I agree!
I posted some videos of Clapton, Texas, should have posted INXS Suicide Blonde with Charlie Muselwhite doing the harp.
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Good modern blues: Bonamassa, Keb’ Mo’, Robert Cray, Volker Strifler, Sonny Landreth, Walter Trout, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Robert Randolph & the Family Band, Coco Montoya, Marcus King, Larkin Poe, & King King are some favorites of mine.
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Some but not all and not on every song. These are just the artists I love. I have a playlist of their music and I try to learn to accompany them on my own. Learning to play by ear has really helped me.
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Try “Hip Hop Harmonica - Beat by Mixla” by Amanda Ventura (YouTube video). I hunted down the music bed she’s playing over and I find it very enjoyable to harp with.
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Really cool I like Rusted
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Nice list Nancy, I listen to several of these artists/bands. I love that you mentioned King King. They aren’t well known here in the States, but a fabulous blues-rock band!
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I LOVE THIS THREAD!!!
I agree with you @Dai. I have dreams to play harmonica in more genres that young people listen to and I agree with you that regurgitated Little Walter grooves are not appealing to MOST people under 30.
I had a duo called Nowelo that imploded right before I started working with Harmonica .com, where we were attempting to fuse blues and rap. Warning: explicit content:
After that I produced one more hip hop tune featuring a harmonica solo later in the piece, called Natural High.
I have a dream of returning to that sort of thing one day. Damn Rooster by Dirtwire reminded me of this dream recently, but sadly most of their tunes don’t have harmonica like this one. Great hip hop vibe harmonica tune though.
I like the Amanda tune, shredding over what’s basically a ripoff of Glory Box by Portisehead.. (No disrespect to the beat maker - everything comes from somewhere - “there’s nothing old or new under the sun.”) Portisehead is one of the defining artists of the Trip Hop genre.
For modern blues harmonica, in addition to @Corky_Music’s stuff which you can check out here, I love Carlos Del Junco Band’s Just Your Fool album, and Roly Platt’s Inside Out album. You might find a lot of satisfaction in those.
Carlos has a new recording out too that I haven’t had a chance to hear yet, but that Just Your Fool album is by far my favorite of his, and he’s a very “modern” player who’s not just regurgitating Little Walter riffs.
For a more roots sound, I love Joe Filisko and Eric Noden Destination Unknown. I saw them perform it “live” on Zoom, haven’t bought the actual album yet, but I intend to.
I’m so happy that you’ve started this thread and we can keep sharing stuff here as we come across it. 
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I’m learning a lot about modern blues harp from this thread. I hope to keep learning more from it
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Just to offer an opportunity for everyone to dig a little deeper into this, let me quote two of my dear friends. Charlie Musselwhite was asked about sticking to the traditions of the blues. Charlie responded something like this; “What do you mean ‘tradition?’ I thought the traditional was ‘change.’ If the traditional wasn’t ‘change’ we’d all still be beating on logs.” LOL!
But I also say; “What’s wrong with beating on logs?” Those who “copy” Little Walter, for instance, are honoring that sound. Just like tribute bands, this is the new classical music. Mozart is still popular because people still play it. There is room for honoring tradition and putting it up on a pedestal. If your thing is to copy some of the old guys … please do it … we need it. If it’s something you are deeply connected to it is your individuality. Music can’t be regurgitate … even if we try it still comes out as music. LOL! Inside the box or outside the box? There is no box. Do what you are connected to. Do what you love and what you have to offer based on how your brain and body are made … what skills you have to offer … what you can be passionate about. It doesn’t matter if it’s a copy of Little Walter or something outrageously original. I’ve been doing this I think for 60 years. None of this really maters. The music will take care of you if you follow it.
Here’s the other quote. Jesse Colin Young who is older than me and sang; "Come on people now smile on your brother said; “What were we so afraid of.”
LOL!
Corky
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If your thing is classic blues good luck to you. My opinion is blues harp has to evolve just like blues guitar world has.
If you look at the guitar world we have people like Gary Moore (RIP), Joe Bonamassa ( excuse the spelling) Kent Whayne Shepard, and loads more.
Where as blues harp is predominantly stuck playing classic blues. it’s not evolving or if it is, it’s like a sloth you don’t notice it. I have to come to the forum to ask where the new modern stuff is. It’s not apparent not in your face like the guitar world.
I’m not against the classic stuff, I just don’t want to be stuck there.
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We won’t get stuck and we aren’t really stuck. There are plenty of originals. Will we know about them? Well that’s up to the money. The one technical thing, however, is that compared to guitar and other instruments the harmonica is limited. even for Howard Levy because he has to do a bunch of things that take a great deal of practice and skill, and that’s just to be able to play all the chromatics. But for a normal blues player, playing within the blues mode, and not expanding to the jazz mode, or diatonic, it’s gonna be a little bit of a different challenge. On a personal history note. For myself, I never studied Little Walter. I just love Walter and the players that sound like him, and I got to play with him. My playing came from transferring my licks from tenor saxophone to harmonica, and my tenor saxophone licks came from the singing styles of a Little Richard, Fats Domino, Chuck Berry, and the like. But I never had any conscious consideration to play in any particular style or to be original. I didn’t try and copy little Walter because it was way above my skill set. So I just did what I did and I do what I do and how ever it comes out is however it comes out. Someone asked me just yesterday who my favorite harmonica player was. Each one has its essence, and I love each one of them for that essence. Most musicians can’t help taking things to different places and I think we are doing good and we are OK. It’s all good and we’re not stock and we will continue to expand. Corky
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But yes indeed Dai. It might be a slower development snf slide based on what I said above … or maybe not. If I’m right or if I’m wrong, either way … music is a beautiful thing. It doesn’t care if I’m right or wrong. LOL! Thanks for the contemplations. 
Corky
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It’s good to get your thoughts on the subject. You come from from a way different perspective than I do. It’s good to have to think of things from a different angle, stretches the mind.
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I feel the same thing when it comes to country harmonica. Everybody and their grandma has told me “you have to sound like Charlie McCoy in order to be successful. Playing like Terry McMillan makes you an attention seeker and an unhireable session player”. I never grew up on Charlie’s stuff as a kid, but I grew up on the 90s and 00s stuff which had Terry McMillan playing on most of the country songs with harmonica at the time and that is the sound I want to emulate. Even then, they think that 90s country isn’t “real music”.
These guys (as almost all of my detractors are men) were also gaslighting me into thinking that I’m a POS human being by saying that these things country elitists were saying to me didn’t happen and that I was starting fights with other harmonica players when it wasn’t true at all. On top of that, a couple of “respected” figures in the harmonica world have been very ableist towards me and my autism. I’ve been told that I’m limiting myself by not getting a job despite many factors playing in preventing me from getting one (like having unstable mood, not having a driver’s license as I’m afraid of driving, and filing for disability so that I can have funds for myself), been recommended dangerous therapies that will “get me to control of my autism”, have been told many times how I needed to control my hyperfixations despite the fact that they can’t be restricted, and being falsely accused of using my autism as an excuse to be toxic. One guy recently commented on a post from my personal Facebook page from when I received a harp and CD from my friend, Todd. This person said “was it free or did you wise up and get a job?” It’s none of his beeswax if I get a job or not. After that, I blocked him and deleted his comment. I don’t know why so many harmonica players are ableist.
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You be you. It’s good enough for me.
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Thank you Dai. You nailed it. Including your perfect and beautiful reply to our Keroro. Corky
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Wow @Corky_Music I learned so much about you from this post! And I just can’t tell you how honored I feel to have you chiming in on the forum. Thank you so much. I treasure all of your comments!
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Thanks Luke. The harmonica loves you! Corky
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