Biography

Is a professional musician and harmonica teacher.

He was born on September 28th, 1983 in the city of Rosario, Argentina.

Since his early childhood, he was passionate about music. During his teenage years he took piano and guitar lessons for some years and he also studied Music Theory at the school of music in his city. When he was seventeen years old, he discovered the diatonic harmonica, and he fell in love forever with this instrument. During his harmonica training, he took lessons with remarkable teachers from Rosario and Buenos Aires.

He has been working as a professional harmonica player since 2002 and as a harmonica professor since 2005, teaching private students and also in private educational institutions, having over 350 students in the last years. In 2013 he got the certificate as Professor of Elementary Education.

Martín Chemes is an “Endorsee and Featured Artist” of the international top brand of harmonicas, LEE OSKAR HARMONICAS ®, being selected to be image of this firm, representing it in shows and international harmonica workshops.

He is also Endorser of the luxurious vacuum tube harp amplifiers LHC Vintage Amps, the professional harmonica microphones ACSEMIC microphones, and the harmonica pedal effects SONUS Harp Series. He also has sponsorship and technical support of the well-known harmonica customizer: Martin Guzman – MG Custom Harp.

He founded and took part of different local bands and participated in every edition of “Rosario Blues Festival” in his city and many other music festivals all over his country. He had numerous appearances on radio programs and television playing live. He has recorded as a special guest, a lot of hits on many albums by local artists.

He has been part of “Lurrie Bell Band” (a great American blues guitarist and singer) during his 2012 Latin-American tour and shared stage with Jerry Portnoy (Harmonica player of Eric Clapton & Muddy Waters). He has done more than 700 live presentations, performing on different stages in several cities in Argentina. He has also been invited to play with well-known Argentinian Jazz & Blues artists like Ricardo Tapia (La Mississippi), Adrián Otero (Memphis La Blusera), Don Vilanova (Botafogo), Ciro Fogliatta (Los Gatos), Yulie Ruth (Pappo´s Blues), Sarcófago (Ratones Paranoicos), and many others.

With all the influences and the baggage of his musical experience, in 2012 he decided to launch his solo career, playing many different styles on his diatonic harmonica, composing songs and making versions of several classic tunes of melodic genre, an uncommon genre for this instrument.

In August 2015, he participated with his solo project at the International Harmonica Festival of Chile: “Armónicas de Fuego”. Sponsored by the Ministry of Culture he represented his country giving several shows and harmonica workshops in Santiago de Chile with the best exponents of this instrument in South America.

In November 2016 he organized the “First International Harmonica Festival of Rosario” where he shared stage with one of the most prestigious harmonica player worldwide, the master Lee Oskar, giving a harmonica clinic and a show in a crowded theater.

This was the beginning of a tour, in which he joined Lee Oskar around the country, visiting the cities of Rosario, Córdoba and Buenos Aires, giving clinics, workshops and shows together. During this journey, Martín Chemes was named by Lee Oskar himself as the Lee Oskar Harmonicas ® Ambassador in Argentina.

Currently he is working with his personal musical project performing live with his acoustic trio touring around South America, and recording his first solo album, which will be released soon, with the participation of international artists. This album is sponsored by the Ministry of Innovation and Culture of the Province of Santa Fe, and with the support and production of Lee Oskar Harmonicas ®.