[Harp-L] RE: Asking To Sit In

["Steve Power" <stevepower@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

A couple of quick comments.

1) A little common sense. If it's Carnigie Hall, sit your ass down.  If it's 
a bar or some low key place and the band sounds like some guys you'd enjoy 
playing with, why not ask? They may enjoy something a little different and 
maybe if it's a 4 or 5 setter will help them fill out the night.

2) If you don't know when NOT to play, sit your ass down. And if you do get 
up, use whatever vocal mic you are told is available but approach with 
caution to avoid feedback. Don't just start cupping the thing.

Finally, when I first moved to the UK and was trying to break in I'd 
sometimes ask a band if I could sit in.  Once in a great while, like on 
vacation, if I run across the right situation, I will ask to sit in. The 
method I use is this.

I carry a black folding case with 10 harps. During a break, and only during 
a break, I'll approach who I think is the leader, waiting until he's not 
busy.  I'll unzip the case but leave it folded then approach with, "Excuse 
me. My name is (fill in the blank). I play these." while opening the case 
with all those shiney chrome harps looking like a tool kit. " I was 
wondering if I could sit in for a bit." And here's the clincher, " I promise 
not to embarass you," followed with a bit of a smile.

I honestly can't remember ever being turned down.  I'll also add that 
anytime someone has approached me to sit in with a similar pitch which leads 
me to believe they're not an idiot I almost always let them. At worst, 
they'll only screw up one song before I kick them off and sometimes they're 
great.   If for any reason straight away I think , "No," I'll usually say, 
"I'm sorry, the bar owner really doesn't like it when we do that." No insult 
to them and no one gets pissed at me.