Re: [Harp-L] Pop harp and creativity

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Mike Fugazzi wrote:

<In the last 50+ years, our
<insturment has failed to make the adaptations other
<insturments have to find a mainstream audience.

<Pop music is popular music for the times.  Right now,
<that doesn't have much to do with "traditional" blues
<sounds.  Many insturments have been able to find a
<role in music that allows them to fit into whatever is
<going on.  You still hear guitar, bass, drums, horns,
<keys, and vibroslaps on top 40 radio stations today.
<
<...
<There simply weren't the musical gains on harp that
<there were on other insturments when music went to a
<national pop scene (as opposed to being a local or
<regional scene).  For example, who tried to keep up on
<diatonic with Chuck Berry?

Canadian blues guitarist David Gogo said pretty much the same thing to 
me a few years ago at the Toronto Star Blues Festival.

I agree that if the harp is going to move forward in pop music, it's not 
going to be by going deeper into traditional blues styles, i.e. by 
pasting Little Walter licks on top of Green Day or Nine Inch Nails.

It may be from an entirely unsuspected direction. For example, the 
People's Republic of China may become the most influential nation of the 
21st century.  Lots of those Chinese kids play harmonica, and they're 
not immersed in blues.  I wouldn't be surprised if harmonica played a 
very important part in a 21st century pop music dominated by Chinese 
artists.

Regards, Richard Hunter
hunterharp.com
latest mp3s always at http://broadjam.com/rhunter