Video of the Week February 8 2011: Barcelona Bluegrass Band
Killer harmonica from Joan Pau Cumellas in this video, who knew that Spanish kids were getting into bluegrass? Plenty of other stuff on Youtube from this band and this concert, check it ALL out.
Video of the week February 5 2011: Charlie Musselwhite in Concert
Charlie Musselwhite and band playing “Blues Why Do You Worry Me?” Classic Charlie, meaning blue and personal, with touches of jazz in both the harp and guitar. Charlie starts this piece in second position, switches to third position for the first solo, and back to…
More Looper!
I’m preparing for the Virginia Harmonicafest, which I’m supposed to play in March, but may not unless a few more paying customers show up. (A post to the harp-l list tonight from the organizers said they’ve only sold eleven tickets so far, and they need…
More ringtones!
I’ve put a few new ringtones up on my site on the downloads page. Scroll to the bottom of the page and look at the Ringtones section. At the top of that section, you’ll see “3 harp slide,” “3 harp stroll”, and “Dual Electro Harp…
Video of the Week, 21 January 2011: JJ Milteau with Soul Conversation
The great French harp player JJ Milteau with Soul Conversation, in a live concert performance of “Rock ‘n Roll Will Never Die” from 2009. The rhythm section in this band drives very hard, and Milteau responds with some electrifying rhythm work on acoustic harp. Love…
Video of the week 15 January 2011: Marcos Coll plays hiphop with my patch set
Here’s Spanish harmonica player Marcos Coll with his latest hiphop project. Plenty of harp in this performance, all played through a Digitech RP250 running my patch set. The sound of the harp is cool and ambient, fits great with the music.
RP Tip #6: Don’t step on the RP (unless you really mean it)
About a week ago, I played a gig that involved six bands, of which I played with two. I used my Fireball mic and an RP355, and I ran the output from the 355 straight to the PA. It worked great–after a song or two…
Video of the Week 23 Dec. 2010: Chris Michalek, RIP
Chris Michalek, a dedicated harmonica artist, died last week unexpectedly and too young. (Which is the case for most of us, I guess.) This video shows Chris playing with a solid band, without his usual battery of effects, all the better to hear his beautiful…
Vote for Alexander Paclin in the Youtube Symphony Contest!
I got a message from the young Russian harmonica player Alexander Paclin today, to wit: Hey Richard! Would you do me a favor? Vote for me right here please! http://www.facebook.com/l/9450fFzru_zNRyYpwTaig6Zftrg;goo.gl/5ErVH It’s Youtube Symphony Contest, in which I’m participating! Thank you in advance! I checked out…
A New Contender for Low-Watt Tube Amp King: VHT Special 6
Every harp player who plays lots of blues will sooner or later own a small tube amp–a 5 or 6 watter with an 8″ or 10″ speaker, typically with a 12AX7 preamp tube and an EL84 or 6V6 amp tube. I own a Crate VC508…
