Shane Sager interview
59 minutes Posted Oct 11, 2025 at 6:00 am.
Shane is from Boston and still living there now at age 31 with lots going on musically there
Always dreamed of going to the Berkless College of Music and fulfilled that dream
First instrument was drums, which Shane studied at Berklee as harmonica was not permitted
Was into music from a young age and had a wide range of musical taste with input from family
Started playing harmonica age 14 after breaking hand badly and having to give up the drums
A teacher (Mr Rose) at school was into blues and put Shane onto the harmonica
Blues music was first time Shane became aware of the structure of the music
Playing the drums first influenced Shane to play the harmonica rhythmically
The impact of the first instrument that people play
Drums was fun to practise, something which Shane tries to bring into his harmonica teaching
Shane’s early learnings of the harmonica was from YouTube, with Adam Gussow and Ronnie Shellist
Getting a face-to-face teacher was critical in Shane’s harmonica development, with Mike Turk his first teacher
Also had lessons with Annie Raines, with Annie and Mike Turk both based in Boston
Shane started playing diatonic age 14 and chromatic age 16, with Mike turning him on to the chromatic
James Cotton was a big influence and that led Shane to seek Annie Raines out as a teacher
The contrast of learning blues harmonica with Annie Raines and jazz chromatic with Mike Turk
Shane has worked hard to bridge the gap between the diatonic and chromatic harmonicas, with people saying he plays the “chromatic very diatonically”
Chromatic playing heavily influenced by Stevie Wonder, and also Mike Turk’s bluesy use of the chromatic (not in third position)
Influence of James Cotton and Paul Delay on Shane’s diatonic playing
Shane conducted an academic thesis on James Cotton when he was in high school, studying his style deeply
Paul DeLay is Shane’s favourite diatonic blues player with his unique and unpredictable style
Decided to curtail his Berklee studies to pursue his harmonica career, which was in more demand than his drumming
Asked if he could study harmonica at Berklee and they refused, saying the harmonica was ‘not a real instrument’
Also had lessons with Rob Paparozzi
Started life as a pro harmonica player around age 20, playing with different artists, teaching and appearing at festivals
Attended numerous harmonica workshops at this time, which were an important part of his learning
Spent some time living in Los Angeles and Austin
Shane first played with Sting in 2015 at a charity gig using Berklee students with other performances following before becoming a member of his touring band in 2019
Sting is one of the mainstream artists who likes to use harmonica in his music
Was asked to play with Sting again in 2016, this time at the iconic Carnegie Hall
In 2018 played a new year’s eve Time’s Square gig with Sting with a TV audience of 30 million, playing Brand New Day
In 2019 was asked to be a part of Sting’s touring band, which lasted until 2025
What is felt like to be part of Sting’s band and the massive amount of preparation Shane undertook before starting the tour
Shane’s role in the band was the the top line instrument dancing around Sting’s voice
Sting has used various harmonica players as guest appearances, including Brendan Power, William Galison, Larry Adler and Toots Thielemans
Shane was the first harmonica player to hold a full time role in Sting’s band
Sting has been a fan of harmonica since he heard Paul Butterfield’s East West album
Shane learnt several saxophone parts from Sting’s songs on harmonica
Had to work hard to adapt the harmonica to the songs where it didn’t naturally fit, such as Russians
Toured ten months out of the year with Sting, which didn’t leave Shane a lot of time to prepare songs to perform
How parts the harmonica parts were assigned in the band
Sting would let Shane know if the part he was playing wasn’t what he wanted
The Carnegie Hall gig was a duo with Sting, when Shane was only 21 or 22 years old, was an overwhelming moment for Shane
Was in Sting’s touring band for six years, playing 500 shows in 50 countries
Sting is currently working on a trio gig, but Shane would welcome playing with Sting in the future, but after six years he is grateful for the time he had
Delinquent Dedication is an article Shane wrote about his time on the road
Still does one-off shows with Sting as part of the ‘Sting-alumni’
Made a good living touring with Sting
Playing with Sting has also given Shane a great reputation as a harmonica player and how he’s built on that
Appeared on some soul albums (not released as yet) playing chromatic, including PJ Morton and Gene Noble
Shane is also doing a lot of teaching, which is something he’s always wanted to do
Teaching at the North Carolina Harp Fest in October 2025
Feels there is a gap in teaching the chromatic in a more accessible way in order to attract more diatonic players to it
Still teaches diatonic and still loves to play diatonic
Approach to chromatic is using pentatonic scales to sound bluesy with a gritty Stevie Wonder sound
Doesn’t teach a Toots Thielemans approach to playing chromatic as that can intimidate students and emphasises making learning the chromatic fun
Mike Turk and Bill Barrett were big influences on Shane’s chromatic playing
Draws inspiration from outside the harmonica from players who aren’t blues or jazz players, especially microtonal (such as slide guitar)
Shane is a keen writer, has a Substack site of his articles and released a harmonica related book this year: Beyond Breath
Took a suitcase full of books on his tour with Sting
When returned from touring with Sting started his Substack which many people know more about than Shane’s Sting gig
Publisher approached Shane about writing a book after seeing his Substack articles
Beyond Breath is more of a holistic approach to playing the harmonica rather than an instructional book
Shane is working on his second book at the moment
Shane advocates a rounded life and drawing inspiration from many sources and feeding that into your harmonica playing
Recommends a book called Daily Rituals by Mason Curry
Thinks of improvising music as a written paragraph
Believes that consistency is much more important than motivation in regular music practise
Shane believes that just five minutes a day can turn you in a good harmonica player, and that everyone has time if you have realistic goals
Ten minute question
Hohner endorser: plays mainly Golden Melody diatonic, which was his first harmonica. Usually has these tuned to compromise tuning
Also plays Marine Bands Special 20s
Hohner 280C is chromatic of choice, which Boaz Kim set-up to make the reeds more bendable
Amps: When played with Sting mainly played through the PA using a little reverb
Mainly uses a Greg Huemann Ultimate 58 mic
For amplified blues harmonica uses a Memphis Mini amp using a Greg Huemann Ultimate 57 mic
Uses a Lone Wolf Harp Break pedal for a blues sound
Some of diatonics provided by Blue Moon, as well as Kinya Pollard (who has just released the overblow booster)
Has used overblows for sometime, and admires the modern players who use overblows so effectively
Advantage of being both a diatonic overblow player and a chromatic player
Shane is working on releasing his own album, an instrumental of old soul music
Also developing another album at this time: jazz with amplified harmonica
And working on two more books: one of which is 365 days of practise for a harmonica player
Has playing a little drums again recently and is giving a workshop at the North Carolina Harp Fest on how to play rhythm on the harmonica
Does still play some drums but prioritises playing harmonica over drums
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Show notes
Shane Sager joins me on episode 144. Shane is from Boston. In his early teens, a hand injury forced him to give up drumming, so he turned to the harmonica and never looked back. At Berklee College of Music he studied drums, as harmonica wasn’t offered, but left after two years to focus fully on the harmonica, studying with top teachers — especially Mike Turk, who helped him shape his chromatic playing. In his early twenties Shane performed with Sting, later joining his touring band in 2019 an...
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