[Harp-L] I Played the Canyon

["Bill Hines" <billhines4@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

TGIF harp-lers. How about a nice Friday story to lighten things up. I
just got back from vacation and have about 300 messages here to catch up
with, sheesh.

My son just graduated high school and rather than have him embark on the
traditional beach Sodom and Gomorrah trip to the beach, we opted for a
whitewater rafting trip down the Colorado river through the whole length
of the grand canyon. This was with Grand Canyon Expeditions Company and
consisted of two big pontoon rafts holding 13 guests and two crew each.
I brought just a lonely C harp and the first few nights, after we made
camp I found a remote stretch of beach where nobody could hear me to
play softly and practice. 

Well, someone must have heard (or else more likely my son threw me under
the bus) because one day in the middle of the 8-day trip during the time
when the guides would tell river stories, etc during long areas where
there were no rapids and we were just drifting, the guide asked me to
pull out my harmonica (guess they were out of stories, haha). After a
little panic (I do play in a band occasionally so don't have stage
fright but again wasn't prepared for this) I tried tuning up a bit and
to my horror found that due to the intense heat, the high-end reeds were
stuck, probably swelled. Hmm, what to do. These weren't "blues" folks so
I couldn't just sit there and do butterfield riffs. I cooled it off some
with some water, played some low end stuff and stalled, made excuses,
etc. But then all was well and they listened quietly. I thought up some
good music for the calm, serene mood and scenic (there isn't even a word
for this beauty, trust me) environment. I went high end for a nice
'Scarborough Fair' and they loved it. Then for some fun stuff, went to
some cowboy stuff - Red River Valley, Clementine, etc. The trip was
about half rowdies from NJ and half refined southerners. You can only
imagine the interplay between these two groups the whole trip. So to
make the southerners happy, I played some Dixie and Yellow Rose, they
were wild with polite clapping and singing along. To make the NJ people
happy, unfortunately, I had to break the mood a bit and do Piano Man,
haha. They loved that one.

So the last night, we had a sing-along music fest, the guide actually
had one of those portable pack guitars so on the beach he broke that
out, one of the guests could play somewhat, so we did some easy blues
stuff. But the highlight, was the old Irishman from NYC who had taken
his share of wine with dinner and beer around the camp, he was the
family patriarch of the NJ gang and a great guy full of stories. He was
really enjoying all this relaxing stuff, he was a real trooper with the
strenuous nature of this trip due to his age and all. But a genuine
red-faced Irishman in every way (by the way I am also part Irish and
from NJ) So I decided something special for him. I played a soft, slow
high-end Danny Boy and the old fella damn near start bawling. It was an
incredible moment, I never moved anyone with my music before (other than
to cause them to move from the area, haha). 99% of you guys are probably
better than me, but hey, I played the Canyon. There's nothing like
standing there, at the bow of that raft, playing to a rapt (and captive)
audience, and hearing that harp resonate off the walls so sweetly of one
of nature's most wonderful miracles (I almost expected Randy Singer to
pop out of the brush somewhere, just kidding Randy!!). I'm not that
great yet in the difficult blues/improv genre, but for just a little
while there, I was the Iceman playing sweetly (never forget your
'Summertime' in Atlanta Iceman!). I'll never forget it, my son was quite
proud and he's playing now too. Just a testimony to the excellent
portability of our chosen axe, this would never have happened if I had
chosen stand-up bass :-)  And something to be said for the raw nature
and sound of the instrument. There were no amps, pre-amps, reverb units,
etc. Didn't even use my Smokey. Sometimes it's great just by itself (but
I have appreciated all that stuff when played by Pat Ramsey this week
and Jason Ricci and Mark Hummel also recently in my area!)

Any other such stories of special places or times when you folks have
played? 

Bill Hines
Hershey, PA