Re: [Harp-L] Is playing the harp well a health hazard?

[Larry Sandy <slyou65@xxxxxxxxx>]

I have also greatly enjoyed viewing many harmonica players plying their trade 
via YouTube and have learned tons from them.   I am sure many people do depend 
upon artificial reinforcement but please do  not think that all harmonica 
players succumb to drinking nor drugging problems... I have never partaken of 
either and am confident I am in good company. I understand that by frequently 
being enticed to exposed to that pressure one may finally give in, and that is 
the main reason I have never taken gigs in bars and such.  I don't feel superior 
to those who do, but resolved early in life that just would not be my direction. 
 No regrets.

 Beannachtai Féile Pádraig

Lockjaw Larry
Breathing Music daily



________________________________
From: Aongus Mac Cana <amaccana@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Sun, March 6, 2011 1:28:37 PM
Subject: [Harp-L] Is playing the harp well a health hazard?

Throught the Harp-l list I have been introduced to a lot of gifted players
(via YouTuble links and the like) that I had never heard of . Then before I
get around to getting their CDs I hear (again through the list) that these
players have passed on - and usually well before they have achieved "three
score years and ten"
In the Irish Traditional Music scene it can be difficult for performers with
what we euphemistically call "a weakness for the drink". The typical venue
for trad gigs - even on TV is pubs, where the booze flows freely. Very often
members of the audience like to show their approval of a good performer by
calling to the barman "give that man another drink on me" You can sometimes
almost judge how well a session is going down by the number of full pints of
beer accumulating in front of the musicians.
Reading between the lines in the condolences expressed for harmonicists who
have died I get a feeling that in the Blues Scene players may find
themselves exposed to stimulants/depressants even more destructive than
alcohol.
Beannachtai
Aongus Mac Cana