Re: [Harp-L] bluegrass harmonica (referenced in Country Western Harmonica Pla...

[Cara Cooke <cyberharp@xxxxxxxxx>]

While Lonnie Glosson was alive, the festivals that booked him always
attracted that same crowd and the music vendors sold harmonicas, if they had
them.  Lonnie sold harmonicas, too.

Since I rarely stay put during festival shows, I have come to know many of
the music vendors that commonly work the festivals I attend.  (It is usually
during stage shows that I want to "see" that I get the opportunity to see
what is being sold.)  We've discussed what sells and what doesn't and I've
tried to see if I could help them shape their appeal a little better to the
festival goers, if I could --- to give them a player's perspective --- and
help them be better prepared to serve their customers.  (For some reason,
festival music vendors often do not seem to be musicians of any skill or
experience.)  Bluegrassers are used to providing for themselves, so vendors
often would have no clue how to make their fees and would give up working
them.  Those who learned to carry capoes, strings, picks, and other things
that often break or get lost, and classic or popular recordings, at least
made their fees on those.  But, I seldom got them to pay attention in the
harmonica department.  They would stock up on cheap Chinese echoes and
diatonic C's, which barely sold unless there was a kid around, but would
never simply stock my suggestion of a quarter to a half dozen or so decent,
moderately priced, diatonics in A, G, C, and D.  I explained that those were
the ones that would wear out the most for straight and crossharp players and
were ideal beginner keys for a bluegrass festival, but they never got it, so
the harmonica players that I knew were there never got used being able to
find what they need at a festival vendor's stand.

However, there were a couple of vendors who always did better with
harmonicas at bluegrass festivals.  They were musicians themselves, so when
they played harmonica at the festival, their harmonicas sold at their stand
-- good ones and cheap ones, in multiple keys.  They didn't have to be
performers at the festival to be successful, but a stage show always helped
sales.  We bluegrassers knew that they would stock things that we needed
and which festivals they worked, so we always knew if we needed something,
their stand was just a walk away.  We really missed them when they weren't
there.

I'm with you.  In an ideal festival line-up, for me, would be a good draw or
two, then I could fill the rest of the festival with our stellar local Texas
bands.  In all of that, I would want to make certain that I had very good
players on all of the instruments, including harmonica and dobro, and
stellar harmonies.  And I would ask those players to host a workshop
and spend time in the campground with the attendees and jam a little.  For
bluegrassers, that is the biggest draw of all -- to be assured that there
will be wonderful players to jam with and opportunities to ask questions and
learn, even one little tidbit, from a player they truely respect.

Cara
On Sat, Jan 10, 2009 at 5:47 PM, <IcemanLE@xxxxxxx> wrote:

> Great post, Cara. I agree with SMOJO - well written.
>
> It occurred to me after I posted what I found at the festival that the
> videos/instruction being offered for sale were blues oriented, so, of
> course the
> Bluegrass people would have little interest in buying these particular
> ones,
> but  you beat me to the punch with your observation.
>
> The smarter vendor would find more appropriate instrumental instruction
> materials to sell - after all, the music fake books being sold were old
> time and
> bluegrass compilations, not The Real Book.
>
> However, it does stand to reason that not much interest in the harmonica
>  was
> apparent at the show or with the vendors may be a reflection of the  in
> terests of the crowds and the vendors wishing to make $$.
>
> If I were doing a fest, I'd have Charlie McCoy as headliner. He is very
> popular amongst the older bluegrass fans, as I discovered when I did promo
> flyer
> handouts for the show he did for me last year when I tried to get a concert
> series off the ground in Central Florida. (Outstanding show, btw, and I
> overheard some happy patrons say "Man, that was great. Why, I would have
> had to  go
> to the Grand Old Opry to see a show as excellent as this one").
>
> Then, selling Charlie harmonica instructional material would have been a
> given gold mine, especially after his performance.
>
>
>
>
> On Jan  10, 2009, at 2:41 AM, Cara Cooke wrote:
>
> >
> > One of the things  that music vendor could have done for himself is
> >  exchange
> > the Dave Barrett blues harmonica instructional DVD for  something
> > done by
> > Mike Stevens or Charlie McCoy.   Bluegrassers know who these people
> > are and
> > how they  play.  There are so few harmonica players that get to the
> >  level
> > where they can play bluegrass well that there really aren't  that
> > many role
> > models to  follow.
>
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