[Harp-L] RE: Blues Jams and John Kally



Gee, I must have arrived as I've finally earned my own thread! Really, thanks Chris, I really appreciate it. Your current rig, with the 68 SF Deluxe Reverb, PE10 and the Octave pedal set like Jason Ricci's sounded really cool and it was very generous of you to let me blow through it. I used the same model amp with a different mic (a GB) , I wasn't that happy with it at the time but that was years ago and my technique has inched forward some since then so it was good to hear what that setup can do now that I can handle a mic better. For those of you that haven't heard Chris Michalek yet I highly recommend it, and hearing him play amplified in a blues setting was a real treat. I have played at various jams over the years with most members of his current band and they are all pros.
My own jamming experiences are perhaps similar to many on the list. I briefly had a real band about 16 years ago, my main source of income for only part of one year and the rest of the time it's been the occasional jam session or call-up to sit in with a working band but nothing permanent. So maybe I'm a "pro-am" player. With my job schedule and family obligations I can't commit to being in a band at the moment but that doesn't mean I don't like to go out and play. I was part of a jam session house band for about six months also, taking on all comers, and I learned lots from that experience. The guys who fit in best were not always technically the greatest musicians but they were good at fitting in, conscious of levels and dynamics, were familiar enough with the jam scene to call tunes that matched the ability of other players and were generous in letting others share the fills and solos. These were also frequently decent people to talk to about technique and equipment, music in general. I've tried to repay this by being willing to talk to guys coming up about technique and equipment if they ask, and not be obnoxious about telling people what I know if they don't ask. The worst jammers, well, I don't have to go there, they turn jams into trainwrecks and I try to slip away or fade into the background when that happens unless I think I'm able to turn it around. Probably the only reason I sing at all at jams is that as a singer I am in a better position to direct things on stage to help keep disasters from happening if possible.
I do really enjoy the harp-l community, I've met a number of you guys when you've passed through town (Richard Hunter, Dave Teischer, others) , the local guys like Chris ,Lenny and others , or back at the Harmonica Summit in Minnesota that Chris ran and it's always been a pleasure.
Chris Michalek wrote:


My band runs a local sunday night blues jam. I hate it but every now
and then a like John Kally shows up.  He's a great guy. and a great
player - the consumate jammer.  He bring his own equipment, fronts
the jam band when he needs to and was extremely repsectful of my
equipment when I offered it to him.  John Kally is one of the few
people that I wouldn't mind listening to all night.  You played some
really tasty stuff John and sounded great through my set up. Thanks.





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