[Harp-L] Sleepwalk - Santo & Johnny -12th on diatonic

[Mojo Red <harplicks@xxxxxxxxx>]

Okay, so last night my band was hosting its final Tuesday night blues jam at a 
local blues venue called Ziggies, and and this player comes late in the jam and 
I'm asked to help back him up on the last set of the night.

We had fun on a couple of simple blues numbers, and then he says he wants to do 
this instrumental in C called "Sleepwalk." Well, I don't recall the tune until 
he starts playing, and then it hits me... Oh Yeah! Santo & Johnny - 1950's 
lap-steel guitar ballad, and sooo beautiful!

I'm eager to partake, but I know that 2nd position blues won't cut it. I reach 
for my G harp and attempt to play it off-mic in 12th position. By Gum it WORKED! 
The guy who called the song played it flawlessly on his electric w. slide and 
then he gives me a solo. it sounded good to me, so I kept on playing.

His grin told me he was happy, the applause tole me no one in the audience 
expected the blues harp player to hang with this song. Then he took me to the 
bridge and it STILL laid out beautifully - no overbends needed, just a lot of 
controlled conventional bends. 

I was stunned, and totally happy to find all the notes I needed, and be able to 
improvise comfortably around the melody in a meaningful way... playing outside 
my comfort zone in natural sounding way. Wow! Such a Great feeling!

I LOVE 12th position. Perfect for this song, and so many other non-blues 
classics. Thanks to Chris Michalek, Peter Ruth and other friends who encouraged 
me to pursue 12th to the point where I could feel comfortable enough to 
attempt... and then convincingly PULL OFF... something like this on stage. Yup, 
our last night at Ziggies was a great one... 

Harpin' in Colorado,
--Ken M.
TeraBlu Band on My Space
http://www.myspace.com/terablu