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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
Great Harp Story (kind of depressing though too)
Great Harp Story (kind of depressing though too)
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Komuso
282 posts
Feb 25, 2014
10:19 PM
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The blues: America’s least-loved musical form!
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Paul Cohen aka Komuso Tokugawa
HarpNinja - Your harmonica Mojo Dojo
Bringing the Boogie to the Bitstream
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NiteCrawler .
270 posts
Feb 26, 2014
4:13 AM
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Great story,thanks for posting.I,m proud to be a 3%er and know the deal with blues especially in N.J.(especially south central ocean co.)Our band manages to bring in a good crowd,we,re local.Yet a bar owner could book a smokin hot international act and nobody even has heard of them before,hence dead show.It has always irked me since its opening in A.C. yrs back,The House Of Blues.....,What blues,3% if your lucky.Cripes they don,t even have Harp pins on the guitar pin rack,and Dan so called harp man Ackroid is one of the investors/owners I believe.I know,I know,Its all about the benjamins.I do try my best to spread the word to folks and "Keep The Blues Alive"I will say though that theres a guy in the Somers Point area who puts on a weekly blues series on the beach for yrs and I thank him for it whenever I see him.
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Goldbrick
314 posts
Feb 26, 2014
6:45 AM
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It is a sad story. I know I am out scuffling for gigs so I guess I shouldnt complain when guys like Oscher are playing in obscurity. He is one of the best I have seen- I thought he was based in new york (at least when I last saw him play)
@ nitecrawler--I used to live in Ocean City on Asbury Ave. back in the 80's. I was playing in a kinda blues boogie / R and B type outfit. We didnt have trouble getting work then and were pretty loose in our skills.
Played lots of dumps but had fun Lighthouse, Sams Rialto, strip in Margate etc.
Sold cadillacs by day at Kerbeck and played or partied at night. Finally got tired of winter and headed to Miami
Still try and get up there during the summer- and hit up Voltaco's, Spadaforas,Mack and Mancos ( or whatever it is now) and the Irish pub in AC
Jim Latz used to put on a lot of good parties and was good to the musicians- I guess he is long gone tho as he was old back then
Last Edited by Goldbrick on Feb 26, 2014 6:53 AM
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Greg Heumann
2615 posts
Feb 26, 2014
7:35 AM
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Great story!
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***************************************************
/Greg
BlowsMeAway Productions
See my Customer Mics album on Facebook
BlueState - my band
Bluestate on iTunes
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LSC
599 posts
Feb 26, 2014
2:46 PM
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Although the idea that blues is an under appreciated music form has validity the Paul Oscher story has been slightly misread. I was there that night and I attend Paul's show at the Railroad whenever I can.
As I understand it, Oscher created this gig for himself after moving to Manchaca, a little spot on the edge of Austin, almost a suburb. He even went out and found a stage on craiglist and with the help of the owner of Railroad Bar-b-que had it hauled in. Paul just wanted to create a regular local gig for himself and figured the Railroad was a pretty cool little place to set up. And he was right. It's family owned, lacks any semblance of pretension, and the que is pretty damn good. He tours a bit and takes other outside gigs as well. My sense is this is all out of choice.
The Railroad is usually pretty packed, mostly with musicians of various stripes including a scattering of local heavyweights but tends to clear a little after the first set. I don't know what sort of deal Paul has with the owners but the tip jar always seems to get spontaneously passed by a patron at least a couple of times and always looks pretty healthy. Playing what you want to a full house of appreciative folks in a neat little venue just down the road from your house for probably fairly decent money and with some great friends and guests sitting in frequently is not a bad gig, especially on a Tuesday night.
The sign out front does say just "Live Blues 6:30". It is Paul's choice not to have his name out there.
Oscher also plays another little joint perhaps a mile away I think once a month. This place has a very musician friendly owner and is one of those rare places where the musicians who play there, the owner, and the patrons are a community. I've never talked to the man about it but I wouldn't be surprised is that after L.A, this is the sort of environment he likes being in and having as a base.
There is another gig, again not so far away from Manchaca, at a small Cajun restaurant located in a little strip mall called Evangeline Cafe. They have music six nights a week, sometimes two acts a night. Again, an owner who loves his music and hanging with musicians. Every Wednesday a band called the Peacemakers has a residency. Included in the group are the Keller brothers, Mike and Cory, currently half of the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Willie Pipkin, another really great guitar player and Greg Izor on harmonica. Paul Oscher frequently drops in for this gig and Izor will show up at Paul's Tuesday gig.
The following night after Jerry Portnoy showed up at Paul Oscher's gig Jerry came with The Suitcase Brothers to catch the Peacemakers. I think the word had crept out as Marcia Ball was in the house as well as Fran Christina, original drummer with the Fabulous Thunderbirds and other notables.
It was a fabulous night as all of these folks sat in at one time or another. Izor I think had the best comment regarding trying to play harmonica when a Jerry Portnoy strolls through the door. "It's like you're baking a cake and Betty Crocker walks in."
BTW, Victor Puertes of The Suitcase Brothers is a name to look out for. When he sat in with the band and the dueling harmonicas with Izor started up, man it was fireworks. But it wasn't a competition. Just two really good players firing off of each other and at one point both hitting a repeating phrase that just got more explosive the longer it went on. Brought the house down.
So yeah, the percentage of the public that cites blues as a favorite form is small but hasn't it always been so? And there are still a lot of people who dig blues who might not mention it as a favorite form. I had a guy recently with some pull at the Texas Rodeo asking for a card and commenting, "I'll see if I can get you in next year. Cowboys like blues."
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LSC
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LSC
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tmf714
2440 posts
Feb 26, 2014
3:08 PM
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Paul made his choice after getting ripped-off by record labels and puting his name out there,only to get nothing in return.
He is a smart man and a brilliant musician. I got to hang with him at his room during Amandas Rollercoaster in Phoenix. He told us the story back then -2009-of his plans to simply play for little or no money,just so he would not have to deal with all the bullshit.
Kudos to you Paul-a truly cool cat in a messed up world.
Last Edited by tmf714 on Feb 26, 2014 3:09 PM
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Slimharp
220 posts
Feb 26, 2014
3:21 PM
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Sad but true. I would say they were dam lucky to have 20 in the joint. Paul and Jerry are killer players however today it is painful trying to make a living at it.
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John95683
137 posts
Feb 26, 2014
3:36 PM
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Mark Hummel's Harp Blowout sold out the Harris Center in Folsom, CA three years in a row at $35 a seat. The Center has over 900 seats.
Charlie Musselwhite recently played to a SRO crowd at the Power house Pub, also in Folsom at $15 a person cover. Easily over 500 patrons having a great time.
John Mayall, at almost 80 years old, sold out the Harris Center last summer.
The blues is alive and well in Sacramento and the SF Bay Area.
Last Edited by John95683 on Feb 26, 2014 5:42 PM
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walterharp
1327 posts
Feb 26, 2014
3:51 PM
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ah the weighty opinions of the 1% (blues harp players) of the 3% (blues affectionate). Actually, if you do the math that would come out to be about 94,000 people in the US. Guess they are all in the bay area! :-)
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NiteCrawler .
271 posts
Feb 26, 2014
5:34 PM
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@Cali Blues Scene,I really envy you left coasters and your Blues/Swing scene.A good old friend of mine a retired jeweler from NYC,Pete Antonocci(a Korean war vet) and his awesome wife Barb retired on LBI a laid back Jersey shore community on the beach,way more laid back than the ones that gave J.Shore a bad rap.Anyway these folks loved blues so much that they would travel the tri-state area and beyond to hit shows whenever they could including blues cruises etc.,and when Pete hit our shows he,d have a gym bag,terry cloth wristbands etc. and dance like nobodys business,Petey With The Dancin Feety we called him.Anyway long story short,unfortunitly for us, my good friends moved to Dana Point,Cali and in his letters to me as the yrs went by said "I,m In Blues Heaven Baby","I,m In Blues Heaven".If anyone has ever met them they would tell you that they had an never ending passion for the blues and talk about lightin up the dance floor,and Keepin The Blues Alive,Pete and Barb did just that.(gotta give props to my friends/fans) I,m sure maybe somebody on the forum may have met Pete and Barb along the way.I just had to share because Pete had nothing but praise for the Cal.blues scene and its musicians and fans."Blues Heaven Baby"!
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messy ventura
129 posts
Feb 26, 2014
5:45 PM
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Now I'm gonna have to get a 3%er patch to sew on my cut.
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Frank101
4 posts
Feb 26, 2014
7:42 PM
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LSC - great informative post!!!
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didjcripey
713 posts
Feb 26, 2014
9:33 PM
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What's that they say?
There are lies,
damn lies
and statistics.
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Lucky Lester
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LSC
600 posts
Feb 26, 2014
10:22 PM
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@Frank101 - Thanks kindly. I like to write.
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LSC
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