[Harp-L] San Fran and San Diego Jams

[Bill Hines <billhines4@xxxxxxxxx>]

I've been away a lot and remiss to post on my recent experiences while 
traveling to San Diego and San Francisco.

San Fran is as always a great musical scene. The last time (also recent) 
I was there I stopped by The Saloon to hear Michael Peloquin play with a 
band there, and it was a fantastically good show and scene with Michael 
blowing sax and harp as well as singing. As most folks here know, the 
cat is a top notch professional musician. I introduced myself on break 
(I had met him before at Spah STL and some of Jason Ricci's events). The 
Saloon is a small dive in the eclectic North Beach area on Columbus 
Street where the infamous Beats such as Kerouac, Cassady, Ginsberg, 
Ferlinghetti, etc hung out. The Beat Museum is there, as well as 
Vesuvios, Kerouac Alley and a number of other landmarks. Lots of strip 
joints, and some of them have hellacious bands too, playing even during 
daylight hours to draw patrons. Michael took time to show me his 
prototype Harrison b-Radical harp and we talked about his pending move 
to Indiana to join the company (somehow I don't picture him anywhere but 
a place like SF but we'll see...). The harp of course sounded great (MP 
could make a cracker barrel one sound great as well i bet) and looked 
very very cool.

This trip I stopped by the Saloon again and saw another band with a harp 
player. It was real late and I think they were higher than I was 
amazingly (this wasn't my first stop that night) so I just hung back and 
took it in. It was pretty raw stuff but in form with the atmosphere and 
everyone was having a great time. I didn't ask but I got the sense I 
could have sat in easily if I had, it was a very laid back atmosphere. 
Of course SF has many other options such as Biscuits 'n Blues, I usually 
just google and find the local blues society's web page and calendar for 
ideas when traveling but I'm lucky if I can get one night out on a trip.

In San Diego, I journeyed out to the Mission Beach area and a big Irish 
bar called The Harp coincidentally (Harp as in Irish connotations, not 
harmonica...). I got in touch with Dan "12 Gauge" Gage from the list 
while I was there. While waiting for Dan to arrive I watched the house 
band set up and put my name on the signup list. This jam is different 
from ours in that their signup sheet has  blocks of sets with the 
instruments listed and you sign your name into the block you want to 
play. Set 1 was open for harp but I always want to watch at least one 
set first to check out how things are run, the musicality, etc. Set 2 
and 3 were taken so I put my name in Set 4 and went off to Hodad's for a 
burger. Dan arrived soon after and we chatted at the bar. The first 
thing he told me was that there probably wouldn't be a set 4. Wha?? Our 
jam in Harrisburg PA usually has anywhere from 7-10 sets, from 8pm until 
1am or so and this Harp jam started even earlier. This is something that 
I dislike very much about house band led jams, they always get up there 
and play waaay too long before any jammers can get up, and even then 
it's piecemeal. The band was good, I forget the name but led by a guy 
named Chet. Dan told me not to piss Chet off, as he does not suffer 
fools gladly.

Chet sang and played some harp, but I could soon see why I was unlikely 
to get up. This jam is Chet's jam and he pretty much adds folks in and 
comes in and out himself as he pleases, along with his band-mates. There 
was no predefined definition of a "set" as far as how many songs or how 
much time players get. It was very loosely run and seemed to cater to 
the in-crowd and locals/regulars. I hung out with Dan and listened to a 
lot of good music. Dan got called up since Chet knew him and his set was 
great, some very good harp and singing. Dan told me he had been taking 
voice lessons and how important that was. Dan did get up for a later set 
and said he would call me up for one, but I could soon see that it 
wasn't to be as Chet came back after the first song and I think Dan's 
time was done so I headed out.

There were a lot of harp players there, so a good scene in SD for harp 
and blues, and some younger folks too which is always good to see. I 
recommend stopping in if you're in the area, but keep an open mind and 
don't get upset or surprised if you don't get up to play. I've been to a 
lot of places around the world and many many jams and I can still say 
unequivocally and objectively that out of the ones I've been to, the 
world titleholder for the best blues jam in the world (for all parties 
concerned from novice to professional musician and patrons that is) is 
right in little old Harrisburg, PA at the 40 et 8 juke every Thursday 
night. Come out and see us sometime!

Bill