Instructor: Jake Groves
Jake Groves is a harmonica player from Louisville, KY, who tours in Canadian country singer Colter Wall's band, performing at many world-class festivals and venues. Before beginning his stint with Colter Wall, Jake played in several regional acts (Crittenden and the Free Estate, Brent Mathis, Bottom Sop, TLWG and the Wolfm'n, Kentucky John Clay, and more), as well as writing and performing his own songs.
Jake started playing harmonica in his teens, imitating Bob Dylan's harmonica rack playing with a harmonica he found in his brother's room. His love of blues music was there from the beginning, and hearing blues harp players like Little Walter eventually led him to take the harp out of the rack and see what other mysteries it contained. During his time at Rhodes College in Memphis, he sang in choir and chamber singers, took vocal lessons and music classes, as well as ventured out in Memphis and the surrounding Delta to soak up the blues music that still thrives there. After college, he found Howard Levy's online harmonica school and began studying the harmonica more intensely. Returning to Louisville after teaching English in Russia for a year--and having many lovely musical experiences there too--he found a singer-songwriter scene that brought him in and allowed him to continue his development as a harmonica player.
Jake has always taught in some capacity since his summers at college, tutoring local high school youths. His harmonica teaching began in earnest at Maxwell's House of Music in Jeffersonville, Indiana, circa 2015. He has continued to teach in various establishments through the years and loves where he has landed at the Louisville Folk School. Bringing the gift of music to people through the harmonica is one of the great joys of his life!
Other noteworthy musical experiences include interning for a summer at the Smithsonian Folkways record label in DC, where he worked with their catalog and social media department, bringing their wealth of Americana to the masses through curated posts and playlists. He is also a regular attendee at the yearly SPAH (Society for the Preservation and Advancement of the Harmonica) convention, a gathering of harmonicists from around the world where he has met many outstanding players, heard them play, and learned a great deal about the instrument and its deep history and subculture. He also hosted a radio program called Faint of Harp, which featured only harmonica-related music, at Louisville's local station, WXOX, for several years.
He still has no real recordings of his own, but his playing can be heard on several of Colter Wall's albums ("Western Swing and Waltzes," "Little Songs," "Live in Front of Nobody," "Happy Reunion/Bob Fudge," as well as a new album forthcoming in October 2025). He has lent his harp to many other Americana artists as well. A link to a full playlist of his session work can be found on his website jakegrovesmusic.com.
When not involved in music, Jake loves spending time with friends and family. He is an avid golfer and crossword puzzle fiend. He loves going to see live music and being outdoors. He has the best two cats in the world, Roscoe and Sophie, who put up with his harmonica playing and are great companions all around.
