|
Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
Trial By Fire, new band!
Trial By Fire, new band!
Page:
1
Michael Rubin
112 posts
Mar 20, 2011
6:32 PM
|
What seemed to be a chance encounter turned into a positive thing. A few months ago, I was going stir crazy at home and asked my wife for a night out. (We have a newborn baby and if I didn't gig 3 times a week for part of of my living I would never get out of the house.)
I went to a small club where a lot of my friends play music and sure enough caught two playing a duo, accordion and banjo playing gypsy music. We talked afterwards about the bass harmonica and how I thought it would work with what they were doing. Months later and a few more conversations, they agreed to have me rehearse with them.
Actually, the banjo player and I wrote down the chord charts for 3 to 5 songs a week and never really played together at all. Two weeks went by and I started gigging with them. That was two weeks ago.
Because it was South by Southwest, a music fest with a ridiculous amount of opportunities to play, I did 6 gigs with them in the last two weeks.
Prior to this, I had ran a practice harmonica band with me on bass harp and practiced bass harp alone in my room and at SPAH, playing on multiple recordings but more as color, not as a bass role. I do play one song in my rock band, again as color.
But in this situation, I was the bass player. I had to learn the progressions and hold down the rhythm. I made quite a few mistakes, but played on. By the last gig, I was rocking. I had to find a way to amplify the bass harp (Richard Smith Harmonix system attached to a 59 bassman reissue mic'ed to the PA), it took a few tries before we
started getting a great sound.
We played to around 300 people in a couple of weeks and by the end, people were dancing and clapping along. Of course, many people had never seen a bass harmonica and certainly never in this style of music.
I had fun and feel like I am doing something artistically interesting, two of my main reasons for playing music. Success!
Michael Rubin
Michaelrubinharmonica.com
|
harpdude61
790 posts
Mar 20, 2011
6:50 PM
|
Love to hear some of it...
|
clamsharpplayer
74 posts
Mar 20, 2011
8:16 PM
|
nice story
|
RyanMortos
1052 posts
Mar 20, 2011
8:48 PM
|
That sounds great! I'd like to hear the bass harmonica in that context as well.
----------
~Ryan
"I play the harmonica. The only way I can play is if I get my car going really fast, and stick it out the window." - Stephen Wright
Pennsylvania - H.A.R.P. (Harmonica Association 'Round Philly)
Contact:
My youtube account
|
LittleJoeSamson
529 posts
Mar 20, 2011
11:58 PM
|
GREAT ! Much good luck. Sounds like a very unique 'sound' .
Are you doing "gypsy", Klesmer, or some morph ?
Consider some Django, Grapelli, and Joe Venuti stuff.
Check out the Adler Trio for the bass lines.
|
Post a Message
|
