[Harp-L] Re: Michalek Blues

[Michael Easton <diachrome@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Interesting observation on him David.

I occasionally followed his emails when he wasn't saying something to  
piss people off.

3 stand out in my mind since his move to Phoenix.    One was when he  
was asked to lay a harp part on a recording for a national artist. He  
seemed to boast how his performance will
raise eyebrows about what the harmonica can do and how he will forge  
the way for others.  That his performance was to be a new  
understanding and respect for the harmonica.

The second was when he seemed to be asking for help or just speaking  
his thoughts in print.  You are right about him having an alpha dog  
persona.

He expressed how Howard had made his mark in jazz and World Beat and  
Jason in blues.  He was desperately trying to be identifiable  the way  
they were
but could only be second in conversation about those genre's on harp.   
I think he was trying to find a new musical genre to create so that  
people would talk about him first when
speaking about harmonica in that context of music.   It could be a  
"love me daddy" complex.  People will love him for bringing this gift  
to them.  He occasionally made reference to how great
he was on harmonica but that wasn't getting him anywhere in the music  
world.

The 3rd email I remember was an admission that he was wrong about  
overblowing. That it wasn't an end all answer to harmonica playing.   
That there will be weird tones created
when playing overblows  and even he couldn't control with technique.    
For years he dissed those that pointed out how overblows stood out  
like a sore thumb and that the chromatic would be a
better option for playing chromatically.  He finally gave in and  
admitted this and I think it took some wind out of his sails to come  
out and finally face the fact.

Oh yeah, there was a forth email.  He said either Joe Montana or Dan  
Marino (I forget which football player)  saw his band play in Phoenix  
and hired them to play his Super Bowl party in Florida. I thought that
was kind of strange.  On the day of the Super Bowl Chris was posting  
emails on harp-l.  No reference to the party or having been there.

Sometimes I wonder if he created situations and events in his head  
when reality wasn't working for him.


On Oct 19, 2012, at 10:51 PM, harp-l-request@xxxxxxxxxx wrote:

> Message: 9
> Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2012 21:05:35 -0700 (PDT)
> From: David Payne <dave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Michalek Blues
> To: Harp L Harp L <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Message-ID:
> 	<1350705935.27623.YahooMailNeo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
>
> I have thought about Chris for years. I think I have been able to  
> figure him out... snip

Take Care
Mike
www.harmonicarepair.com