Re: Stigma of the Harmonica

[Gatorharp@xxxxxxx]

keith richards (and others) have referred to guitars as pieces of wood with 
wires hanging on them...or words to that effect.  to my knowledge, no 
guitarists got all excited about whether he was denigrating the guitar.
here, if someone says (innocently, at that) that it's just metal and plastic, 
or refers to it as "our humble little instrument", it's like heresy.
i like the adam gussow approach.  love your harp.  but it's just a harp.  if 
i were to go by some of what's said here, i would think that no other 
instrument could possibly surpass the harp.  the harp ~is~ very expressive.  it is 
not, factually, ~the~ most expressive instrument.  it may be to you, but that's a 
personal preference.
i agree with g that if respect for the harp and your own harp playing are 
what you're after, then learning all you can about music in general is the way to 
go.  you can't worry about every smacked-ass who just wants to wail.  the 
best you can do is represent yourself well.  
iceman talked about the newspeople who look for the gimmicky players, as 
opposed to great players.  sad indeed.  i'm surprised, really, that anyone would 
still remember vaudevillian antics...meaning that most of the current 
newspeople are too young to have grown up around it.  but the other reality is that 
there are no ~real~ harp players working in absolutely popular music.  the 
closest we've come in the last ten years was john popper, and he got derided in the 
harp community, in part, for what he wasn't.  the great harp players of today 
are working in genres that aren't going to generate a lot of attention...until 
some harp player decides to reach out to a mass audience, i think it's likely 
to remain that way (and before you mention stevie wonder, remember that in 
the real world, his harmonica playing is about the fourth or fifth thing for 
which he's known...although i agree he would be an ideal ambassador).
music today is, more than ever, centered on guitars or electronic keyboards.  
you don't hear lots of sax, flute, etc either.  whether people want to hear 
harp (or sax, or flute), i don't know, but they certainly aren't clamoring for 
it.
amazingly, many harp players seem okay with part of that.  i've seen many 
here say the hell with fake pop crap, they'd rather play their real music.  
mention the handful of hip-hop tracks with harp (and there are actually quite a 
few), and then duck.
i'm rambling at this point, i guess.  
during my lifetime, in the music that matters most to me (rock&roll, country, 
blues, r&b, soul, pop), the harp has always been a bonafide instrument.  i 
don't think i've ever encountered disrespect for the ~instrument~...i've met 
folks who have had bad experiences with harp players who want to wail and emote, 
and while it makes my immediate circumstances tougher, all i can do is soldier 
on, give them the opposite of what they were expecting.  i have also met 
folks who thought it was easy to play...these people always play a little harp, 
they let you know.  i'm no great shake harp player, but i'm solid, and these 
semi-harp players usually let me know that i'm a lot better than they are after 
they hear me.
still rambling, with no conclusion in sight, so i'll end here...

steven j gatorman