I had an idea some months ago, and I ran it by Jason. He expressed considerable interest--he said "Let's do it!"--but he's been busy and hasn't responded to several emails. This may flush him out.
The idea is this: some time this coming summer, most likely in June, I would like to put on a blues harmonica get-together in North Mississippi. Specifically, I'd like to put on a two-day gathering--clinic + performance--in which Jason and I, and our respective bands, would be joined by Brandon Bailey and Terry Bean as teachers and performers. I'm envisioning a gathering of the tribe, so to speak: anybody from here who can make it, plus anybody who responds to an open invitation on both our YouTube channels. There would be a teaching component, a jamming component--you guys, sober or drunk--and a performance component (including Jason guesting with Satan & Adam, and me guesting with him, and Brandon and Terry in there, too.)
Here's a video of Terry at work. He's a native of Pontotoc, Mississippi, about 25 miles from Oxford, and he's a groove-god, as you'll see if you watch the video all the way through:
I've though about having it on Saturday and Sunday, June 5 and 6th, because B. B. King's homecoming event in Indianola is Friday the 4th. Most likely it would start around 1 PM on Saturday and go into Sunday evening.
The homebase would be Foxfire Ranch, which is a beautiful outdoor gazebo thing on a horse ranch about 20 miles north of Oxford. Here's Robert Belfour playing there this past summer. When the sun goes down and the humidity swirls in off the hillside, fragrant and soft, it's a magical place.
Cost would be moderate. I'm hoping for something like $150-200 for the whole thing. The point is to keep costs reasonable, rather than profiteering, since that will enable folks with major transportation costs to attend. The price wouldn't include food, but Foxfire would make great food--lunch and dinner--available for a modest cost, $8-10 per meal. It wouldn't include housing, but Holly Springs is about 5 miles away and inexpensive motel rooms would be easy to find there. People could double up.
What do you think?
Specifically, who is able to say, at this point, that they are DEFINITELY interested and would be likely to attend?
If you fall into that category of "I will almost certainly do this if you guys put it on," please do me a favor. Email me directly at asgussow@aol.com. It's great if you also say "Hell yes!" here, but I'd like to see who is seriously interested.
The event would be a fair bit of work to put on. I think it could be incredibly fun. My goal isn't really profit so much as trying to create the most enjoyable possible way for Jason's and my harmonica students from around the world--and they really are scattered that far--to make a pilgrimage to blues country and meet face to face not just with us, but with all the madmen (and madwoman) on this forum.
Let me know. If there's a strong enough response, I'll move ahead. If there isn't--no big deal. It's a good idea either way, and I'm always willing to entertain a good idea until it's decisively proven not to fly.
Last Edited by on Dec 22, 2009 2:30 PM
Wow sounds cool. I would love to join in but I can't commit right now. Early June is crunch time for teacher (you know all about that don't you Adam) And I can't make any plans until I know if I am contracted for next year (recessions can be scary times for art teachers) The price sounds good and if people could double/quadruple up on car rental, that would make it more attractive. PLEASE consider this. You could supplement your revenues by having someone record the band and producing a live album. That would be Bad@ss! I hope I could make it and would let you know as soon as I can. ---------- The Art Teacher Formally Known As scstrickland
Oh! If only. I'm sure this will take off and be a great success Adam. If I get a big stroke of luck....if only this sort of thing happened in the UK. ----------
that's a lot of coin. the bean blossom blues fest charges $40 for 3 night and 2 days. more musicians but less structured lessons.but the informal lessons are plentiful and priceless, as are the late-into-the night fireside jams.
but that is in august and an addict cant wait around too long without a good fix. i cant commit but i can start another harp related fund.
A chance of a life time for sure. I'm throwing my hat in the ring. With you and Jason and great musicians like that, I'm seriously interested in this and will make every effort to attend. Come on MBHer's, give them some support on this. Let's make it happen. ---------- "Keep it in your mouth" - XHarp
Is it really a lot of coin? Jon Gindick charges $1000 for four and a half days. David Barrett charges $429 for a long weekend at Harmonica Masterclass.
Maybe you're right. It's strange. If we ONLY taught seminars for that day and a half, Jason and Brandon and Terry (who has done Port Townsend and several other big blues-week type things) and I, $200 would actually seem competitive. But the moment we actually mix that up with playing--doing what we do as performing professionals, rather than teaching professionals--$175 seems like a ridiculous amount to charge for a concert weekend.
Why is that? Something is screwy here.
Should we ONLY teach and not actually perform? I'm rethinking. Could be I made a strategic mistake here. I actually thought we were giving people good value, compared with Jon's fairly pricy camps.
I think the operative principle is: If we make the event all about you, and force you to listen to us talk about harp, and force you also to get up and jam, we can charge you a premium price. (Gindick and Barrett.) But if we make the weekend at least somewhat about Jason Ricci and Satan & Adam and Terry Bean and Brandon Bailey, we need to scale the entry fee way back. Maybe $30, to keep us competitive with the Bean. Is that about right? Please weigh in everybody.
i have no problem with the price. an i think you guys should perform as well as teach. i think there should be allot more teaching then performing though for that price. but the price is fair. an besides its two of the best harmonica players in the world teaching. thats priceless.
You and Jason et al have been pretty good to us all so far so make the price what YOU think it should be. I don't think anyone familiar with this forum would assume it to be profiteering of any kind. 200 is a lot of cash but when you consider that your proposing to have 2 days + Gig + workshop + jam, looks to me like you're getting a lot back. compare it to how many Manjis, B-rads or Buddha harps it'll get you or how many 1on1 lessons with Levy or Buddha hiself I'd love to attend but unfortunatly cost of air fare would be .....ah crap!
---------- My granddad gave me some sound advice on his deathbed. "It's worth spending money on good speakers," he told me.
How cool! I'm in!!! Coming from Ohio, may have to sleep in van. Won't be the first time. Hope there's a creek close to bathe in! i just saw jason in dayton, Ohio. Would'nt miss this for anything at that price. My garden will be planted, Morel Mushrooms harvested, and Lawn chair deer jerky prepared for the trip. I may have to re-marry that beautiful woman for the 3rd time, but I'll be there!! And I Thank You K.C.
i cant wait until you come and do the project in Tulss I seen they mentioned you on the route 66 harp club website. for the one night clinic. I would lve to attend it.and will be looking for more details as to when it will be held.
perform and teach, as sparrow says.... great hook for us to want to make the trek... Ill nickel and dime it for the next six months, so you just tell me how much to bring and ill make it work. kyzer is in, for sure. Nashville to Oxford aint too damned far.
You got to mix it up. If it's just going to be a weekend long concert I'm out. I'll wait until any future road tours get closer to go and sit in the audience and watch you play. If I'm going to meet the trip costs, I look for tips and lessons because I want to get better at this thing, then I want to see how the pros use the tools they just gave me in an actual stage setting. If I get a chance to get on stage and make mistakes and get them sorted out as well, then that's worth the trip.
I don't expect anything for free. You and Jason have already given us tons on you Tube for free. I would expect to pay a fair rate for you giving up your experience and knowledge on a more presonal level.
Tough one...I was planning on going to Clarksdale. While it's much more expensive....coming from Syracuse , a longer stay would seem to make the trip worthwhile. I guess I gotta weigh the pluses and minuses. See you in Philly ! ---------- Music is your own experience, your own thoughts, your wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn. They teach you there's a boundary line to music. But, man, there's no boundary line to art. - Charlie Parker
I don't think the price is too high, it's just too much for me. You have to set the price where it makes you money. Sometimes that means that some people won't be able to afford it, but that's OK. You just have to promise to tell us some good stories afterwords. :)
yes. $200 is a lot of coin. anyone who thinks it isnt can send me some. i'd send a thank you note like my momma taught me. lol
i dont think comparing what you want to do with gindick's or barrett's camp is wise as they have both been doing this for quite a few years. you didnt see the other new football leagues charging nfl prices for their tickets, did you?
the true question should be, "is it a good value?" it probably is more than a good value especially if there is 2 days of intense teaching like the other camps adam mentioned. but let's take into account that the other camps have more teachers and a limited enrollment size giving them a pretty decent student-to-teacher ratio. but you counter-balance that with some potential great shows.
you would be making a mistake, in my opinion, if you try to compete with any of the other camps. blaze your own trail. tweak it if you need to and you do another.
please dont take this as any sort of bashing. i said in my original post that i am trying to scrape money together. (already got $5!!) i have always praised adam and his contributions to the harp community. (not here as i dont think anybody that is on this forum would disagree and there are plenty of homers shouting his praise.)
dont let eharp discourage you from the clinic cause i want to go. june is a long time from now. an your charging what i make in about a week or so. so it is no problem to come up with that kind of money.
Mr. Gussow, Daddy Rich from Clarksdale here. I think that's a swell idea. I'm sure i'll be God knows where playing some weird music on tour during that time. I thought of one thing, don't know if you'd consider, may be to complicated or maybe not. What if in your "tribe gathering" (since i'm seeing a lot of talk of coin on here, ain't got about $200 to my name at the moment, BUT i do think it's a very fair price) ANYWAY what if you Charged the folk who just wanted to "attend" the event, watch only a "economy price" And those who wanted to take part in the Lesson part And/OR jamming/watching a different price? different passes or something of that nature? Just a though.
rock on, -$DR$ ---------- $Daddy Rich$ "The Blues is Ok!"
$200 is a fair price. I doubt anybody who can't come up with that would come if it were less. ---------- The Art Teacher Formally Known As scstrickland
I for one am definitely interested. i can save some gig money up and not come out of my 'day-job' pay. The price is fair. Making my personal logisitcs fall into place before then will give me a goal to work towards. ---------- ~Todd L. Greene, Devout Pedestrian
"listen to what you like for inspiration, but find your own voice"
This is my take on it. I've always felt that education does not come cheap. Although $200 for two or three days sounds like a lot of money, it's really a bargain. I attended the Garden State Harmonica Club Festival last month and that was $35 a day, but did not include any lessons. Last spring I took a surfboard design/building class that met on four consecutive nights for approx. 3 hrs. a night. That too was $200, again a bargain. On the other hand, I've also have attended fly fishing shows that charge an admission fee of $15 to walk around and see vendors and manufactures. They also offer additional small group classes which are 3-4 hrs in length that cost as much as $100 per class. Why not do something along those lines and cater to various needs and wants? I'll be at your clinic in Philly on the 29th, maybe you can get some feed back there after the clinic. At $20 that too is a real bargain. Phil
I intend to be there if at all possible. I'm down for any format. I would want it to be profitable for you and associates, Adam. I haven't paid for a single lesson but what you have given me (deeper insights into the axe, the music, the soul of an artist)is priceless.
A combination of instruction with you guys expressing yourselves as artists and the opportunity to shake your hand, hang and jam would be well worth it to me. I think I can raise those funds in 5 months.
I am very interested at this point, don't know about work schedule and if I'll have a car or the money. Adam, is there an end all must know deadline that we have to email you by? $200 is more than fair I think, but if you want to lower it it you will hear no complaints from me haha.
If I cant come in...Can I sit out front of your door?? I think Terry Harmonica Bean is worth any kind of money, mixed with Doctor Gussow, Ricci, Brandon Lee...priceless!
$200 is a real bargain but at the same time still a lot of money for some, especially when you figure in meals, transportation and lodging. You could easily spend close to $1,000.
when traveling alone I normally sleep in my car at the nearest rest stop or well lit parking lot if I won't get harassed by police/security, and pack non-perishables for meals. that would cut the cost to maybe $400.
Adam I'm in! Tell me the exact weekend and I'll try and mark it off in ink within two weeks if not I'll suggest an alternate weekend if possible with you... J
What a bunch of cheapies! I've been to a few of these things--Masterclass--SPAH--Centrum Blues Camp--Centrum Piedmont Blues camp--and $200 is CHEAP for what Adam and Jason are offering.
Sounds incredibly fun--and, while I can't commit right now--I'll sure as hell bust a nut trying to get there. It isn't the $200 that bothers me--it's the accomodations, food, and travel cost that makes me think hard. . .
"what they are offering"?? it sounds a bit vague. tell us, ow, how many shows will they do? what are the combinations? how long? what time will the seminars start? how long will each one be? what will the seminars be on? what time will the jams be? is it still cheap for what they are offering. i hope you see my point.
is it just harp players that want to spend money on things that are just ideas? (adam's camp and the b-radical being the two most obvious example.) or is it because we are addicts. being a recovering addict, i see the similarities.
since it has been brought up a couple of times, the cost of the ticket may not be outrageous. it is all the things that go along with it. food, gas and lodging are most of it financially, but what about the travel time? if this starts 10 am saturday, i would have to leave after work and drive all night. then drive all sunday night to get back in time for work on monday.
oh, i just noticed that jason is just finding out about this. sounds like this hasnt been planned out very well. not that all great things have started out well planned.
btw- still standing at $25. the fund hasnt grown since yesterday, but it didnt shrink either!! lol
He hasen't asked for any money yet, just seeing who might be interested. Nothing personal eharp, but if you don't think it will be a good value, just stay home.
its a day and a half of food...$ is easy to pin down. Does it really matter what combination of offerings he puts together? or how long they last or what the subject matter will be? regardless, im sure it will be informative and entertaining. i, for one, will sleep in my truck since its only one night, theres $ saved too...
sounds to me like some just cant be content with the unknown... if thats the case just dont attend. I say keep the cost reasonable but high enough so that there arent 200 of us in a field somewhere...because then its a concert...
if you think it will be a good value just send the money now. you said that you're in. as the saying goes, put your money where your mouth is.
i never said it wouldnt be a good value, did i? just the opposite. for 2 days of intense teaching, $200 could be a great deal.
i do believe that without knowing the details, a rational and educated decision cant and shouldnt be made. it is unknown because no specifics have been given, mainly due to adam seems to be just feeling the waters at this stage. my point is that $200 is a lot of money, especially when you arent told what you get for your money.
maybe i shouldnt play devil's advocate? maybe i should just join the homer squad? maybe i should just conform? naaaw.
see, leon, i am saving for the event. i have hopes that the details will work out. i guess i am just wondering if folks know more about the event than adam has told us or is there some other reason why some folks say $200 is a good deal without having the specifics. perhaps this is just an optimistic group, though the b-radical thread seems to dispel this idea.
@eHarp: "i guess I am just wondering if folks know more about the event than adam has told us." No. They don't. This thread is the sum total of what anybody knows. I understand that you want good value for your money; who doesn't? Everything else is about your suspicions, not my intentions. As for me being "the other football leagues," which is to say, a relative novice at this teaching-and-clinic thing: all I can do is laugh. I began teaching harp in classroom settings 23 years ago. I taught beginning and intermediate classes at the Guitar Study Center for 5 years the first time, 3 years the second time. I've taught at 9 of Gindick's camps. I've taught privately for more than two decades. In 2008 I taught at Blues Week in Northampton UK and taught another week--three 90 minute sessions a day for six days, each on a different topic--at Mundharmonika-Live in Klingenthal, following Charlie McCoy and Howard Levy in that particular master-teacher spot. I make no pretenses to being what I'm not, but it would be nice to get credit for what I am, which is a very experienced harmonica teacher, somebody who gives good value for his money in any kind of teaching setting.
@Jonsparrow: Thanks for picking up on that. :) : @everybody: It should go without saying that the very provisional price I quoted at the beginning of this thread isn't money that would go directly into my pocket. I'll have to pay the owner of Foxfire Ranch a considerable fee for hosting the event. I'll have to pay Terry Bean, Brandon Bailey. I'll have to pay at least one assistant to run around. My assumption was that Jason and I would split whatever was left. Of course there will be other expenses; there always are.
It's good to see the positive feedback and no surprise to see some negative feedback. This is a blues website.
Last Edited by on Dec 25, 2009 7:48 PM
I get and appreciate you playing the devil's advocate eharp. Certainly one shouldn't chump out like a lemming on little information. For me, these fellows wouldn't have to offer much more than the opportunity to have a personal conversation for it to be worth the dough to me. They really have provided something to the world that was impossible before the internet. I started stabbing in the dark learning harp before that and the learning curve was much longer.
Amassing large groups of people and putting on anything costs money. I hope it is actually profitable for them. And that is a clearing for harp playing and mastery to be profitable to others.
Since ancient times the student always sacrifices something to the master. It used to be a huge portion of their life, loyalty, service. Now it's $200 bucks...we're so spoiled! ;)
if you want to learn to be a tattoo artist, you must get a job at a shop an NOT get paid, but pay your teacher $20,000. an that is cheap compared to what most people pay for that.
a better comparison, normal music lessons can go any where from $60 to $90 for just one hour. one hour. shit some concerts cost that much, an were getting some of the best in this genre performing and teaching for 2 days. now i donno about any other states but no music school in jersey teaches harmonica.
Last Edited by on Dec 25, 2009 9:09 PM
adam- i never questioned your skill or ability to teach. you have many students that would prove that point false. but being one of the instructors at a jam camp is far different that actually organizing one. i have coached little league football and would not dream of being prepared to run a pro team except the lions. as for my "suspicions"... that assumes i have a feeling about this endeavor. at that i have to laugh. i have 2 feelings on the whole of this project: 1) slight amazement. you are once again proving what your ability at business. you are turning your passion and hobby into a way to make some money. i say, "bravo, adam." 2) confusion. with the very limited amount of specifics, folks say that the $200 is a good deal.
in my first post i said $200 is a lot of coin.
in my second post i gave an opinion to you that you should be hesitant to compare your camp to the other camps.
my third post is an attempt to see what others are finding in your proposal to make it a good deal.
the fourth is a reiteration of the third.
but, to me, because i just didnt jump on the bandwagon or get in the "lemming" line i get posts suggesting i dont go, that my assertion of $200 being a lot is wrong, that i am trying to discourage you, that i am on santa's naughty list, and that i have suspicions to your intentions.
or am i reading all this wrong? does this seem right? if anybody is being attacked, it seems to be me.
i have stated from the first that i am beginning to save money for this camp. perhaps the money would be better spent on a counseling for my negative and suspicious nature.
btw, jon- i can direct you to lessons for only$25 per hour from somebody who learned from filisko and use to be part of his "mob".
@eHarp: I'm not sure why you keep hammering on the $200 figure. Please take a look at my original post. I said "I'm hoping for something like $150-200 for the whole thing." You clearly have some resistance to the upper end of my proposed price-point. Fair enough. But don't confuse that with me having suggested $200 as a firm figure. I didn't.
I organized and produced three "Blues Today" symposiums at the University of Mississippi (2003-2005). Each of them had 10-15 panelists and presenters, each of whom had to be catered to, and an audience of 50-100 paying attendees. I've played big league ball. But of course I haven't actually organized a jam camp weekend. Jason has. It was called "Rockers in the Rockies." In any case, I figured that if we charged roughly half of what Gindick and Barrett charged on a per diem basis--my suggested price point of $150-200--that would put to rest any complaints about us being overreachers.
You have proved me wrong.
When I mentioned how the money would be split, I failed to mention, of course, that Jason's band, Sterling Magee, and Dave on Drums would also need to be paid. My guys would have to make a 1600 r/t from Tampa to Mississippi and back.
There are easier ways to make money, frankly, than trying to put on the sort of event I sketched in my original post. I think I'll stick with them.
Last Edited by on Dec 26, 2009 8:23 AM
