[Harp-L] RE: Blues Jams and John Kally

[John Kally <jkally3@xxxxxxx>]

Gee, I must have arrived as I've finally earned my own thread! Really, 
thanks Chris, I really appreciate it.  Your current rig, with the 68 SF 
Deluxe Reverb, PE10 and the Octave pedal set like Jason Ricci's sounded 
really cool and it was very generous of you to let me blow through it.  
 I used the same model amp with a different mic (a GB)  , I wasn't that 
happy with it at the time  but that was years ago and my technique has 
inched forward some since then so it was good to hear what that setup 
can do now that I can handle a mic better.   For those of you that 
haven't heard  Chris Michalek  yet I highly recommend it, and hearing 
him play amplified in a blues setting was a real treat.  I have played 
at various jams over the years with most  members of his current band 
and they are all pros.
My own jamming experiences are  perhaps similar to many on the list.  I 
briefly had a real band about 16 years ago, my main source of income 
for only part of one year and the rest of the time it's been  the 
occasional jam session or call-up to sit in with  a working band but 
nothing permanent.  So maybe I'm a "pro-am" player.  With my job 
schedule and family  obligations  I can't commit to being in a band at 
the moment but that doesn't mean I don't like to go out and play.   I 
was part of a jam session house band for about six months also, taking 
on all comers, and I learned lots from that experience. The guys who 
fit in best were not always technically the greatest musicians but they 
were good at fitting in, conscious of levels and dynamics,  were 
familiar  enough with the jam scene to call tunes that matched the 
ability of other players and were generous in letting others share the 
fills and solos.   These were also frequently decent people to talk to 
about technique and equipment, music in general.  I've tried to repay 
this by being willing to talk to guys coming up about technique and 
equipment if they ask, and not be obnoxious about telling people what I 
know if they don't ask. The worst jammers, well, I don't have to go 
there,   they turn jams into trainwrecks and I try to slip away or fade 
into the background when that happens unless I think I'm able to turn 
it around.  Probably the only reason I sing at all at jams is that as a 
singer I am in a better position to direct things on stage to help keep 
 disasters from happening if possible.
I do really enjoy the harp-l community, I've met a number of you guys 
when you've passed through town  (Richard Hunter, Dave Teischer, 
others) , the local guys like Chris ,Lenny and others , or back at the 
Harmonica Summit in Minnesota that Chris ran  and it's always been a 
pleasure.
Chris Michalek wrote:

My band runs a local sunday night blues jam. I hate it but every now
and then a like John Kally shows up.  He's a great guy. and a great
player - the consumate jammer.  He bring his own equipment, fronts
the jam band when he needs to and was extremely repsectful of my
equipment when I offered it to him.  John Kally is one of the few
people that I wouldn't mind listening to all night.  You played some
really tasty stuff John and sounded great through my set up. Thanks.