After several months of work for the whole Planet Harmonica team, it's kind of a weird feeling to finally see the first issue released. The reason for starting the project seemed simple enough : in Europe, and even more so in France, we lack quality harmonica publications. True, there are a few nice club bulletins, but these are more liaison tools than full-fledged magazines. So we asked ourselves (as people do in these occasions) "why not do it ourselves ?"

Looking back, there are some obvious answers to that ! Lack of time, lack of information, etc. In order for Planet Harmonica to exist beyond issue 1, we will need the help of some of you readers out there. Some have already offered their help and I thank them for it.

Our idea was not only to cover for the lack of info in France and Europe, but also to provide an easier link between amateur harp players all over the world. That's why the magazine is fully bilingual. That's also why readers all around the world should send us information on their local harp scene, and more generally any information they think would be interesting for other readers.

I would particularly like to thank Jean-Jacques who graciously accepted to be my first interview victim. Believe me, this seemingly innocuous chat is worth your virtual money ! I'm pretty sure that readers out there will react and send mails in.

Finally, I would like to thank all of those around the world who knew about the project who sent in a word of encouragement or a snippet of information. I hope that the magazine, incomplete though it is will please all of you and that future issues will be better and bigger for everyone to enjoy.

Benoît Felten