[Harp-L] Re: Harp-L Digest, Vol 67, Issue 78

[John Frazer <harmonicajohns@xxxxxxx>]

Harmonica trio at Spring Harp Fest X

April 11th, 2009

http://www.springharpfest.org

Introducing the Stillmores



The Stillmore name, although venerated, is really an honorary title more
than an hereditary one. These legendary wizards of the Free Reed are as
individual as their monikers and are as proud of their backgrounds and
accomplishments as any normal citizens would be, given their rap sheets.

Millard Stillmore
Millard is descended from Scottish Presbyterians on his father's side
and Druids on his mother's. His father apprenticed him to a brutal cloth
maker in Sparta, New York, at age eleven to learn the cloth-making
trade. He left after four months but subsequently took another
apprenticeship in the same trade at New Hope, New York. He struggled to
obtain an education under oppressive conditions, attending New Hope
Academy for six months in 1999. Later that same year, he began to
apprentice under Alberto Bonfiglioso of Montville, New York, under whom
Millard began to study harmonica and the occult arts. He succeeds his
predecessor, Zachary "The Tailor" Stillmore. Millard is renown for his
extraordinary vocal and instrumental skills as much as for his
remarkable stature.

Lester Stillmore
A staunch proponent of the minimalist approach; "Less is (still)more" is
Lester's watchword. It's rumored that he was trained in the musical arts
by an Aberdeen and Rockfish Railroad Brakeman, and that he once shot a
man in Reno. Raised in the Witness Protection Program from the age of 18
months, Les keeps to himself, preferring safe houses, hotels and the
occasional abandoned warehouse or moving van to a more permanent
address. Very little of any real substance has been documented about him.

Craven Stillmore
A man of exceptional appetites, Craven typifies that classic Blues line
"I just can't be satisfied". Born out of wedlock in Chicago, Illinois,
the son of a seamstress and a sailor, he had a strict Hedonist
upbringing. Craven earned an undergraduate degree in taxidermy from
Wheaton College in Illinois, and a masters degree in animal husbandry
from Johns Hopkins University. Prior to landing his first job in show
business as a sound technician for punk bands in New York City, Craven
spent several of his post-college years on the lam from the authorities
over a misunderstanding involving a widow in Schenectady and her pet goose.

We learned a few weeks ago that the trio has been in the studio working
on a new album & planning their comeback. Although rehearsal soundbites
(not fully arranged for performance) we got these recordings from Lester
by bribing him with a stack of Ritz crackers and a can of Dinty Moore.
Unfortunately, transferring the music from the 78 RPM vinyl masters lost
a little in the process - only the trio's instruments can be heard on
these cuts and none of the 17-piece orchestra accompanying them.

http://tinyurl.com/cg35sm
http://tinyurl.com/danwsc

That's all I've been able to learn about them, but I'm scouring the
Inter-tubes for more information. If I learn anything else, I'll let you
know.