Re: [Harp-L] What Popper means to me.

["Robert Paparozzi" <chromboy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Greg,

   It was SUCH a pleasure to meet, hang and listen to you in St. 
Louis...WELCOME to Harp-L....we need a young breath of fresh air around 
here!!,-)

   I agree totally with your post, and the Blues Cats try and beat you up 
too bad...just let me know, I'll take care of 'em,-))))))))

   Greg is an Awesome new and upcoming talent and I'm sure we'll be hearin' 
his name around the biz...again welcome to Harp-L.

Best of Luck,
Rob Paparozzi

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Greg Hommert" <mythacles@xxxxxxx>
To: <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, August 22, 2005 3:13 PM
Subject: [Harp-L] What Popper means to me.


> <This John Popper thing came up at SPAH last year, by the way, and nearly
> totally confused and discouraged one of our newest, talented players. I
> helped him clear it up and reminded him that he may actually 'get' John
> Popper's playing even better than those people who were criticizing him,
> especially since it was John Popper's playing that had encouraged him and
> guided him to take up the harmonica in the first place. But the incident
> caused me to wonder if those mouthy critics of John Popper could remember
> that the 'P' in SPAH stood for "Preservation" and the 'A' for 
> "Advancement".
>
> Cara>
>
>  First of all I would like to thank Cara for summarizing my first SPAH 
> experience last year in St. Louis so kindly, you are a wonderful friend 
> Cara, and an equally talented harmonica player.  Today is my first visit 
> to Harp-L, I met Froggy at SPAH just a couple of days ago and he turned me 
> onto this madness.  Anyways after searching the archives of this past 
> month I've come across a great deal of mention about Jon Popper of BT.
>  Here's the deal!  Popper opened up a whole new world of playing to a 
> generation that just doesn't have a mass appealing or popular harmonica 
> player in their midst.  I'm seventeen, so I know that if asked; about 90% 
> of my peers at least (meaning other teenagers and "youngin"), could only 
> name Jon Popper as the a harmonica player they've actually heard of. 
> During a time in which the harmonica was not getting a predominant amount 
> of play time on the radioways, or whatever (etc..) Jon Popper more or less 
> broke the large scale silence.  His style isn't totally new (for example 
> sugar blue, etc..) but he was one of the first to apply that type of style 
> to the kind of music his band produced.
>  Now as for his affect on the advancement or preservation of the harmonica 
> itself; let me put it this way, if it weren't for Jon Popper I never would 
> have picked up a harmonica.  I'm seventeen now, I just attended my second 
> SPAH convention, and up until I went to my first, Jon Popper was the only 
> Harmonica player I knew existed, he was the only one that got enough play 
> time on the radio, etc.. to notice.
>  Many people might not want to admit it, especially the old blues purists 
> but Popper style playing does have it's dvantages of learning.  It is 
> relatively fast and appealing to a mass audience or public(who know 
> relatively nothing about music or harmonica to begin with as a whole, and 
> as musicainas we are also entertainers).  Also; learning all those 
> breathing patterns, etc.. opens up the door to the more technical styles 
> of playing, and makes them easier to learn quickly.  I can only say that 
> because I'm beginning to experience that very thing myself.
>  Popper style playing teaches comfortablility with the instrument, and 
> once you become flexible with the instrument you play, learning the music 
> doesn't seem like the impossible task it may have once been.
>  Ultimately I have always had a soft spot for Popper playing, it may not 
> be most loved amongst other harp players, but it's where I come from 
> originally in my own playing; and it has helped me to move into other 
> different (and more personally appealing) styles and ways of playing 
> without much difficulty (SPAH also had a great deal to do with that .. 
> well ok SPAH is why i was able to learn all the stuff I have over the past 
> year or so, and now more, but you get the idea).  And either way Jon is 
> one hell of a song writer... I mean how can you not just love "the 
> mountains win again" (four) or "Carolina Blues" (Straight on Till 
> Morning).
>
> Greg Hommert
>
>
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