Read this interesting article below in the
*.............. Ball Street Urinal*
*The Harp World and its Dirty Little Secrets*
*It seems blues harpers in the U.S. have started living a little too much
of their own music lately in what has apparently become the black mark of
the harmonica world. A massive $10,000 industry has sprung up in recent
years with secret email accounts, mail drops, and fake billing. The cause?
Players concealing harmonica purchases from their wives. *
* *
*The BSU caught up with famous Idaho bluesman Little Big Jake Walter Boy
Johnny Sonny at his suburban Westerville home. Now barely recognizable
without his signature sunglasses and fedora, Walter Boy has been trying to
mend things with his wife who discovered his habit recently and froze his
Paypal account. She started getting suspicious a few months ago when his
behavior became so erratic she thought he was battling substance abuse or
maybe even worse. Walter Boy doesn't know how she figured it all out, but
when confronted after a gig one night, he confessed to her that he had
secretly bought fifteen harmonicas in the past year without her approval. *
* *
*On this very disheartening topic, Walter Boy said "It's all handled
through these guys that call themselves customizers, you know? They're just
a front. They don't customize nothin', they help smuggle harps". Walter
Boy explained “It works like this, you shoot the guy an email and ask him
couple questions about his stuff, maybe drop a few hints about needing to
come up with the cash and how he ships his stuff, etc. You're just easing
into it. Testing him out, seeing if he's a player. But he's kind of
feeling you out, too seeing if you're real. You tell him you might need
to have the harp shipped to you on the road because you're traveling to
some gigs. Yeah, right, on the road, ya know"? *
* *
*Walter Boy said the customizer usually suggests payment by money order so
there are no Paypal fees. “You know, when they say THAT everyone is on
board " Walter Boy said he just had his stuff shipped to his office where
he works as an insurance salesman. He was living a lie"*
* *
*"Nobody's is really talkin' right now but I think my wife got tipped off
from our lead guitar player Stevie Ray Lightning Chet Fender Blaster. That
guy never really liked me".*
* *
*According to Walter Boy the real losers are the fans down at Stinky’s Place. "He was only charging us $100 to play and we actually had a following” *
* *
*Meanwhile, Water Boy said he plans to use his time away from the stage to
play Monopoly with his grandson and maybe even push his musical limits to
blues in D or maybe even more radical 3rd position. *
* *
-- *Greg Jones* *16:23 Custom Harmonicas* *(210) 445-6600* *http://1623customharmonicas.com/* <http://1623customharmonicas.com/>