be the guy who jams along with the harp player at a gig. At Bluesfest in Chicago this weekend, I'm psyched to see Joe Filisko on the small Windy City stage, and when Joe starts playing, some knucklehead behind me whips out a harp, and starts jamming along. In the wrong key. I had to move.
I say this because once I would have been that guy. And if I was, I apologize to anyone who heard me do that.
I really can't understand why someone would do that. How could they possibly think that's okay? And yet it apparently happens quite often. I've seen two videos of Jason playing in which some jerk in the audience pulls out a harp and starts playing.
Perhaps Buddha's right, maybe it's some ridiculous attempt at trying to get asked on stage. As if the performer would want to invite up some guy who clearly has no respect for them and is trying to upstage them.
I can't see this type of behavior happening with other instruments, some guy in the audience just pulls out a sax and starts wailing. But maybe that's because it's not so easy to carry around a guitar or sax in your pocket, just waiting for the chance to pull it out during someone else's performance.
imitation they say is the sincerest form of flattery. whoever the hell "they" are.
and yes, at one point i was that guy. on another board these guys were called "gus" and the activity was referred to as "gussing".
to me, if you need to jam along with a band, go home and download some backing tracks or slap a cd in the player. or hit youtube. when you reach a certain point, go to some open mic nights and wait your turn. it's called paying dues. find at least one like minded musician, say a guitarist or piano guy and work together, practice some material, have it halfway ready to show at a jam, and then go get on stage.
what cured me of the whole gussing thing was after i'd worked with a band or 3, and one guy used to come to a lot of shows and do that TO ME. being the less-than-reserved individual on a stage, i embarrassed him in front of the whole place and we nearly went to blows when the band took a break. i think he finally accepted what i was telling him though. he quit coming to our gigs and i later saw him at a jam here and there.
i have been known to put a harp guy on stage for a few songs even if i didn't know him. that may have helped someone actually get excited about playing and learning more. but at a real deal gig it just ain't happenin'.
The following is absolutely true.... Back around 1989, Charlie and the Nightcats were here in Atlanta working the old Blues Harbor Club. On break, Rick Estrin and I were sitting at the bar cutting up jackpots when this guy walks up and starts showing us one of those old hohner harmonicas with all the "bugles" coming out of it. We looked it over and then the guy goes away. I told Rick..."bet on it, he is going to ask to play". On next set, Rick is up there doing a tune and suddenly this guy with the harp, leaps up on the stage, grabs the mike out of Rick's hands and starts wailing away with the most horrible stuff you ever heard. Like he was having a fit or something. The look of astonishment on Rick's face was something to behold. Rick just walked off the stage. Next, Charlie unplugged his guitar and walked off the stage. Then followed Dobie..and then the drummer. Yet...this guy is still up there blowing away, getting into all kinds of twisted contortions (he's really showing he's got soul, you know)....and he just wont quit. The audience is exploding with laughter and derisive applause. Finally one of the bouncers goes up and takes him by the arms and tries to lead him off the stage and that fool is STILL blowing on that harp. He was still blowing as he was sent out the door. A video of that would be priceless amusement but no such exists. Never had that happen to me, but have had it come close when one just jumped up there with his harp and started blowing away at the opposite side of the stage. No wonder harmonica players get such a bad rap...madness, total madness.
That said, I shudder to think of the loneliness, need for recognition, longing for connection and self-delusion (at least that's what drove me a looooong time ago on a particularly bad evening during a very bad time somewhere in northen Germany to do a "gus") that makes a person do such a thing.
Blues Review had an article written by Doug McCleod entitled "Harmonica Pud". It was all about that sort of guy. The band actually tuned a half step down,just so the harp player couldn't find the key. That still didn't stop him from playing.
Even as a rank newbie,I never did that. Always thought it was horribly rude.
EDIT- But between sets I would go to my car and blow my brains out.
Last Edited by on Jun 16, 2010 9:14 AM
I don't think I ever gussed. But in a not-so-great time in my life, I did some things I wish I could take back. Captainbliss, your call for more compassion is on point (which doesn't negate the fact that gussing is baaaaaaaaad)...
Hypothetically, the Gus psyche may view this behavior as a sort of logical extension of clapping or singing along--activities that are often actually encouraged by the band. If clapping along shows your appreciation of the band and their music, then tootling along on your harp must show that you appreciate them EVEN MORE. Right?
@joeleebush "cutting up jackpots"... Joe Lee, you sound like you may have scuffled some...
Anyways, Canned Heat came through town with Junior Watson on guitar and in the middle of a solo this guy at the front of the stage whips out a harp and starts gussing his ass off. Pitiful. Junior kept playing, eyes shut, but dropped to one knee, leaned forward, opened his eyes and without missing a note, screamed, "shut the **** up!!!" to the guy, then kept wailing.
I know Junior Watson often has referred to harp players who aren't up to snuff as 'whistlers.' I've found that 98% of the time, if harp players start playing in front of you before you start playing or brag about how good they are, they are nearly always flat out HORRIBLE, and I'm putting this in the most polite terms possible. I've seen people who play other instruments do things quite similar, and whenever these people demand to sit in, 98% of the time, they are nearly always god awful at best.
Joe Lee Bush, that story makes me crack up laughing because I've had similar stuff to that as well. It's amazing how many players will make a complete fool out of themselves doing such crap. ---------- Sincerely, Barbeque Bob Maglinte Boston, MA http://www.barbequebob.com CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
I have some funny stories (at the time they werent't) about people blowing harps during gigs. My trio was playing the main stage at the Ghent Festival in Belgium. Some drunk guy on a chromatic kept getting up on the side of the stage and making terrible noises with it while we played. I have always played quiet and his volume was definetely messing with us. My wife went over to him and asked he put it away. He handed it over to her and we figured that was that. Well about 15 minutes later I hear Judy screaming for help. this guys girlfriend jumped Judy and had her on the coblestone pavement. I ran over and tried to get this woman off her. She was out her mind crazy. I pulled fists of hair out of her head and she wouldn't let go of Judy so I bashed her head off the pavement. That did it in more ways than one. People saw me apparently beating this woman up and started pulling up rocks from the street and thowing them at me. We all retreated to this metal container they were using for a backstage room. Rocks were smashing off everywhere. the promoter insisted I didn't finish my set and if I wanted to be paid I had to finish another 15 minutes. He assured us the stage was safe. I said no way and pay us. He said no, so we went on. It was 15 minutes of the most out of tune, crap ever performed. My bassist played one key, me another, the drummer another beat. I wish we recorded it! I got off at exactly 15 minutes and got paid and never got asked back :-)
At a club in the SF Bay area I played every sat night, this guy comes in and starts blowing a harp while we are playing. I stop and ask him to stop. He does and then he starts up again. We took a break and he comes up and says he has to get onstage and blow or go nuts. I tell him (this was our first set break) to wait a bit quietly and I will get him up. I pulled one of the dirty tricks I learned from the old school black blues jams when such an idiot shows up. I kept looking at him and saying we will get him up in just a bit. Well we said goodnight and he comes up looking like a manic and is not even able to talk in sentences, foaming at the mouth, and does a standing back flip, screams and runs out of the club. I never saw him again.
At another club we were gigging with charlie musselwhite and a guy keeps blowing his harp in the crowd. I ask him to stop. He does and I decided a bit later to walk the crowd blowing my harp. He came out of nowhere and locked my neck in a headlock and wouldn't let go so I gave him a full uppercut with my mic in hand (shure 58). He falls back and wacks his head off the dance floor making a sound that stopped the whole club dead. He starts twitching and flailing his limps uncontrollablely. His buddies came up and dragged him off to a corner by his boots. I get up and finish our set figuring I just killed someone. He comes up with a cold bud on the lump on his head and appologizes for his actions. Man did I let out a sigh of relief.
Anyway, these things you can't learn about watching a video! thankfully I no longer have such encounters. I have worked hard on my anger issues and the more peaceful I get, the more peaceful the world around me gets. Thank God for help being available to heal ones hurts and for growing up! Walter ---------- walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year. " life is a daring adventure or nothing at all" - helen keller
Amen that, Walter!! That old trick you mentioned, I've seen that done by some black musicians I've worked with quite a few times, once even when I worked with Jimmy Rogers. ---------- Sincerely, Barbeque Bob Maglinte Boston, MA http://www.barbequebob.com CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
Bob: I hate to say it, but I took pleasure in using that one on many occasions to guys like that. Not at all politically correct today with all the sparkling smiles most blues performers portray nowadays :-) The next level of carrying this out was to say - Oh man, time got away from me. How about you come back to our next gig and we will for sure get you up at the end of the night....... I never did carry it that far, but I witnessed a lot at those jams. It was used on me quite a few times at those old school blues jams. I never blew a harp unless asked. It was just they didn't know me and I realized later, it was their way of seeing how serious I was. I sat through that scenario at dan lynchs for a few months of sundays with bill dicey's jam. Walter ---------- walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year. " life is a daring adventure or nothing at all" - helen keller
I've seen that as well too. ---------- Sincerely, Barbeque Bob Maglinte Boston, MA http://www.barbequebob.com CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
paying the dues.... It made me a better player though because I was so fired up sitting through hours of other harp players getting up, that I played to new levels when they finally let me up. Walter ---------- walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year. " life is a daring adventure or nothing at all" - helen keller
great story. i've unplugged a few nuts in my time. the ones that grab the bassists vocal mic. they get this surprised look like 'what happened to the sound' and the bass player, 6'3" 260 lbs, would usher them off stage at the point of a P-bass.
Joeleebush, Your story reminds me of this video clip. I posted it not too long ago on another thread, but I might as well put it here too. The harp player invites himself to the stage at around 4:38. I don't condone violence, but I don't exactly feel bad for the guy.
Ryan: You are welcome. I have a book full of such stories of idiots that think the world was created soley for their enjoyment. As I got further along in my healing, I would tell want to be jammers this- believe it or not, I have spent my entire life working to get up on this funky little stage tonight. I have forgone having children, roots, traveled to all points of the world to play a gig, never owned a home, had insurance, and have lived hand to mouth for my entire adult life. So, this little gig is very precious to me and if you want to have a similar one, I suggest you get living on this trail so you can have your own show. Once you open the door to unknown players onstage, you are looking at a train wreck for almost every gig. Walter ---------- walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year. " life is a daring adventure or nothing at all" - helen keller
Wonderful video, Mr. Ryan. I enjoyed watching it, never saw it before. You're too kind, that's what the little bastard deserved. I gotta say it though, Guitar Man needs to practice kicking the heavy bag some. As old as I am, if some idiot gives me a wide open shot for a front kick like this harmonica boob did...he will be nursing broken ribs for a few months. Some of them just have to be treated that way.
After having ran the gamut from punching people out, to yelling matches, to breaking their harps, I have learned the most powerful thing to do when someone gets onstage univited is to immediately stop playing and ask them, on the mic, to leave. If they don't, announce you can't continue until they leave, turn off the PA/amps and walk off until he is out of the club. Then he is stuck onstage with no amplification and the audience/management will decide when to yank him. No violence, no harsh words, only silence. The most powerful weapon out there! Walter ---------- walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year. " life is a daring adventure or nothing at all" - helen keller
I guess your idea is better over the long run, waltertore. Nowadays you never know when one of those kooks will pull out his smoker and start throwing those bullets, and wind up blasting me before I can get to my own piece. As old Buddy Moss used to say..."son, Smith & Wesson didn't stop making pistols after they finished with yours". That stone cold silence idea of yours sounds like a very effective leveling tool..I like it.
joeleebush: I haven't had a person blow a harp in the audience, or try and push themself onstage in well over 15 years. If I do have to do the unplug and walk off stage routine, I do it very unemotionally. Just a matter of fact like approach, like waving to a neighbor driving by as I walk my dogs. When the person is removed I can get back onstage, thank everyone for being so kind, send good healing thoughts to that person, then get back to playing. It also connects you much closer to the audience. Gut level, almost no one wants to have such unstable people in their space. I work all day with high school students with special needs. Many of them are very primative and violent if not handled right. They have taught me a lot, along with my street kid upbringing, as to best handle unbalanced souls. Walter ---------- walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year. " life is a daring adventure or nothing at all" - helen keller
/I have learned the most powerful thing to do when someone gets onstage univited is to immediately stop playing and ask them, on the mic, to leave [...] When the person is removed I can get back onstage, thank everyone for being so kind, send good healing thoughts to that person then get back to playing. It also connects you much closer to the audience. Gut level, almost no one wants to have such unstable people in their space./
Yes! Yes! Yes! And... Isn't it sad when let that gut level discomfort is a reason for unpleasantness or violence?
That Marc Ford video is a favorite on guitar sites. Threads about how harmonica players are stupid assholes come up at least once a month on TGP.
It doesn't matter that there are a million more assholes who overplay on guitar... just one or two bad experiences with a harp player or a Gus will color a person's view for life.
The problem is threefold:
First, the harp is too portable. An attractive feature AND a curse.
Second, dumbasses think it's easy to play the blues on the harp. Even some serious harp players stupidly think it's easy and we know that ain't right.
Third, a C harp played acoustically will carry in a club even though the band might be playing Marshall quads. Especially if, as is usually the case, the band is in some key other than G.
