Hi All: This is some video I captured with my cell phone of Xharp (Dobro Guitar and Harp), Jawbone (Harp and vocals) and yours truly (poor harp playing) jamming down on Queen Street West in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Xharp rolls with a sweet '80's Peavey tube amp in his trunk, hooked up to his car's battery. He plugged in his dobro, and we tried two mics (a green bullet and Jawbone's own hand made mic with an Apex dynamic element). They both played really great. Xharp is fantastic guitar man as well as being a very talented harp player, and Jawbone is wonderful vocalist and a great harp player. I kind of suck at playing along with other folks, so please forgive my shoddy harp on "Key to the Highway" (I've never even tried to play it before!).
Anyway, we had a great time, drew a bit of a crowd at one point, and had an all around blast playing on the street... I can't wait to do it again!
Don't sell yourself yourself short, you play very well. As for doing it again, let me know when and where. I'm always up for a little street jammin'. Got the Peavey, 'billed out and bound to go",
I had a blast man. Thanks for the good times and the cold beer.
Well E - I wouldn't say we were banned exactly....it's just that we had such a crowd following us they couldn't accomodate all of us...yeah, that's it....yeah ---------- If it ain't got harp - it ain't really blues!!!!
They couldn;t find a venue big enough for all our, uh, shall we say "wind"? So we took it out to the street!
Oh, and Xharp, I'm not trying to sell myself short, merely recognizing that "playing with others" is an area that I need to work on. Actually, meeting up with you guys helped me realize that. I've been almost completely a solo harp player from day one, and have almost never played with any other musicians. I think I've gotten pretty good at solo harp. But it was a total blast playing with you two, so now I know that I'm going to NEED to go find me a guitar player. I also now know that I have to put the time in to learn all the standards... There's no way i can hang at a blues jam if i don't. Now of course, busking on my own in the street is a totally different situation... I'm definitely sure I can hang there! ;) ---------- ------------------ The magnificent YouTube channel of the internet user known as "isaacullah"
Hey Isaac - I don't really "learn" any of the songs but what I do try to work on, even if it's impromptu, is I try to play, as close as possible, what I would do if I was singing the song - the melody - or pick up on a riff that fits and build on that. Maybe get a collection of jam tracks and play along. ---------- If it ain't got harp - it ain't really blues!!!!
Absolutely Isaacullah, you know the riffs, I heard you play them. You can hang with anyone busking or jammin'. Once you get the standards under your belt look out!
On an other note, The Peavey started crackling and spitting last night during a long harp session.... Kept cutting in and out. I plugged in the speaker of my Fender DRRI (same size and make) and all is well. Gotta get me a new speaker I guess.
And Re. the speaker in your Peavey: Check the solder joint where the speaker wires are connected to the speaker. If it's cracked or loose at all, the signal to the speaker will start going in and out with the vibrations of the music. Just resolder the joint. If it looks good, then you may have actually blown the speaker, but no sense in wasting money when you don't have to! :) ---------- ------------------ The magnificent YouTube channel of the internet user known as "isaacullah"
As I have recently departed from my band I was thinking of 'offing' the Fender DRRI and grabbing up a old 15 to 20 watt amp or something like that with an 8"or 10" speaker. That the Peavey 12" started crapping out got me thinking that I can 'upgrade' to a smaller 25 watt 10" speaker and not have to buy the Champ after I get rid of the DRRI.
Got to replace the speaker mounting board anyway, its cracked from a prior stage accident and been held together with Duct Tape for many years now so perhaps this is the way to go after all.
Anyone got any suggestions on 25 watt 8" or 10" speakers for Harp? ---------- "Keep it in your mouth" - XHarp
Hey jawbone, Yup, after last Thursday on Queen St. I decided to make the leap while driving home. That session confirmed that I just need to do something different. I've been playing rythym, leads and slide in blues/rock bands for years and I have had enough.
I want to do something with less volume and truer to my blues heart. I'm hoping it will be easier to book and definitely easier to pack and load in my car. So the other guitar player (who is still with the band for now) and I are starting an acoustic duet. Blues, roots, folk based, guitar/harmonica/vocal thing. We are sorting out our set list and starting to fold it together on Monday night.
Queen Street! That used to be our destination for leisure when I live in Vermont. There is nothing in VT! You sound pretty good. About being a solo player- I was in the same boat untill I found a guitar player to play with. It was weird to just play alot of rythm. I never thought it sounded well solo so I felt I never needed to play much but I had to learn on the fly. I had to complement as opposed to riffing all the time. It reminded me of a joke I read online-
This harmonica dies and goes to heaven. There's a long line at the pearly gates, and some dude is going around telling folks in line that they can check out Hell while they are waiting for their spot by just going over to the red elevator over there (points). "You know, if you don't like it, just get back on the elevator and come back up." so, the guy thinks to himself, "hey, gotta check it out...maybe it ain't so bad after all." so over he goes, gets into the elevator and down he goes... the elevator stops, he gets out and the Devil himself is there to show him around. So, off they go and pretty soon, he's thinking to himself that maybe this ain't so bad after all...they stop in at a nightclub, and there's a great little band inside who's playing their asses off. He spots some famous folks he knows... "Hey, ain't that Little Walter over there?" They leave, and he finally asks the Devil, "Wow, those cats were smokin'. This place is great! But one thing... there's got to be a catch to this...What is it?" The Devil turns to him and says, quite matter-of-factly, "No solos."
