I've got some good video to share of the performances at the Shared Harvest Farm harmonica retreat last weekend. I'll post it a bit at a time. Below is the the second of two songs that Mike Stevens, Roly Platt (a member of this forum), and I did together after our individual performances. The individual performances by those two guys were amazing. Mike, whose website describes him as a virtuoso, IS a virtuoso; the easy-to-find clips on YouTube don't begin to do justice to what I heard. Roly's version of "Georgia" gave me that I-should-just-throw-down-my-harmonica-right-now feeling. I'll post that stuff by and by.
Here's something to get the ball rolling. I was playing kickdrum and hi-hat.
You've got good ears. Yes, he spoke several times during the weekend about how he had decided to try something difficult and new, so he picked up a PowerBender and got cracking. He's also got an octave pedal going for part of this.
There are three distinct playing styles meshing seamlessly together. Each one passes the "Gussow-test" of being able to identify the player after hearing a few moments of their playing.
It sounds to me like Mike Stevens is playing Powerbender on both those harps. He plays Powerbender about 98 per cent of the time as far as I know.
It was an honour hosting these three! Mike's style is incredible. The bend at 4:20 from the powerbender sounds super cool. He talks about his synesthesia (ability to see music in shapes and colours) and he truly feels the music. Can't wait to see more footage. Mike sang another pretty fun song with the three of them playing about milking cows and needing butter if memory serves. There three styles are totally distinct. Roly's kinda pick, pick, pick sound at the 4:21 mark is very much a Roly thing that I've adopted and Adam's solo at the 4:48 is wicked. Thanks again Adam!
