[Harp-L] All hail John Popper

["Robert Gaustad" <robertgaustad@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

...or not.
 
The first time I heard him play, it was on a car radio.  I listened for a
couple of minutes and said something like, "Wow, that guy can play."  Then I
got a Blues Traveler CD and listened to it.  By the end of it I was fairly
bored with it all.  To me he sounded like a very technically proficient
player but I didn't detect any soul to his playing.  Well, not the soul I've
heard from so many others from Paul Butterfield to Sonny Boy Williamson to
James Cotton and on and on.  But he was alright and he was different.
 
As so many on the list have said, he's an ambassador or a bridge from the
harp world to those who may love music but never or rarely consider the
harp.  Those who when you say, "I'm a harp player" give you a weird look as
if you really play the stringed harp.  But, hey, he's making the harmonica
popular and that can only help all of us on this list.
 
The other day I listened to the new Jason Ricci CD I recently bought.
Well...hey, there were a couple of songs there where the dude was really
speeding along.  I said, "Uh, oh...that's John Popperish...better watch out
Jason."  But I did  love the CD, Jason. :-)
 
>From all accounts, John Popper seems like a nice guy, he's a very successful
musician, and he's one of us...he's a harp player.  Love him or not, he's
family, and it's a pretty small family.  Okay, it's also a quirky family,
but that's okay.
 
Robert G.