[Harp-L] Jason in Denver

[Mojo Red <harplicks@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi gang,

It's been a while since I've had a chance to get
out and hear Jason Ricci play. My travel schedule
has always gotten in the way... until last night.

Jason and the boys played Denver's Skylark Lounge
where they, of course, tore the house down.
Unfortunately, it being a Wednesday night, the
place was far from full. However, for the 30 or so
of us who were smart enough to ignore the fact that
it was a work night, he put on a specacular show.

Before the show Jason told me about his recent
experiences in Europe... He loved it over there,
had a great time at the festival and made lots of
new friends, but there were problems as well...
Let's just say it didn't go exactly smoothly. 

He also showed me a couple of the new Suzuki harps
with wooden cover plates.  (Pure Harp and Fire
Breather or something). Those pups play like a
dream, and overblow easily right out of the box. I
guess harp customizer Brad Harrison has been
working with Suzuki to develop those
overblow-friendly harps. Nice!

The band smoked! Shawn Starskey seemed to be on
fire, laying down some truly blistering guitar
work, and BuckWeed on bass kicked some low-end
butt. The fill-in drummer (I forget his name) did
an excellent job (Jason tells me that Steve
Johnson, who broke his wrist, will be back in the
saddle by September). 

I heard a few new songs including one slow number I
liked in particular, an instrumental written by
Shawn. Beautiful 12th position harmonica work from
Jason.

Every time I hear him play live, I feel like
throwing all my harps away. I mean, what's the
point? 

However, at the same time, the overwheming nature
of his talent totally inspires and invigorates me
to further pursue my instrument and bring myself to
the next level. It helps too, that he's so
encouraging and supportive of us harmonica mortals.


Well into the second set, after a particularly fast
song (Mellow Down Easy), Jason called me on stage
to sit in for a couple of songs. But instead of
just taking a solo behind him, he hands me the mic,
sits down, lights up a clover cigarette and says,
"You drive the boat, Mojo." 

Okay then... Gulp!

So I called out "Caldonia" and off we went. Well,
that band is so dang good that it was pure
pleasure. My nervousness evaporated and I played
and sang my best. The crowd didn't throw things at
me, and afterwords Jason asked me to call out
another number. But my brain wend dead and I
couldn't recall lyrics to anything else, so Shawn
sang one and I backed him on harp.

It was a great experience, and as far as I could
tell, I didn't suck. :-)

Anyway, Jason finished his set with some more
awesome material and it was a great night. This
morning, after three hours of sleep, I'm off to
work, feeling like I'm dragging my keister, but oh,
so glad I got to hear those guys again.

Harpin' in Colorado,
--Ken M.

P.S. Jason is very, VERY excited about coming to
SPAH this year. Me too!!

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