Transcontinental Railroad

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi all,

This is a quick message to advise that the PBS "American Experience"
special on the Transcontinental Railroad -- with harmonica by yours
truly -- will air on the PBS station CPTV (Connecticut) on Sunday Feb. 2
at 2:00 PM EST. 

For information on air times for your local PBS station, check
http://www.pbs.org.  Search on the site for "American Experience", then
for "transcontinental railroad".  

The harmonica for this show includes both chromatic and diatonic. 
Chromatic parts were played on the Hohner CX-12 (my best CX-12, set up
by Siegfried Naruhn).  Diatonic parts were played on a Lee Oskar Natural
Minor in A (second position) and a Lee Oskar standard diatonic in C
(first position).  Some of the harp is played in a clear, orchestral
style and setting; some of it is intended to sound like a gold miner
with a couple of years' practice and a few shots of cheap whiskey in
him.  (Nobody offered me whiskey at the session, so I had to fake it.) 
The latter came about, by the way, because I made a point of
demonstrating an archaic "vamping" style to the producer (as in "here's
how folk harmonica sounded in 1870" -- who's gonna say otherwise?), who
liked it and found a place to use it.  

This is the session I described in a previous message to this list,
where the producer's first words to me were "you can read, right?"  It's
worth hearing how simple the parts he wanted me to read are.  The
ability to read simple melodies on a G clef is enough to get the gig in
many cases, a whole lot better than having to say "No, I can't read."

Enjoy.

Thanks, Richard Hunter
http://www.hunterharp.com
Turtle Hill Productions
turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx