as the "Fastest harmonica player in the world" in 2007 he is hitting the trails again with the new and re-vamped HMH