[Harp-L] SPAH and youth

[Mick Zaklan <mzaklan@xxxxxxxxx>]

   Watching the PBS series "American Masters" last year, I discovered that
I actually had something in common with billionaire music and movie mogul
David Geffen.  Believe me, it wasn't money.  Apparently we had both
employed the same kid.  For me, he was chronically late and I nearly fired
him.  For Mr. Geffen; he discovered, signed, and broke one of the biggest
acts in the history of rock 'n roll: the band Guns 'N Roses.  He had done
the same thing previously with a group called Motley Crue.
   This kid clerked for me in the 70's when I briefly managed a dinky
little record store in a small town:  Lowes Records, Park Forest,
Illinois.  Must have been something in the water in that community.  Two of
my other young clerks and two of my teen customers went on years later, all
separately, to win a total of 9 Grammy awards.  Given the competitive
nature of the music business, I wouldn't have predicted success for any of
these five young people.  But I was wrong.
   I was thinking of that record store the other day as I filled out a
modest check to the Rosebush Youth Fund, the scholarship fund that picks up
the tab for talented young players to attend the SPAH conventions.  I've
been going to these conventions since '91 and for me it's still an
exhilarating experience.  I can't imagine what it must be like for a kid
the first time; to be around 400 harmonica players and to hear all that
inspiring reed work in a half dozen or so different musical genres.
   Could one of the kids sponsored by Rosebush turn out to be the next
Stevie Wonder, Little Walter, or Toots down the road?  Due to my experience
at Lowes Records, I would never bet against a kid's potential.  And if some
of our scholarship kids wound up being good players and dues paying members
for the next 20 years, that wouldn't be a bad thing either.  So I've cut a
check to the Rosebush Youth fund and I hope some our list members consider
doing the same.  It's no secret we have a shortage of young harmonica
players in SPAH.  This doesn't solve the problem but it's a step in the
right direction.

Mick Zaklan