Re: [Harp-L] Re: future harmonicas and all that




All true, but my main point is that the harp players who break through, for the most part, are the guys who aren't doing the same old s--- in bands that are putting out the same old s---. If you want to break through, you do something different.

I haven't noticed anyone really breaking through as of late. Moreover, I find the entire idea of "same old s--" offensive and indicative of a really sad way of viewing music. I appreciate those who try new things as much as anyone else, but I also appreciate and respect those who want to work and play within a tradition.


Stevie Ray Vaughn's band had no harp, but Vaughn's guitar playing brought a lot of things into the blues that hadn't been there before him. The Canadian guitarist David Gogo's work is similar in that respect--the instrumentation is familiar (bass/drums/organ/ guitar), but the guitar is doing very new things.

Which is great, but just because SRV did new things doesn't mean that I can't like BB King just as well, or some of his more traditional contemporaries. Moreover, I don't have any greater respect for SRV than those who were more traditional--I respect and appreciate anyone who wants to try and make a living in music and wants to play what they love.


Most bands that really make it have something different about them-- something that makes them stand out. In that sense, I'm really only interested in what's "normal" because it's something to be taken into consideration and then surpassed.

And that's my issue with this--"surpassed". It's a word loaded with a sense of improvement and a ton of value judgements. Those who try something new don't "surpass" traditionalists. They may expand, but that's not the same as being inherently better than those who stay well within a tradition.


And as Blues Traveller has amply demonstrated, the harp--played in an original style--can be the "something" that surpasses the norm.

I wouldn't say it surpasses anything. It added an element to their music which made them distinctive.


Lots of bands not using harp now? GREAT! Lots of opportunity there for a killer harp player or two with big, original ideas and a great sound. Hard for a harp player to break through, you think? Try being a guitar player or a keyboard player--think about THEIR competition.

Frankly, I don't care about that. That was from the post to which I replied, my care between the two threads on the future and creativity was to point out the error of dismissing, denigrating and other wise denying the artistic value and worth of traditionalists while worshiping the god of "creativity" and "originality" as if these are inherently superior traits to anything else.




 ()()    JR "Bulldogge" Ross
()  ()   & Snuffy, too:)
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