As many of you know, I moved from San Diego, CA to Durham, NC last July. In 2007, I'd moved from Connecticut to San Diego, giving up all of the progress I'd made in the local music scene. In CT, I had a band, a duo, decent gigs, and lots of potential. In SD, I started from scratch, hit jams, networked, spent months building up a new band with money-losing gigs. . . you know, "paying dues" all over again.
When I got to North Carolina I was pretty down about starting from zero again. I pretty much quit playing in public for the better part of 6 months. My youtube fans will note that I didn't make a lot of videos last year, either.
So I dragged my feet, but eventually I started to seek out like-minded players. I met this guy, Daniel Valentino when he briefly visited San Diego in 2007. I knew he was "the guy" in this area, but we hadn't kept in touch.
In January, I emerged from my hibernation with a craigslist post looking for a guitar player. With it,I found Valentino's guy. Normally, this would be a sticky, competitive situation. Not so. A week after touching base with Chris, (guitar) Valentino calls me up and asks if I'd join him on a gig. He also added second guitar.
Forgive my essay, but I thought the spirit of this forum would appreciate this story. I want to publicly acknowledge Daniel Valentino for bringing me into the local scene, with no apparent agenda other than to put on killer shows together. He's a really great player, and I think we push and influence each other as we entertain. It's great to be joining forces instead of competing for once.
Like all bands, this won't last forever, but in the meantime it's Two harps: Man what a sound!
That's really cool man. I had no idea you'd moved to my hometown... You should also hook up with Bill Newton, a great local harmonica player and one of the nicest guys you could ever want to meet. Paul Messinger is also in the area and is a killer harp player. There are some great harp players in town.
Video sounds great! I wish I still lived in the area!
Killer stuff Dan. Since meeting you at HCHII I've checked out some of your vids and really like what I see and hear. Hope the two harp experiment works for a while.
Valentino's tone is HUGE. His amp is also much closer to the camera, and that amp of his cuts like a knife. This clip was what began my mid-sized amp hunt. My Silvertone never stood a chance with his 2x10" Hohner amp.
Despite the general good nature of the project, the potential for amplification "proliferation" (think: Cold War) with 4 leads, is very real. Balancing volumes is one of our biggest challenges. ---------- "12gagedan" on youtube
you did fine, as the polite outsider. Good comp/horn lines. As a homey, he was very gracious and hospitable to risk being upstaged. That was a great song. Even better when the crowd is dancing to it. 2X10's huh? hmmmmm. Sounds nasty good! ---------- Why is it that we all just can't get along?<
