Re: [Harp-L] Countdown to SPAH

["Vern Smith" <jevern@xxxxxxx>]

After all of these years flying to Chicago, Detroit, Columbus, Denver, St. 
Louis, Milwaukee, etc., we of the "Left Coast" deserve a break!  There is 
life west of the Rocky Mountains!

Vern
Laguna Woods, CA

Visit my harmonica website www.Hands-Free-Chromatic.7p.com
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mick Zaklan" <mzaklan@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, August 02, 2008 11:12 AM
Subject: [Harp-L] Countdown to SPAH


>   Anybody still sitting on the fence about going to the SPAH convention
> ought to just make the trip.  Especially if you're living on the East 
> Coast
> or in the Midwest.  If I'm not mistaken; next year's gathering is in
> Sacramento, California.  For a guy like me who lives near Chicago; most
> conventions in the past have only been a tank or two of gas away from my
> doorstep.  No telling what an airline ticket is going to run next year.  I
> probably will have to sit out the next one, which depresses the heck out 
> of
> me.  All the more reason to definitely get down to St. Louis this month.
>   When I think about the annual convention; I often think about the late
> guitarist Chris Jones.  One of the most talented musicians to ever play on 
> a
> SPAH stage.  I recall Chris telling an audience something to the effect 
> of:
> "you people don't know how good you have it with this thing (the harmonica
> convention), other instruments just don't do this".  Yeah, I know tuba
> players get together and fiddlers have contests; but you'd be hard-pressed
> to find the camaraderie and information-sharing that goes on at harmonica
> convention.  I remember Jelly Roll Johnson, who makes his living playing 
> the
> harmonica, explaining to me why he comes to conventions every year at his
> own expense.  "I always learn something new; there's always somebody with
> an approach or idea I hadn't thought of ".  Or Buzz Krantz telling me one 
> of
> his favorite things is that each year a new guy shows up who nobody ever
> heard of and winds up being better than most of the paid entertainment.
> _______________________________________________
> Harp-L is sponsored by SPAH, http://www.spah.org
> Harp-L@xxxxxxxxxx
> http://harp-l.org/mailman/listinfo/harp-l