[Harp-L] Best thing ever sai

["John F. Potts" <hvyj@xxxxxxx>]

In the '80s i was playing quite a bit with some hard rocking  
authentic blues players who were older guys originally from the deep  
South (U.S.).  On a couple of different occasions, a much older black  
couple (different people each time) went out of their way to come  
over to me after a gig and said "Boy, you play good harp. We really  
like how you play."  I considered that to be a pretty high  
compliment.  One of them said, "Boy, you sound real good.  You make  
me feel like they used to down home." (referring to the South)--which  
I found particularly gratifying since i do not play blues in a  
particularly traditional style.

A few months ago I was playing at a club where i sit in regularly and  
a young guy came up to me in between sets and said, "I like it when  
you play, man. I've heard you before. Listening to you makes me feel  
good inside." You know, that may be the best compliment I can ever  
aspire to get. I think if a player can touch his audience  
emotionally, that's a very high achievement.. The guy who said this  
to me was being very sincere and appreciative when he said it, which  
certainly made me feel good inside.

The compliments from the older black folks gave me confidence that   
it was possible to  be  an authentic blues player even though i  
played in blues in my own style.  The compliment from the young guy  
gave me confidence that i was able to express  emotion through my  
playing that communicated to the audience.  After all, as far as i am  
concerned, playing music is fundamentally about expressing something  
that can't be said in words, but that other people understand. If I'm  
able do that, I'm pretty happy about it.

JP