The Blues Doctors have just been booked into B. B.'s Jazz, Blues, and Soups in STL, and the owner/manager is looking for ways to make it a blues harmonica night. When I asked him which local players he had in mind, he offered the following list:
Jim McClaren Eric McSpadden Sandy Weltman Greg Hommert Tom "Papa" Ray
Sandy I knew, but to be honest, I've never heard of the other four players. So I've turned to YouTube, as always, and found some nice stuff:
My gut sense is that McClaren or Spadden, with those bands, would be the best fit for an evening with the Blues Doctors. Your thoughts?
Eric McSpadden would be my first choice. Got to know him in 1999 when SPAH was in St. Louis. ---------- The Iceman
Last Edited by The Iceman on Jan 21, 2016 3:36 PM
Skip to about the 2:35 mark if you want to hear some special playing.
He bought some combs from me a couple of years ago. Last October he released a CD called Hallowed in the Hollows and my name came up in conversation on FaceBook when someone asked him about his gear. Of course, FB always lets you know when your name is mentioned so I checked him out. The guy has mad skills. He was living in Nashville and just relocated to St. Louis where he is in graduate school. ---------- Tom Halchak www.BlueMoonHarmonicas.com
Last Edited by florida-trader on Jan 21, 2016 6:04 PM
The Jim McClaren vid is 'not available' neither is Gregg Hommart's , probably because of my location : ( I listened to the other's , have a great gig !
"Papa Ray" in this vid has a pretty good groove going .. swamp boogie if you will .. harp simple but effective , good vocals in this song ..
Eric McSpadden's band was ok as well ….but , missing 'something' ..imo
Pretty hard to give a good suggestion from one vid each, sorry not have the time to browse there material in full for more comprehensive feedback ..
While I was living in Clarksdale this year , I asked all the touring bands
" is there a city or place that young folks come out to hear you play ? "
Saint Louis was the answer in the U.S.
Brazil apparently has a large number of young folks who like the blues , and it's popular there : )
Last Edited by mastercaster on Jan 21, 2016 6:09 PM
Good grief, that Greg Hommert is a monster player!
Rough Grooves with Rich McDonough (sp?) serves as the pickup band for many of the name harp players that come through town without a band.
If you are thinking about a duo, you might consider Brian Curran (guitar) and Adam Andrews (harp):
Also, you might check in with Vinnie who owns Blues City Deli in St. Louis. He's a blues enthusiast who knows his harp players and hires a lot of them to play at his restaurant.
When will you be playing at BB's?
Last Edited by harpoon_man on Jan 21, 2016 7:06 PM
We'll be playing on Thursday, July 14. Blues Doctors will open with a 7 to 9:30 show. Then three of the other players--subject to availability--will be backed up by a local band, and I'll sit in on a few songs.
I may also give a 60-minute workshop from 5:30 to 6:30--free to anybody who pays the $10 cover for our show.
I'll share details when they're finalized, but that's the plan.
All of the fellas listed above are phenomenal players. I'm a StL harp player as well and I've had the pleasure of sharing the stage with Eric, Greg, Adam, and Ray and they are each amazing players. Their styles and tones are different than what I do. I play more honky tonk/grass/country/Jam-Psych style. They are each technicians and have monster skills. They are the types of players where you are constantly looking for a lick or a trick you can steal. Any and each one of them would be a great addition to the show.
I'd love to catch the workshop here in town and I look forward to hearing more about it and learning more along the way.
@Kudzu: sounds great, I'll plan to show up for the workshop and the show.
@Philmore: I'm an STL area harp player too, and I might have heard about you before...if you are that same Phil, then my brother-in-law in Arkansas knows your brother. Does this make sense?
I'm the guy that bought Adam Andrews' bassman amp.
Hi all I'll be moving from Brazil to STL in July/August and although I know STL really well I haven't been able to connect with the blues community there. I'll leave my Duo and also my band here and can't wait to find people and places who might be a good contact for a blues/jazz harmonica player. Any ideas?
Last Edited by Rodrigo on Jan 27, 2016 6:44 AM
@Rodrigo: Welcome to MBH forums, and I am glad to hear you will be moving to St. Louis. I remember you from the blues jam circle jam at SPAH St. Louis several years ago. There is a Yahoo group of local blues harmonica players around St. Louis that holds house jams and attends public jams together. There are members of the group that are involved with the local blues society and are well connected with the local music scene. This group would be a good place to start if you are looking to get plugged into the world of St. Louis blues and jazz. If you are interested in getting on the group's email list, just send me an email offlist, and I can facilitate. My email address is harpoon_man [insert "at" sign] hotmail.com.
For those of you who have not heard Rodrigo, he has impressive skills on blues and jazz diatonic (probably chromatic as well, I just have not heard him play chromatic). He spurred a lot of conversation on harp-l years ago when people were talking about how he would practice a lick 1,000 times to really get it down pat.
@Philmore: you're also welcome to sign up for the local harp players Yahoo group, just send me a note and I'll get you on the email list. You probably know some of the guys in the group: Adam Andrews, Howard Young, Johnny Willis, and others.
Thank you so much!!!! I'll be sending an email shortly and we'll keep in touch. Can't wait to join the gang in STL. Cheers.
Last Edited by Rodrigo on Jan 31, 2016 1:21 PM
Ok got a chnce to listen to all of the posted videos.
Based on what is posted, IMO all of the bands including harp players posted are average at best except Blue Midnight and See Rivival. Tom, you are right, that was crazy good! I would like to hear what else they do.
I think most of us are on the same page.
Last Edited by Harpaholic on Jan 31, 2016 3:40 PM
Harpaholic - if you click on the YouTube icon in the video instead of watching it here on MBH it will take you to a playlist that includes the entire CD. There are a lot of good tracks on it. The female vocalist reminds me of Melanie Safka.
Tom: thanks for spreading the word about Greg Hommert. I bought his Hallowed in the Hollows album after hearing the samples, and I am REALLY impressed with Greg. Based on what I'm hearing, he deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Ricci, Del Junco, and Levy. Check out his playing on "Mamma's Good Cookin'":
@Jason: looks like your best bet on 2/15 is Broadway Oyster Bar - they're scheduled to have the Bottoms Up Blues Gang, followed by a jam session hosted by the Soulard Blues Band. Let me know what you think if you check it out.
