Re: [Harp-L] Re. Overblows etc.

[46long Blake <46long@xxxxxxxxx>]

I'm just a weekend warrior, don't gig more than 60 miles from home, but I've
been playing for over 20 years, I can play with overblows, and I'm about to
come out with my fourth CD this spring.  I gotta say, for a while, I did
feel a bit of pressure to use OBs frequently for fear of being seen as a
more "primitive" player. This was all in my head, of course. You know, it's
the same mistake of playing a gig as if there were a dozen advanced harp
players in the audience, which there never were, of course, except for in my
mind. I forgot that most everyone just wanted to hear something that sounded
good. Squeak.
I think I'm getting over it. On this new CD, I think there's some good
music, if I may say so, and yet, I just counted - only seven overblows and
one overdraw in eleven songs!  Mon dieu!  This CD will already enrage the
Blues nazis, now the OB nazis are coming to disparage me!!!! Aaieeee!!!!
On Tue, Feb 9, 2010 at 8:16 PM, Steve Baker <steve@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Hi Nick,
>
> good luck with your music, I look forward to hearing it and hope that you
> can find your market. It's good to know that there are still young,
> dedicated harp players out there who are willing to put their money where
> their mouth is, respect! I can relate to that.
>
> Regarding overblows, I think you'll find they're definitely here to stay.
> Maybe some day you'll feel the desire to check out the possibilities that
> they offer. I'm not a real overblow specialist myself but I learned the
> technique from a friend in the mid 80s (pre-Levy) and use the OB notes as
> standard choices in a wide range of styles where they make sense. It's just
> a playing technique, the only thing that has any significance is what you do
> with it. There's been a lot of hype surrounding OBs in the past and that has
> certainly led some to see the technique itself as some kind of holy grail,
> but an increasing number of players simply work it into their music. It
> doesn't have to be a big deal.
>
> Traditional blues harmonica is probably the most popular musical genre
> among readers of harp-l, so I don't really understand why you see yourself
> as belonging to a minority. Personally I would say that although I worship
> Little Walter, who was probablythe greatest single (harmonica) influence on
> my playing, I've never really tried to emulate him. I just borrowed his
> ideas whenever they fitted the music I was playing, which is what Walter did
> with the horn players he was listening to in the early 1950s,
>
> Steve Baker
> www.stevebaker.de
> www.bluesculture.com
>
>
>
>
>


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