[Harp-L] Blues Jam Story

["Jonathan Metts" <jonathan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Tonight, I went to the weekly blues jam at the Boulder Outlook hotel here in 
Boulder, CO.  I've played there once before, a few weeks ago, but tonight I 
had a guest of the female persuasion, which added a bit to my usual anxiety. 
These jams are so unpredictable -- you have no idea what will be played, 
whether it will be something you can contribute to, or how 
good/nice/accomodating the other musicians will be.  On top of all that, I 
was the fourth harp player of the night, so everyone in the audience was 
rating me against the others.

When I finally got a chance to go play, after waiting for two and a half 
hours, I requested that we play "One Way Out" since it's one of the few 
songs I actually know in full.  (Mostly, I'm an improviser, and not 
necessarily in the blues.)  But first, the guitarist wanted to play two 
other songs, both in the key of A.  Of course, "One Way Out" is usually 
played in A, or at least that's how I prefer to play it, so we ended up 
playing in that key for three straight songs.  I sang vocals on "One Way 
Out" and could barely hear myself, but I was told afterwards that it sounded 
good.  In fact, the feedback was excellent all around, and apparently folks 
were saying during the performance that I was the best harp player of the 
night.  I am rarely happy with my solos, and tonight was no different, but I 
tried to be a faithful sideman with long, deep bends and trance-like 
vibratos.

I was ready to step down after those three songs, but members of the house 
band got back on stage and asked me to stay for one more.  They played an 
African blues song (not African-American...AFRICAN) with only one chord, G. 
I'm thinking, "What have I gotten myself into?  I can't solo over one 
chord!"  Actually, it took me a couple of minutes to even figure out how to 
accompany over one chord.  I finally realized that the song was purely about 
rhythm, not chord progression or melody or anything like that, so I played 
heavy rhythms and mixed in some of my train chops which haven't been 
practiced in forever.  The song went long and I was completely exhausted, 
not only from playing rhythm the whole time but also dancing, which was 
required just to keep the beat and get the feel of the song.  But damn, that 
was an incredible experience and worth every drop of sweat.

The moral of the story is that all you woodshed harp players need to get out 
every now and then to play with other people, for a live audience.  I am a 
pretty shy fellow, and it takes a lot of gumption to get myself up on stage 
for anything, but I have never regretted it.  In fact, performing is one of 
the greatest thrills and pleasures I've experienced.  You meet some great 
people, learn some new music, and find yourself playing things you never 
thought you could play.  There's also something truly magical about playing 
with a band of strangers and being instantly united through this stuff 
called music that everyone is making together.  That's an amazing feeling 
that you simply cannot get from sitting in your house and playing alone.

Jonathan Metts