RE: [Harp-L] Blowouts

["Robert Gaustad" <robertgaustad@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Well, I'm certainly no expert on blowouts, but Mark Hummel's went the way I
figured it would.  Mark came out, talked for a bit, played some mean harp on
a couple of tunes.  Then he introduced Dave Barrett (not on the bill) who
also played some mean harp.  As I recall, he played a bit acoustically
through a PA mic and then acoustically with no mic and the band playing low
(great acoustics at Yoshi's) and then he pulled a mic out of his jacket
pocket.  I couldn't tell what kind of mic it was but it appeared (to my
aging eyes) to be sort of flat and round.  I wonder if it was that new
Shaker mic I've heard about but never seen.

Okay, and then he introduced Jerry Portnoy who played with a cabled mic into
his amp.  I couldn't really tell which amp was his but I think it MIGHT have
been a Bassman.  Each player had their own amp and rig on the stage but I
was just far enough away that I couldn't tell which was whose. Jerry played
three or four songs, including one political one about his credit cards that
got some nice laughs.  I was a very liberal Bay Area crowd. :-)

Mark Hummel then called out a special guest, a female singer from the 60's
and I just couldn't hear her name.  I think it's Dana somebody and she's an
excellent blues singer.  She did a song with Portnoy playing harp.

And then Lee Oskar came out and couldn't at first figure out that his rig
was turned off.  It looked like he had a small silverface Fender Champ with
some foot pedals I couldn't see and a control board of some sort sitting on
his amp.  He wowed the crowd with some excellent, rhythmic playing and a
quirky playing style using his body to keep rhythm.  It was fun.

Last was Magic Dick who said he's 60 but looked more like 45 and acted like
25 with a great sense of humor and stories.  He's an awesome harp player and
of the three headliners is definitely the fastest player.  It was a great
mix of players having Magic Dick go last was great since he kicked up a lot
of energy that the crowd fed off of.

Then Mark came out again and called up all the harp players for a "blowout".
He introduced Rick Estrin and a local guy whose name I didn't get to play
and sing.  The woman came out again as well and they all basically played as
best they could together and then each did a solo.  As usual, I forgot the
song they did but it was energetic blues.  The main guys used their rigs and
the rest shared mics with some getting a PA mic.  I know that Rick Estrin
got the loudest PA mic because he was much louder than the rest.  

Mark's band, Blues Survivors, played the whole show without a break and
provided fantastic backup for all the players.

All in all one of the best shows, and definitely the best harp show I've
ever seen.

Robert Gaustad 

-----Original Message-----
From: harp-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx [mailto:harp-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf
Of jruss433@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Tuesday, January 17, 2006 4:58 AM
To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [Harp-L] Blowouts


I must confess I've never been to a "Blowout," and have been invited to play
at one in March in nearby Peoria, Illinois -

I suppose it's whatever the hosts say it is, but can anyone tell me,
generally what to expect?  Can you do whatever you want?  Is it one band and
everyone plays a song in rotation, or does each harp player play 2 or 3, a
set?  Do they get their choice, or is it the prerogative of the band?  Can I
expect to use my own mike & amp?

The reason I ask is that I suspect the River City Blues club in Peoria will
be using Mark Hummel's model.  Thanks, oh wise ones...

Mark Russillo
a.k.a. The Rhode Island Kid


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