[Harp-L] Tales from Jamlandia (Also, Harp Train amp review, and whither Steve Grimm?)

[meagher@xxxxx]

Harp-L'ers, 

 

Sorry for the wall of text! Feel free to disregard. The TLDR version is: 

 

-99% of people at blues jams are great, and every once in a while you get a
real jerk; 

-the Harp Train from Lone Wolf strikes me as a great value, a lot of honk
for not that much money; and 

-anyone heard from Steve Grimm lately? His Dude Harps are my favorite, but I
don't know if he's stopped making them or if he's just so busy that he's not
taking new customers. 

 

Been a long time since I posted anything substantive, so I'll relate some
tales from two recent blues jams. I haven't been to a jam in five or six
years, mostly because I was singing and playing harp in a band in SF called
the Western Nephews that sort of got wiped out by COVID. Since then, I moved
with my wife and one-year old baby to Boulder, CO, so a totally new music
scene. In April, I snapped my fibula into about six pieces playing baseball
- another vice I indulge into my 40s - and that made it impossible for me to
take my kid to school, so fortunately, my mother flew out from Boston to
help take care of my son (and me while I recovered). Couldn't have made it
through the six weeks without her, so I asked her how I could thank her, and
she said she just wanted to hear me play harmonica, since the last time she
saw me perform was when I sat in with my old band at my wedding in 2011. 

 

Well, I wasn't just going to serenade her in my living room, so I found a
blues jam down in Wheat Ridge at the Long Shots Bar & Grill, and off we
went. Had a blast. Divey bars can be super clique-ish, but I got called up
awfully fast (considering I was an unknown harmonica player), played fine,
made a couple harmonica player friends (Bob and Leo, I told them to join the
Harp-L as we were talking shop after!) and all was well. My mom had SUCH a
great time that she asked that we go back the following Thursday, right
before she flew home the following Friday, since I'm finally off crutches
and able to get around on my own, take care of the baby, etc. 

 

The next day, the whole family surprised me when my father came walking
through the door as a birthday surprise. So the following Thursday, it's the
three of us, heading back down to Long Shots, and since I'm a bit more of a
known commodity to the jam leader this time, I get called right up as soon
as the house band wraps its set. My father is playing roadie and puts my new
Harp Train amp onstage; I had just bought the HT from Lone Wolf, and it made
way more sense in a small room like the Long Shots than say my Sonny 4x10,
which would be WAY too much. Immediately the guitarist starts barking at me
about where the amp is - 'yeah you should really put that in the back, else
it'll be way too loud.' I mean. the Harp Train is a 10 watt amp with a
single 10" speaker, and besides. I've been playing this thing for 30 years,
I like to think I know how to manage my own volume in a jam. 'OK,' I say, 'I
can move it back if you WANT, but if we get loud at all, and I have to turn
up, I'll run the risk of more feedback.' And he rolls his eyes and makes a
kinda snotty comment about how 'I just don't want you to tear their ears
off' as he gestures at what passes for the front row. So I smile and say
'Ok, man, if you want me to move it, I'll move it back to the back of the
stage, no big deal.' 

 

What was really surprising to me when we started playing was not that the
guy kept acting like a jerk, because he had already kinda set those wheels
in motion, but rather, that my parents - who entering last Thursday night
had gone to one blues jam ever between them - picked up on those dynamics
*immediately* despite there being a lot of nuance and subtlety in blues jams
that probably took me a few years to pick up way back in the day. I guess
this guy was less subtle than usual, because as soon as I came off the stage
they asked 'hey, why was that guy such a jerk??' This was a new one for me -
when it was time to get started, he literally turned his back to me so I
couldn't hear what he was calling. Maybe that sounds paranoid, but I'm
telling you; you had to be there, it was transparently obvious, and my
speculation is that he called all non-12-bar-blues progressions in an effort
to throw me off/show me up. 

 

Well, look. I'm probably in the bottom quartile of harmonica players on this
list. I'm not the best harmonica player in the world, I'm probably not even
the best harmonica player in a five-mile radius of my house. BUT. I've been
playing this damn thing for 30 years, I'm not gonna get shook when you call
a non-blues progression, and once upon a time, I could let 'er rip a little.
so for example, this guy after the first song calls [inaudible song] in
[inaudible key] with his back turned to me, doesn't turn around to tell me
what it is, and launches into. Low Rider, with him playing the hook on
guitar. Like, come on man. I've been playing a long time. So it takes three
seconds to figure out what key it's in, I come in, and he gives me this hard
side eye when I start playing the hook. To Low Rider. You know. the song
where the hook is played by a harmonica. (I actually played LR in a band a
decade or so ago, so I threw in the Miller sax line as well, mishmashed with
a little stolen Sugar Blue/Adam Gussow stuff into it, and then got the rare
chance to pull out my Steve Baker Special and play the hook an octave down,
which is always fun.)  He calls After Midnight - well, I figured out it was
After Midnight after the song started, because again, he called it with his
back to me and his voice low - and calls all the other musicians for a solo,
ends the song without calling me. No big deal; when I was 25, that kinda
stuff would get my Irish up, but I'm 42 years old, and over the years I
learned that getting into some ego battle onstage a) doesn't mean anyone in
the audience enjoys themselves more, b) doesn't make you look any better or
cooler or earn other musicians' respect, c) doesn't put any more money in
the bartenders' tip jars, etc. It's just not worth it. So the third song
ends and I start packing up my gear and frankly I'm pretty happy - hey, I
got to play in front of my folks, that's all that matters -  and the jam
leader says 'oh, Evan, we're not done with you yet, you stay up there.'
Pulls the jerkface guitarist off the stage, sends up a completely new band,
and the new band and I proceed to have an absolute blast, we play about five
songs, female vocalist with great stage presence and the rhythm section of
the band she fronts. it was great. Right before my last song, I got to grab
the vocal mic - I had cleared it with the vocalist - and say 'hey, I don't
know what this next song is, but it goes out to my dear mom, who bought me
my first harmonica when I was 12 years old, and my dad, who surprised me by
flying out from Boston for my birthday, so this one's for you, mom & dad.'
Got a huge applause, because the vibe was right: the band was cooking and
everyone was having fun. 

 

Along the way, the Harp Train was great. Perfect size for the venue,
compresses nicely. I lent it to the next two harmonica players, since the
week prior, one of them had let me play through his amp - and it got a
little feedbacky (imagine that!) when the last set of the night got a little
out of control volume wise, but that wasn't the Harp Train's fault, it was
the fault of the knucklehead who put it behind the harmonica player. They
have a discount (or did recently anyway) on the amp because they had gotten
a shipment with minor stains - that stuff never bothers me - so I recommend
it as a great value buy. 

 

Lastly, anyone heard from Steve Grimm? If I had my druthers, I'd only play
Dude Harps - best value for the money, IMHO, especially if you overblow at
all - and if I'm gonna get back to playing regularly, I'd love to stock up,
but the last time I reached out I think I never got a response. Hope he's
doing well and just busy, because that guy makes a MEAN harmonica. 

 

Cheers, 

 

Evan Meagher