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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
The Harmonica Collective (Indianapolis)
The Harmonica Collective (Indianapolis)
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Moon Cat
160 posts
Feb 21, 2013
5:10 PM
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Hey everyone: It's finally time I chime in on this amazing upcoming event I among many others have the pleasure of being involved in. If you want to skip the hype and register the info is at the bottom of the post.
I initially conceived of the idea for the H.C. (Harmonica Collective) with Paul Davies (of SPAH fame) as continuation of my previous seminars I held in Colorado called Rockers in The Rockies. At Rockers in the Rockies we brought in instructors from every imaginable musical genre we could find. The focus was on the instrument itself, it's lay out, capabilities and applications in any style of music. Additionally we tried to emphasize performance and band/musician communication in a real setting where players got feedback in a controlled environment from Bass Players, drummers and guitarists as well as the other Harmonica players. The term Collective is meant to imply a stylistically diverse offering.
The Harmonica Collective (April 24th-27th) in Indianapolis Indiana is a more refined, more centrally located version of Rockers.
Currently organized by Winslow Yerxa ( Author, Publisher, Inventor, Player and current president of SPAH among other accomplishments). The Harmonica Collective will feature some of the most diverse, specialized, famous and studied teachers/players in the music industry. Our focus is to give intermediate and advanced players tools, ideas and stylistic applications they cant find any where else. Beginners are welcome and there will certainly be beginner classes however we feel at H.C. that the beginner has a variety of other seminars,classes,camps and retreats where their needs are already met. I have taught at many of these events and have repeatedly seen the players who have already learned bending, trills, cross harp etc... yawning in the back waiting for that famous instructor to talk about what they do. Patiently the intermediate/advanced player waits for the talk on 3rd position scales, over blows, modal playing or so many other subjects they have seen discussed in youtube vids or in these forums while the instructor works with one beginner on how to bend. The sad part is often that beginner (not to blame!) is just there for a get away/fun weekend and may not even practice those bends again while the dedicated player (Often in a lower income bracket) never gets to learn that scale or those over blows he paid to hear.
At the Harmonica Collective we will teach these techniques and ideas all the way through, classes will rotate so that everyone has the oppurtunity to study all the information from different Instructors. There will be small jam circles a Jam at an Indianapolis bar and an instructor/guide show at the end. The Harmonica Collective is the last stop for players who have "graduated" from other seminars, looking for more advanced instruction or are interested in musical styles outside of blues alone.
The Instructors alone reflect this dedication and intention:
Last Edited by Moon Cat on Feb 21, 2013 5:30 PM
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Moon Cat
161 posts
Feb 21, 2013
5:11 PM
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1.) Winslow Yerxa: Winslow is a mad scientist of harmonicas and harmonica music. Winslow ran H.I.P. the only harmonica publication/magazine I know of. For H.I.P. he wrote articles outlining the lay out and possibilities of this instrument before anyone had ever done so. He did this for Bass harps, Chromatics, Tremelos, Chord Harps and Diatonics and stranger harps alike. He is in my opinion the greatest player ever to touch the XB 40. Winslow is a master of French, French Canadian styles, fiddle tunes, Irish, Jazz and Blues alike. He is the author of the books: "Harmonica For Dummies" and "Blues Harp for Dummies". During his years at HIP he interviewed Mad Cat, Popper, Levy and many, others for us, asking poignant questions relevant to our community. I sought out these old and discontinued publications and devoured them in the backs of vans during long tours. When I met Winslow it was like meeting the "Larry King" of the harmonica Community. Winslow is brilliant. While I was running the Blow Off at Spah I booked Winslow on every event I ever held. He is a very logical, calm, perceptive, patient and attentive teacher, person and player. He brings to the event amazing resources for stylistic diversity, scale and modal explanations and applications, history and use of various harmonicas, over blows, Valved, XB 40's, Sub 30's, chromatics and more! With Winslow Yerxa being the current President of SPAH (The largest harmonica convention in the world for 50 years) potential H.C. attendees should have no worry at all that they are in the best organizational and unbiased artistic hands ever offered by any seminar, camp, or get away!
Last Edited by Moon Cat on Feb 21, 2013 5:52 PM
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Moon Cat
162 posts
Feb 21, 2013
5:13 PM
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2.) RJ Mischo:
Singer/Harmonica player R.J. Mischo began his music career over 20 years ago in Minneapolis. He worked with the area’s legends of the Blues scene like Muddy Waters alumni Mojo Buford and Sonny Rogers, as well as Percy Strothers & Milwaukee Slim. R.J. then led his own groups and gained a reputation as one of the region's top blues acts. R.J. was nominated in several categories by the Minnesota Music Academy and in 1996 won the award for Best Harmonica Player.
Anyone who has ever seen RJ knows, not only is he a power house who has more than held his own next to guys like Kim, Rick Estrin, Annie Raines, Primich and others but also knows this man can lead a band! RJ will teach you how to talk to a band, any band. How to get that drum beat you want, how to call those changes and how to start and end that song. You don't have to know tons of theory to study with RJ! He'll bring it to you on a real down home blue collar level! This guy is a work Horse touring all year, teaching singing and playing his heart out with different bands and various amps sometimes on every gig. R.J. knows how to make it work for you. He has GIANT tone. He's a real deal Tongue Blocking Blues man and he's the Harmonica Collectives collective answer for all our blues guys. Some big famous players can be illusive in their teaching styles saying "Just Play it" or "Listen to more Walter" or " I just kinda learned it through osmosis" etc... RJ is able to explain these things without going too far in the opposite direction with long drawn out music theory explanations and chalk board glyphs. This is our Ace in the hole for all you blues players looking for a little push ahead with out the "Giant Steps".
3.) Michael Peloquin:
Then again if you want to learn "Gian Steps" here's your man!!! I learned how to over draw from Michael Peloquin, I also learned how to play all my bends more in tune and Michael has taught me to think about positions, playing, modes and scales differently! M.P. can play Blues with the best of them has with E.C .Scott and off and on with Tommy Castro for years. Everyone in San Francisco that plays Jazz and Blues knows Michael Peloquin as a Sax, Harp, or Chromatic Harmonica player. He is a well known band leader, sideman and session fusion. I used Michael at both Rocker in the Rockies seminars and he was amazing! His ability to teach theory, harmony and make it funny and exciting are brilliant. He has been overblowing as long as Howard Levy has and it shows. He bends those tones up whole steps and further and uses those pitches! He has a way of explaining hard and difficult ideas with metaphors personalized to each individual. He gets inside the mind and thought patterns of his students and wont give up till he reaches them. He is a Demonic player and downright evil executioner of furious techniques mixed with passionate expression when playing and a kind, sweet, comical and nurturing man when teaching. Some are great players but not great teachers, some vice versa Michael Peloquin is both.
Last Edited by Moon Cat on Feb 21, 2013 6:10 PM
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Moon Cat
163 posts
Feb 21, 2013
5:14 PM
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4.) Richard Sleigh:
So you want some advice on Harp Customizing? The Harmonica Collective answers your needs with perhaps the most famous, most studied, active customizer in the world today! Richard Sleigh (Http://rsleigh.com/) has been exploring American Roots Music and the harmonica from the inside out for over 40 years. His latest adventures include being a featured soloist with the Wooster Symphony Orchestra and Paquito D’Rivera, playing and teaching Blues harmonica in Clarkesdale Mississippi, opening as a solo act for the Marshall Tucker Band and Nancy Griffith. Over the years he has also appeared with Taj Mahal, Bo Diddley, Maria Muldaur, and many others, performed and given harmonica workshops here and abroad.
His background includes a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Printmaking and Drawing, and a number of different occupations including deck hand, graphic designer, and free lance artist and musician. The harmonica kept returning as a focal point in his life. Richard has a mad scientist / adventurer streak that led to building a series of experimental harmonicas, and becoming a student and colleague of Joe Filisko. Richard worked extensively with Joe Filisko for years testing ideas and developing the techniques that are now known as the “Filisko Method”.
Richard has been a friend of mine for years. He's always at SPAH, always being flown all over, always has guys coming to live near him just to study. He is the definition of "laid back" he's calm, relaxed, present and his dry humor is absolutley contagious. His Irish fiddle tunes are mean, his tongue block mastery keeps even the most puritanical purists in ecstasy, his understated raw blues melody paintings, rack mounted skills and his overall diversity and knowledge of this instrument rival the best in this business even Winslow! This an amazing opportunity for yall to learn from Richard Sleigh and his new "Big Screen Projection" technique where he's showing those minute, illusive and never before seen customizing secrets 100 times larger. He is a player, teacher and customizer/repair man without equal.
Last Edited by Moon Cat on Feb 21, 2013 6:00 PM
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Moon Cat
164 posts
Feb 21, 2013
5:15 PM
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5.) James (Jimmy) Conway: I am seriously at a loss of words to describe this players significance. I have never been more baffled, confused and bewildered by any player (Including Howard). Jimmy is a MASTER of Irish music. Not only Irish harmonica but drumming, guitar, flutes (penny whistles) etc...This guys is the king of tongue switching (Playing out of both sides of your mouth). Conway's octave leaps, effortles complex melodies and chords are mind melting to the harmonica players while natural and easy to the listener. He can play the hell out blues, country, rock and some jazz too! Dangerous, Dangerous Dangerous man! I have seen Jimmy in hotel rooms at 4:00am in the morning dropping the jaws of some of the most respected and celebrated harp players in the world! He was my very very first choice for this event. Please go see this man's youtube videos. Jimmy makes his own customized harmonicas too that he uses for getting crazy drone sounds and wild bagpipe immitations that would fool a lepracon. Here's his Bio: James Conway is an active musician in the Chicago music scene. He plays in several formats but mainly solo acoustic and with his Celtic power trio, The Boils. Heavily influenced by acoustic greats such as Neil Young, Merle Travis, Bo Carter, and Mississippi Fred McDowell, James uses fingerpicking, slide guitar, rack-harmonica, and a variety of tunings to perform tasty renditions of songs from the folk and country blues genres. In the Celtic scene, Conway plays the traditional dance music of Ireland on tin whistles and harmonicas. Playing the fast-tempo reels and jigs on the mouth harp isn’t a common or easy feat but James does it convincingly using advanced techniques he learned from local blues/jazz harp heroes such as Junior Wells, Sugar Blue, and Howard Levy.
James Conway does a variety of musically instructional stuff (workshops, seminars, private lessons) at places in his hood and beyond such as Hogeye Music, Old Town School of Folk Music, Northwestern University, and SPAH(Society for the Preservation and Advancement of the Harmonica). James has performed and/or taught at places such as: Les Harmonicales Festival(France), An Ri Ra Festival(Butte, Montana), Steppenwolf Theater, Long Wharf Theater, The Indy Palladium, and Wicker Park’s Smoke Daddy. Conway received both a Fellowship Award and a Master/Apprenticeship Award from the Illinois Arts Council during one of his rare productive periods.
Last Edited by Moon Cat on Feb 21, 2013 6:02 PM
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Moon Cat
165 posts
Feb 21, 2013
5:15 PM
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Buzz Krantz: Buzz is our friend. There is no way any harmonica event is complete without the presence of The Santa Clause of the Blues! Buzz is a man steeped deep in the tradition of real Chicago blues. There are no Chicago blues players that don't know this man and most are close friends with him. He can teach you how to do more with less while appreciating the more for what it is. He is a jovial, kind, funny, man with a broad, wide and all inclusive view of the range, application and full spectrum of the harmonica. He can teach you stage presence, etiquette and how to help you get your voice into your instrument. Buzz has been running jam circles at SPAH for years. He is amazing with young and old players alike. Like a perfect parent he can guide you directly and strictly all the while some how providing a relaxed, fun and loose environment...IMPOSSIBLE? you say...I know you'll have to see for yourself. meeting Buzz having him on your side, getting his feed back and hearing him play and sing are a blessing and once in a lifetime opportunity for any harmonica player no matter what level.
Last Edited by Moon Cat on Feb 21, 2013 6:02 PM
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Moon Cat
166 posts
Feb 21, 2013
5:16 PM
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6.) Jason Ricci (me) The Moon Cat
Having to write about me is tough, so I'll just convey a few facts. First the bad....There is a very, very remote chance I will not be at my own event despite it being located here in Indiana. Without getting into to much detail I'm still having some drawn out legal issues and may once again be doing some more time. Please don't fear! Chances are I will be there, however should I not be.., I have contacted a VERY, VERY, VERY famous substitute who has agreed to fill in for me.
Now I get to brag something I rarely do in public! Yeah!
I have been touring and playing since I was 21. I'm 39 now...Won a bunch of contests, played with Jr Kimbrough, Rl, Burniside, Big Al and The Heavy Weights and my own band. The Harmonica has brought me all over the world. I put out two records for Delta Groove. The second was nominated for Best Blues Rock Album of the year by the Blues foundation and in 2010 the same year I won The B.M.A. from the Blues Foundation for Best Harmonica Player. I've recorded with tons of great players like Ana Popavic, Nick Curran (RIP), Johnny Winter, Walter Trout, Cedric Burnside, Sean Kellerman and many many more. This one is almost embarrassing to repeat any where but in several recent interviews Johnny Winter called me: "The best thing happening in Blues right now". Had to write it none the less! MEOW
I love teaching more than anything these days. I do skype lessons all day, every day. I Can teach all kinds of cool ways to break stagnant plateaus with scales, chord observations and break downs. I can show yall cool ways to use over blows and other notes so you can later put together your own licks with them. I specialize in teaching a language that you will later use for your OWN voice your own licks. I can teach you how to make Rhythm, Harmony and Melody your new muses. I want to get you to the point where those things become your new Sonny boy, Walter and Butterfield! I have a ton of instructional youtube videos.
My main harmonica influences are Pat Ramsey, Adam Gussow, Carlos Deljunco, Little Walter, Butterfield, Mad Cat, and Paul Linden.
Thanks Jason
Last Edited by Moon Cat on Feb 21, 2013 6:06 PM
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kudzurunner
3928 posts
Feb 21, 2013
5:17 PM
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It looks great, Jason. I wish I could be there! End of April is the Double Decker Festival here in Oxford, MS, which is too fun to miss. Have a great time.
You've got an open invite to Hill Country Harmonica 2014, BTW.......
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IndianaHarpKid
5 posts
Feb 21, 2013
7:03 PM
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Damn, I wish I could take the time off from school to go, but it won't work out this time. Is this going to be a reoccurring thing if enough people show up?
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Moon Cat
168 posts
Feb 21, 2013
7:06 PM
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Hey Indiana! We have a new club the Indiana Harmonica club email me at jasonricci1@gmail.com thats year round....Hopefully yes this well be reoccurring! BTW thanks Adam! Hope to see you in 2014!
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KingoBad
1247 posts
Feb 21, 2013
7:45 PM
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I can't wait!!!
I just can't believe it is happening in my own town....
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Danny
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dougharps
341 posts
Feb 21, 2013
8:34 PM
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I am really looking forward to this!
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Doug S.
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Moon Cat
169 posts
Feb 21, 2013
8:46 PM
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Danny and Doug very awesome!!! Please email me also to join the new Indiana Harmonica Club. Yall know I live in Bloomington?
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Greg Heumann
2025 posts
Feb 21, 2013
10:25 PM
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Sounds great!
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/Greg
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Moon Cat
170 posts
Feb 21, 2013
11:16 PM
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Also if any vendors, or endorsers are interested in coming or being represented please email me at jasonricci1@gmail.com
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Shaganappi
10 posts
Feb 22, 2013
8:42 AM
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Awesome write up Jason - is VERY tempting. But correct me if wrong, but it seems a bit intimidating with the 4 days and extensive talent there unless you are a somewhat seasoned performer methinks. Maybe next year after some more time spent. Enjoy yourself Doug - you are lucky to have this in your backyard - see you at the next HCH.
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WinslowYerxa
264 posts
Feb 22, 2013
8:54 AM
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@Shaganappi - You don't have to be a seasoned performer, just someone who already has the basic playing skills and wants to strengthen their abilities.
The expert guides are there to help you, to pass their knowledge, expertise and wisdom to you, and guide you through essential activities to hone your skills while jamming, leading a band, performing, working on your harps, and dialing in your sound on amplification equipment and effects.
Intimidating? Look at it another way: What an opportunity to have all those incredible resources to tap into!
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Winslow
Last Edited by WinslowYerxa on Feb 22, 2013 9:56 AM
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dougharps
342 posts
Feb 22, 2013
10:21 AM
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I won't repeat Jason's great bios on the guides, but I will say that I have seen/heard all of the expert guides play and/or teach at SPAH, HCH, and various other locations, and each is capable of giving excellent assessment and instruction in a wide range of harmonica skills. And they can PLAY!
With the smaller group size offered at this event there is sure to be more availability for individualized guidance, so please consider attending this if you can. As Winslow noted, you just need the basic playing skills and a desire to improve.
Even though I had not planned for this financially (gig money already committed to Harmonicollege 2 and SPAH in St. Louis this year) I signed up right away because I recognized the extraordinary opportunity that Winslow describes. If it were in California, Virginia, or Texas I probably could not have afforded to add this to my agenda this year. But in Indianapolis, with this group of instructors!!! I could not miss this.
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Doug S.
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WinslowYerxa
265 posts
Feb 22, 2013
11:51 AM
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With a limit of 45 attendees, and with this broken down into smaller gruops of 15 for most classes, you'll get a lot of individual attention.
Many of the sessions will have two Expert Guides, so that you get two perspectives on the topic.
One expert may wear a crown, while the other wears a jester's hat and ask all the embarrassing questions you might be thinking but not wanting to say in front of the group.
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Winslow
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Shaganappi
15 posts
Feb 28, 2013
9:03 PM
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Like you said Doug, if it was in on the other side of the country, it would be a bit more difficult to spring for it. I am almost on the west coast and a lot more northerly. Certainly, if I was in the neighbourhood, it would be a no brainer. I suspect the spots will be filled quickly by all the nearby states and provinces with that kind of talent available to teach.
Damn, the scarcity of top notch harp instruction out my way up here is sooo annoying. Hints …
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NaptownAl
1 post
Mar 01, 2013
7:23 PM
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This is an amazing opportunity, and I am thrilled to be attending. Jason, hope you will be able to make it. Doc Malone about your teaching abilities and knowledge! If anybody is into BBQ I've got a couple of restaurants in town that I'll turn you on to. If you need any assistance in booking a venue for the performances you mentioned I'll be happy to help out since I love in Indianapolis. My best, Allen
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NaptownAl
2 posts
Mar 01, 2013
7:25 PM
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opps... Doc raves about his lessons with you
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NaptownAl
3 posts
Mar 01, 2013
7:25 PM
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I also live here LOL
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NaptownAl
4 posts
Mar 01, 2013
7:25 PM
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I also live here LOL
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Sarge
311 posts
Mar 01, 2013
9:25 PM
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I sure wish it was closer so I could attend. I could really use some help with blues type playing.
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Wisdom does not always come with old age. Sometimes old age arrives alone.
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KingoBad
1256 posts
Mar 01, 2013
10:46 PM
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Hey NaptownAl,
Do you happen to live in rocky ripple?
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Danny
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rbeetsme
1121 posts
Mar 02, 2013
7:10 AM
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I'm close but not sure I can afford it. BTW: Happy Birthday Sarge, a day late. Happy birthday Jason!
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Sarge
312 posts
Mar 02, 2013
7:31 AM
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Thanks Rick..
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Wisdom does not always come with old age. Sometimes old age arrives alone.
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