Instructor: Jake Groves


JAKE GROVES BIO
Jake is a harmonica player from Louisville, KY, who tours internationally in 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 and fronted his own band, Jack Rabbit and the Dirty Hares. 

Jake's playing can be heard on Colter Wall's "Western Swing and Waltzes" album as well as the "Happy Reunion" single release. A forthcoming release by Nashville acoustic blues group Grandma's Peaches featuring his playing and singing is slated for 2021. Jake has also been featured on recordings by local artists such as Tyler Lance Walker Gill and Kentucky John Clay, amongst others.

When not studying harmonica with Howard Levy (of Flecktones fame), Jake has sought instruction from other modern masters such as Grant Dermody. Jake has also helped out with harmonica workshops given by Texas bluesman Hamilton Loomis, attended SPAH (a yearly harmonica symposium and expo), and taught lessons privately over the years.

Apart from performing music, Jake spent a summer interning at the Smithsonian Folkways record label in Washington DC, learning about the vast and varied treasury of American and world music that is their catalog and helping to curate sharing it with the public in creative ways, and hosted a weekly radio show for three years on Louisville's WXOX, with shows focusing on world music and harmonica (titled Mir Music and Faint of Harp Radio Hour, respectively).