[Harp-L] Re: Early LP recording of Cephis & Wiggins

[Christopher Sprankle <crsprankle@xxxxxxxxx>]

Phil plays plenty of blow notes and does use blow bends (although only when playing in 1st position, which is infrequent).  Phil plays in 1st position on this song from one of Cephas & Wiggins' earlier albums "Dog Days of August."  He plays some blow bends in the solo around 2:04.  

One of the most interesting things to me about Phil's unique style is his hand cupping technique.  Sometimes he sounds as if he's playing with a glass, but he's just choking off the harp with those big hands.  He opens up a tiny hole in the cup and creates a sound similar to a muted trumpet.

Chris Sprankle 



I second what Mike said. I'd been a fan of his for years, and got to take two group harp classes from him at Puget Sound Guitar Workshop in WA last year â learned much. Among other things: he almost never uses a blow note, and seldom uses the last 3 holes of the harp. He's a master draw bender, doesn't use blow bends, IIRC. The classes really forced me to focus on my meager draw bends â a good thing.
Cheers, Bob LoomisÂMike Wilbur Wrote:


"Time with Phil Wiggins is time well spent."