I really like the way this guy plays. He knows how to put his own mark on in-the-tradition stuff. Hard to find that place, but he finds it. I'm talking about the harmonica solo starting around 2:04
I like Harpdog's singing and harping (and dress sense). Chatted online a couple of times. He's from my hometown of Edmonton Alberia and I heard a (false) rumor that he went to the same high school around the same time. Nice handle, wailing ptarmigan! BronzeWailer's YouTube
It's nice to see the word "ptarmigan" get some use. I was a word nerd back in elementary school--the sort of kid who these days shows up at the National Spelling Bee. I remember constructing a crossword puzzle for my fifth grade class that contained the words "ptarmigan," "aardwolf," and....danged if I can remember. Other weird words. I took pride in my ability to spell "antidisestablishmentarianism" out loud, rapid-fire. Later, when my parents gave us the Guinness Book of World Records, I was exposed to floccipaucinihilipilification. Or at least that's how I spelled it--out loud, rapid-fire. I was misspelling it all those years. The first "p" should be an "n." But I was pretty cocky. I thought I could take anybody down. It gave me swag.
In junior high school, I ran into somebody who saw my big words and raised me by tossing in the pot. It was girl.
Sometimes a performer just has an "essence" that defines his look, style and performance.
Harpdog's essence, to me at least in this short video, is FUN. Not the best singer/player, but one of the most FUN, and that beats a lot of uber techniques.
Not enough focus on FUN these days, it seems, aside from spelling bees, I guess. ---------- The Iceman
Never heard of him! but i enjoyed the video so much i spent an hour on the Tube catching up. Iceman has summed it up. Harpdog is an entertainer and showman and is bloody good at it.
My West Coast peeps! Played and jammed with most of these fine folks. Here's a track from a previous Harpdog configuration with guitar phenom Jordi Edmonds,
---------- MBH Webbrain - a GUI guide to Adam's Youtube vids FerretCat Webbrain - Jason Ricci's vids (by hair colour!)
Last Edited by bluemoose on Jan 20, 2020 10:59 PM
So the wailing ptarmigan comes from way back I was working iin northern Quebec near the small town of Schefferville. I was out fishing one day and found two harmonicas in the water at the edge of the lake (a Special 20 and a Chromonica) I told my brother about it later on and he asked if I was going to be like Howlin' Wolf - I said maybe a wailing ptarmigan...been our little joke ever since....
I was so impressed that I asked Harpdog Brown to be my FB friend and he messaged me back and that got us into a conversation. Yes, he's going to be at the IBC's, and he's hosting a jam on Thursday night, which I'll try to make. Should be fun.
He's an awesome player and a good guy! ---------- Sincerely, Barbeque Bob Maglinte Boston, MA http://www.barbequebob.com CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
Harpdog and I go back a ways. I jammed with his band at a small pub in Vancouver in the summer of 1994. We played Back Track and Sloe Gin.
Harpdog sang and played at the Nanaimo Blues Festival in the summer of 2019. I was there. He had a well rehearsed horn band, billed as "Harpdog Brown and the Uptown Blues Band". They sounded great. Tight arrangements.
Here's Harpdog and his band performing "You Don't Have to Go". Only two horns here, but his current band has three. On piano is Dave Webb, a great, tasty player who always plays something that fits:
