Harmonica Masters Class with Lil’ Rev, Steve Cohen and Jim Liban at Cascio Interstate Music SuperStore, December 1st

Cascio Interstate Music SuperStore, 13819 W. National Avenue in New Berlin, presents award-winning multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and music historian Lil’ Rev in a free Harmonica Masters Class afternoon workshop on Saturday, December 1 from 1:00 –3:00 p.m. Joining Lil’ Rev will be Milwaukee musicians Steve Cohen and Jim Liban, presenting tips and techniques from the pros.

Sponsored by Cascio Interstate Music and Hal Leonard Corporation, these three well-known musicians will take turns talking about everything from position playing, octaves and bending to rhythm, riffs, and warbles. The workshop will include a few live performances as well.

Milwaukee native Lil' Rev grew up in a musical family with a mom who loved to sing Broadway and grandparents who sang and played piano and harmonica. He purchased his first guitar at the age of 12 with his paper route money and set about learning chords and songs from his favorite records. Guitar was followed by harmonica, mandolin, and later banjo.

His frequent travels find him teaching and touring all over the continental United States. His many unique niches include one man shows of Jewish Cultural History (Jews of Tin Pan Alley, Jews N Blues), Scraps of Quilting Music (A Celebration of Quilting Lore and History in American), Yiddish Song & Story, Harmonica Workshops for Kids and Adults, Ukulele Festivals and Workshops, Songwriter, Storyteller, Music History Lectures at Elderhostels, and much, much more! Currently Lil’ Rev writes instructional books for Hal Leonard Publishing, presents clinics all over the U.S. and tours internationally as a performer of time honored classics. Read more at www.lilrev.com/ and www.facebook.com/lilrevfans.

Steve Cohen is based in Milwaukee and is a performing musician, an educator, and a booking agent. He also plays the guitar and sings. Cohen performs regularly in several of his own ensembles, averaging more than 100 personal appearances a year and is in demand as a sideman for local and national groups. He has produced 8 published recordings of his own.

Cohen has received over a dozen awards from several organizations, including WAMI, the Shepherd Express Readers Poll, and Milwaukee Magazine. Steve taught a blues history course at UW-Milwaukee from 2005-2009. Read more about Steve at http://www.stevecohenblues.com/index.html.

Singer, songwriter and stellar blues harmonica player Jim Liban was known throughout the Midwest in the 1970s as the leader of Short Stuff, the innovative Milwaukee based ensemble that pioneered the blues & rock sound later identified with bands like the Fabulous Thunderbirds and Stevie Ray Vaughn.

He continues to perform in a more traditional vein with his trio. He has international cult status as one of the foremost post-war blues harmonica stylists. Many of his original songs have been recorded by national blues artists such as Johnny Winter and Lonnie Brooks.

Cascio Interstate Music is among the nation’s top independent musical instrument retailers, and is the 12th largest musical instrument dealer in the United States. Cascio celebrates 66 years as a music retailer in 2012, and is headquartered in New Berlin in suburban Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which houses its retail superstore (consistently voted Milwaukee’s Best Music Store), call center, web center and corporate offices. Its distribution center in Waukesha, Wisconsin handles over 60,000 items.

Cascio Interstate Music offers a wide selection of products via its shopping website and Milwaukee music store, with musical instruments ranging from drums to guitars to wind instruments, accessories, DVDs & music songbooks. Musicians and parents in southeastern Wisconsin look to Cascio Interstate for Milwaukee music lessons, free in-store educational clinics, musical instrument rentals, instrument repair, and more. More information on the Company is available at http://www.interstatemusic.com.