Re: Don't cry over spilt milk. Mop it up! WAS Stigma of the Harmonica

[IcemanLE@xxxxxxx]

> I'm not so sure that this "stigma" isn't propagated in part by insecure
> >harmonica players who wail about the lack of respect for the instrument."

There is a bigger "stigma" in the perception of the public at large and this 
is sometimes unfortunately propogated by the media.

When I was involved heavily with SPAH, contacting the media was one of my 
responsibilities. A camera crew would show up at the convention to film a human 
interest spot for that evenings' news, usually a 1 - 2 minute bite. Even though 
there would be a "Kim Wilson", "Blackie Shackner", "William Galison" talent 
available, the interviewer and producer would look for an old man playing a 
"Little Lady" 4 hole diatonic and do an extreme close-up of him making silly 
faces while playing. 

Radio interviews would steer away from actual playing of beautiful music to 
questions like "What is the difference between a harp, mouth harp and 
harpoon?".

As a result of this focusing on vaudeville, there is still a perception 
amongst the masses of the "Little midget playing the BIG harmonica".

What to do on this front? 

When interviewed, try to steer the topic away from the interviewer. This is 
not easy to do, but has resulted in some producers saying "Why, I never knew 
the harmonica could sound like that!" and they actually pick up on the 
legitimacy of the instrument and don't focus on the novelty aspect.

The "I never knew the harmonica could sound like that" utterance by a citizen 
should be our goal.

The Iceman