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THE BiTS INTERVIEw: Fabrizio Poggi

Fabrizio Poggi (pronounced Pohjee) (born 1 July 1958) is a

singer and harmonica player. He is a Grammy Awards

nominee who has received the Hohner Lifetime Award, and

has been two times Blues Music Awards nominee and a Jimi
Awards nominee. He has recorded twenty six albums. He has

performed with a wide range of top blues musicians.

Ian McKenzie spoke to him at his home in Italy.

FP: Hello.

BiTS: Fabrizio. It's Ian McKenzie, Fabrizio. Can
you hear me OK?

FP: Yes, I can hear you loud and clear.

BiTS: That's wonderful. Listen, what I want to

do is to talk to you about how you
came to be a

harmonica player and
about the latest record
as well.

FP: Yeah, yeah, yeah that’s fine
for me.

BiTS: Okay, let's make a start.

You've been playing
harmonica, or recording
harmonica, for more than
20 years. I guess you've

been playing for much
longer. How did you start to

play the harmonica?

FP: Well, quoting my good friend
and harmonica legend, Charlie Musselwhite, music in general and then blues and

harmonica overtook me when I was little. One of my favourite toys was a drum, a
toy piano and, of course, an out of tune harmonica. Then one day I saw Paul
Butterfield playing ‘Mystery Train’ in a movie called The Last Waltz, and my life

changed forever.