[Harp-L] Willie "Big Eyes" Smith & the Cruncher

[Bill Hines <billhines4@xxxxxxxxx>]

I was at the fairly new Lost, Found & Dearly Departed blues picnic in 
Harrisburg, PA on Saturday night and Willie "Big Eyes" Smith from Muddy 
Water's old band was the headliner. He was a harp man and drummer for 
Muddy, and now tours as a front man so I was hoping to hear some harp.

I was in attendance with Mike Easton and we were watching Willie set up 
and trying to ID his equipment. We had been concerned that he might be 
flying in and not have gear and have to play through the PA (not that 
it's a problem for guys like Cotton) and in that case I was going to 
offer up my Cruncher for the night. I went up and asked if he needed any 
help since he seemed to be fumbling about as if he lost or forgot 
something. Willie said he was set and I took the time to check his gear. 
The amp had a big Sonny Jr faceplate on it and looked like a 410 but had 
a plate that said "The Cruncher" and more knobs than mine. An early 
prototype maybe? He also had a sweet red mic. Mike talked to him later 
and I think he said that his son got him the amp custom made and the mic 
was also from Sonny Jr. He had I believe one effect pedal coming off the 
mic to the amp.So it didn't sound like this was some free or endorsee 
deal, he was just using the gear that works for him and he loves.

Willie got the crowd going with a long full set of Muddy tunes and blues 
classics, blowing great chicgo-style harp all the way through. The rig 
sounded fantastic and Willie was having a good time. Check him out if 
he's in your neighborhood on tour!

Bill Hines