[Harp-L] Harmonica Happenings, Flickr, and SPAH 2008, 2009?

[Doug Schroer <dougharps@xxxxxxxxx>]

I have read harp-l for years, on yahoo groups.  I constantly lurk and seldom post. however...

Getting Harmonica Happenings and looking at the pictures on Flickr brought it all back: August in St. Louis.  JP, you did a great job on the HH!
 
At SPAH in St. Louis I met so many good players and good people who shared an interest (obsession?) with harmonica.  What a fantastic experience:  A Total Harmonica Immersion experience! 

(Putting the player in an enviornment saturated with all things harmonica, not immersing the harmonica in beer or whiskey, Dave Payne, though whisky DOES make a wood comb taste better!)
 
2008 was the year I joined SPAH and the year I went to my first SPAH convention.  For 5 days I lived harmonica, and slept little.  The impromptu jams, the scheduled jams, the performances, the workshops, etc, were amazing.  The talent level and musical interests of attendees was wide ranging, and there was a willingness to share from all.  Professional performers mingled and helped others, while paying attention to others who played different syles.  There was so much going on that it was impossible to get it all.  I missed a lot of fantastic jazz harmonica because I was indulging in the blues jams.  I only got to attend half the workshops I wanted to, having to chose between chromatic or diatonic sessions.  

I want to be there again, now, to see/hear/participate in all I missed!!!

I hope to make it to California in 2009, though it's quite a trip from Illinois.  

I put off joining SPAH for years, and wish I had joined earlier.  I met many of those who post to Harp-L, and got to hear them play.  I attended workshops and had conversations with people and put faces and harp playing styles together with the names.  

Mojo Red, you certainly should be in a band, based on what I heard at the last blues jam.  

I hope that if you post to or read Harp-L and are not a member, you will seriously consider joining, and go to the annual convention if you can.  

If you intend to go to SPAH 2009, certainly join, as members get a better rate for attending.  I hope I can make it in 2009, and meet more harmonica fanatics.   


Doug Schroer