Re: [Harp-L] SPAH report long

[Howard Young <blues_harp68@xxxxxxxxx>]

I believe the St. Louis harp player called up by RJ late in the Tuesday night blow-off was Eric McSpadden.  Fine traditional blues-harp player and vocalist from here in St. Louis.

Regards,

Howard Young
St. Louis


--- On Mon, 8/18/08, michael rubin <michaelrubinharmonica@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> From: michael rubin <michaelrubinharmonica@xxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: [Harp-L] SPAH report long
> To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
> Date: Monday, August 18, 2008, 1:23 PM
> Thanks to the listmembers who complimented my playing and
> teaching in
> their SPAH reports.
> 
> First off I want to say how great SPAH was and how worth it
> it was for
> me.  I learned a lot, had a lot of fun and made friends and
> remet old
> friends.  I seems to me SPAH is in need of new members.  We
> had lots
> of people there (someone said 400?) but many will pass away
> soon.  I
> estimate a trip to SPAH including sharing a room, airfare,
> food,
> alcohol and toys would cost around $1300.  Is it worth it?
> Without
> question, yes!  Start saving now and join the fun, we need
> your
> attendance.
> 
> I want to thank Tom Stryker, Paul Davies, Joe Filisko and
> LJ Atkinson
> for calling me to teach and perform and their
> administrative work on
> the whole convention.  Great job!
> 
> For me the musical revelations were Rodrigo, RJ Mischo, Jay
> Blount
> (sp?) and Willi Burger.  This is not to say I wasn't
> blown away by the
> music of almost everyone there, it is more to say I
> wasn't really
> aware of these people before and I really enjoyed them.
> On the continued awareness side, Mojo Red really showed us
> what he
> could do this year!
> 
> I enjoyed teaching my seminars and prejams and playing my
> performances
> and jams.  I want to thank the participators, your presence
> is the
> reason it all works.
> 
> I especially want to thank anybody who grabbed me in the
> hall to talk
> harp.  I enjoy teaching and without your attention my
> thoughts go
> nowhere.
> 
> I want to thank all of my teachers, both who gave direct
> lessons and
> those who performed or influenced me by their actions on
> and off the
> harp.
> 
> My highlights included:
> 
> RJ calling up a ST Louis player (Name?) to sit in at the
> blowoff.
> 
> Playing bass harp with Jason Ricci on chord and various
> lead players.
> 
> Practicing and performing Little Darlin' led by Michael
> Peloquin and
> including Bonfiglio, Galison, Yerxa, Heilpern, Leone,
> Polesky, Stryker
> and a couple of other top players all reading a beautiful
> chart and
> backed by a band.  At one point I had a 16 bar rest and was
> able to
> really listen to the sound.  WOW!  Does anyone have a video
> we could
> get on Youtube?
> 
> Studying under Peloquin during Joe's teachin.  He
> definitely
> understands horn lines and timing on a deeper level than I
> do, perhaps
> I'll take some private lessons one day.
> 
> Jimi Lee backing up EVERYBODY and doing great.
> 
> Dale Spalding singing.
> 
> Performing I've got Rhythm at the Wednesday night show.
> 
> Taking bass lessons from Jerry Hernandez (last name?), Al
> and Judy Smith.
> 
> Listening to RJ Mischo at the Thursday night performance
> and really
> being able to hear his acoustic harp over his electric
> tone.
> 
> Playing the jazz jam both on chrome and diatonic. 
> Literally getting a
> thumb up from Galison.  This is a personal victory.  At
> Dallas SPAH 5
> years ago, Galison ran a jazz critique workshop.  People
> would play a
> song and he would say something nice and some things you
> could improve
> upon.  He said something nice about EVERYONE but me and had
> a long
> list about what I could improve upon.  So seeing that thumb
> felt real
> good.
> 
> Of course hanging with friends for a week and hearing great
> playing!
> See you next year!
> 
> Michael Rubin
> Michaelrubinharmonica.com
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