Just stumbled across a name that was new to me. He does some nice stuff in this video. I suspect we'll be hearing more from him on the national scene in a year or two:
VERY nice chromatic work. The diatonic stuff early in the song is fine, but nowhere as distinct at deLay's. That's less a slam on this guy, and more of a compliment to deLay (RIP).
Yeah his Chrom work is different than most blues guys. I only had time a for quick check. It seem like is using E# at times and is using chromatic side steps with some chords. Has a little Stevie with traditional third position. Also sounds like some tongue trills. ---------- Emile "Diggs" D'Amico a Legend In His Own Mind How you doin'
Great vocals (although a bit on the sharp side), stage presence and very competent playing. The very fact that his chrom work sounds like it is influenced by listening to DeLay makes him one to listen to, but not the innovator that DeLay was. ---------- The Iceman
I see Adam found my video. very cool. Hank Shreve is part of the Tye Curtis Band.
http://www.tycurtisband.com/
They are pretty amazing. The Tye Curtis band, from Salem, Oregon, has amassed a recording catalogue of three critically acclaimed albums and earned 2nd place, in the prestigious 2009 International Blues Challenge in Memphis
I knew that the first thing I was going to do after falling out of bed this morning was search the forum archive and see what, if anything, had been posted about Hank Shreve. I'm surprised to find this thread from 2011--but also not surprised.
He's the big surprise of the 2017 International Blues Challenge for me. He came onstage last night in the semifinals with a big ballsy tone, tight and high-middy, that reminded me a lot of Jason. Started with a slow blues. I thought for the moment that it was a tactical mistake to start slow. But he's got a full, strong, nuanced voice--albeit not as massive as William Clarke; still maturing but very strong--and great emotion, great chops. Definitely in the money. His licks had a Paul Delay feel: inventive, percussive, angular. (Dry sound; no reverb or delay.) Second song he switched to keyboard and played great boogie-woogie piano. Third song he switched to dobro and played like Derek Trucks. Serious high level stuff.
At that point I felt as though I'd heard enough to know that the guy was going to end up in the finals. My wife and I started to leave. He picked up a chromatic and at that point the real magic started. I rarely hear a player who makes me want to throw down my harps and say "You win," but Shreve has that level of intensity and mastery on harp. We've all got these mental lists. On the basis of what I heard, he instantly vaulted onto the list of Top-10 living blues chromatic players. I have no idea what he was doing. He was moving chordally, modulating, mutating the sounds as he went. He was all over the thing. I've seen Kashmar, Piazza, Clarke, Estrin, Gruenling up close and personal. This was in some ways on another level beyond what all of them are doing.
That's what I heard. Yes, he absolutely merits a "Yes!" answer to the title of this thread. He is easily Paul Delay's successor. I would not want to get on stage with this guy. He's that strong.
I don't know if he made the finals of the IBC, but he has to be in the running. In order to do that, he'd need to be the best out of the six semifinalist acts in the club I saw him in. The fact that he plays all those instruments as well as he does is a huge plus; the virtuoso chromatic thing should help. If he makes the finals, he'll have some heavy competition, including Souliz featuring Sugar and Spice, a gospel blues band fronted by a pair of soul sisters who can sing the hell out of whatever they touch. But he just might do it.
Edited to add: I didn't realize that he and the Ty Curtis Band made the finals and came in second in 2009. So he's come close.
Last Edited by kudzurunner on Feb 04, 2017 7:08 AM
Hank is absolutely one of the most ferocious players alive today. I have personally witnessed several accounts of devastating amounts of destruction. It was really heart warming to read Adam's eloquent posts about him here. He also a very nice guy, very humble, super chill and those qualities make him even more dangerous! I'm pretty sure they are renaming Shreveport: Hank Shreve Port very soon. ---------- www.mooncat.org
It's worth mentioning that he's a nice guy too--that can take you far. And he is a Suzuki endorser--I like that. Hank and I shared a Stevie Wonder moment at NAMM a few years back. Like I say, he has been nothing but polite to me. Sorry to hear he didn't win in Memphis, but that won't stop him!
Just happen to stop by here, and noticed this post... and surprised to see a post of mine from long ago in the thread.
I would not attempt to compare anyone to Paul DeLay or a "successor"... maybe if he played harp and did time in prison with Paul... but I won't go there... Hah!
Like I said in my earlier post... Hank Shreve impressed the heck out of me when I first heard him... he's a great harp player and singer... I would pay to go see him and would love to meet him !
Very interesting and unique style. I'm seeing that he plays diatonic "upside down"...please correct me if I'm wrong.
Also, he has that rapid tongue ability (like "Whammer Jammer" live version just before that quick drum break near the end of the song) that I've chased for years but can't seem to get up to speed.
He definitely keeps my interest during his solos. Very original ideas. ---------- The Iceman
Last Edited by The Iceman on Feb 04, 2017 4:45 PM
In this context, the word successor had a specific meaning for me--and the meaning is reinforced by what I saw last night. It means a world-class player coming out of the Pacific Northwest whose playing has recognizable echoes of Delay's style. Shreve is that and has that. The fact that he also, like Delay, plays chromatic like a mindbending motherf*cker was something I didn't know when I gave this thread a title six years ago. But it helps justify the thread-title. No prison-time needed! Just great harp.
re: Shreve's chromatic work: I found one brief video in which he's messing around for 30 seconds on a Suzuki chrom, but nothing else. I had my videocam with me! I should have pulled it out but I was out the door. I stood on the sidewalk--made my wife wait in the cold--while I listened for a while, then shook my head and moved down Beale.
Kudzu-He didn't win at that venue. The band that preceded them won that venue. Go figure.
Since he's from the Pacific northwest,I wonder if he had some lessons with DeLay. His chromatic playing was very similar,in some respects.
Last Edited by Tuckster on Feb 06, 2017 8:27 AM
It’s very cool that Professor Gussow brought up this post from 2011. I understand the Paul Delay connection. Hank has also mentioned to me that Curtis Selgado (home town) had a big influence on his development. I heard some of that when they played together this New Years. I understand Hank started playing harmonica when he was 8 years old. Successor? He’s still a young guy (30’s) so he has plenty of time to fill some powerful shoes.
My wife and I got to visit with Hank a couple days before he flew east. Lucky for us Jason Ricci invited him to play at his home town of Eugene as a guest at the Mark Hummel Blowout. Hank was very humble while expressing how honored he was to play with “the greats” at this concert. It was also really neat seeing Jason stoked by having Hank on stage with the group. Hank is a fantastic ambassador for harmonica, blues and Oregon. I suspect his father Bill (bass player and vocalist) deserves substantial credit.
Hank is scheduled to play at Mac’s in Eugene on the Feb, 24th.
I try to capture some of his chromatic there.
dave ---------- It's about time I got around to this.
Dave, please do that and post it here. In fact, tell him that I was blown away by whatever song that was that he did on chromatic on Friday night at the IBC--fourth or fifth song of the set--and have been raving about it here.
