In my almost-decade as a weekend warrior with Satan & Adam, I used to say that the third gig in a row was where the real playing started to happen. Since we were weekend warriors rather than full-time touring pros, we didn't have many third gigs--except in the summer, when we'd work a week or 10 days from time to time, or on a foreign tour (Finland, Australia), or on the occasional three-day weekend.
I haven't gigged three nights in a row for at least a decade. Here's a video from my third gig in Europe. This is the opening song of the evening. I'm singing in F (Bb harp), and that high F isn't an easy note to nail, much less the Ab and G above it. This particular performance doesn't have fast or fancy playing--except perhaps for a few bars in the middle of the "Honky Tonk" portion--but it exemplifies the third-gig principle in another way, which is that I'm locked in the groove, with strength in reserve and with no brittleness. I don't know if that makes any sense, but it's how I felt during the performance, and it's what I see here. I'm happy with this performance. I can't say that about every performance. I'm not weaving back and forth on my stool like Mr. Satan quite yet, but please remember: I've only been holding down solo gigs like this for ten months. My first solo performance, as part of a Satan and Adam performance, came six months before that. I first attempted to play percussion and harp at the same time only eighteen months ago. It take a while to get things right. I may not have it all together and hanging out in the breeze quite yet, but you'd be a fool to bet against me in the long run.
I hope my transformation-in-progress will inspire those of you at ALL stages of your learning process. Eighteen months ago, I couldn't have imagined that I'd be doing this--and yet I knew I was supposed to. You figure out what needs figuring out as you move forward. It all starts with that first step, and the first step is often pretty awkward--as are many steps that follow. Don't stop!
Your timing and groove are perfect. I hardly can understand how do you keep tempo and dynamics by feets while playing some technical passages without metronome or loops. You're improvising I hope? ---------- Excuse my bad English. Click on my photo or my username for my music.
Last Edited by on Dec 20, 2010 1:29 PM
Incredible playing and time-keeping, especially with that intensity. What's really cool - and a good lesson for me - is how you take a lick and rework it to get the most out of it. I struggle with that and often run out of ideas too quickly for that very reason. This video's a good reminder to focus on that, so thanks!
It seems your singing is getting stronger - from what I see and hear on the videos you've put up. Your coming more from your diaphram as opposed to your chest, - and are more confident. The harp needs no comment -excellent as per ususual, - except that it must be an incredible challange to carry a whole show with this minamlist set up - keeping it interesting and original.
Enjoy the rest of your tour - and Have a great Christmas and New Years. ----------
Last Edited by on Dec 20, 2010 6:12 PM
hermonica, as blunt as that is, there is some truth to it. My dad (who knows nothing of Adam or our relationship with him as forum admin or harp master) heard me play the video, with his back turned to me. he pipes up "damn, that blues man sounds really white." and you must understand, my father has always been a man of few words. bubbled up a giggle out of me, it did...
on the other hand, it isnt the worst ive ever heard, by far and away. everyone has a key their voice was made for, and even adam admits that the highs in this tune were a stretch.... but that wasnt the point of words accompanying the video. it was all about the energy and power. and the complete void of anything else around him. a certain kind of "zone" most of us have never experienced. at least thats what i take of it. do 3 shows back to back and see if you dont get a small (or quite large) case of the fuckits...am i right?
besides, the playing was purely bad ass....
way to go doc, you done good kid, and the evolution of gussow continues. ---------- Kyzer's Travels Kyzer's Artwork "Music in the soul can be heard by the universe." - Lao Tzu
Last Edited by on Dec 20, 2010 10:06 PM
The more one gigs with really good musicians (not the usual suspects thing at the majority of open jams), things get easier. Too many harp players tend to focus FAR TOO MUCH on soloing and NOT ENOUGH on getting the time and the groove together so that you FEEL the groove happening 24/7/365. Time and groove was something I worked VERY DILIGENTLY on almost every day and when you're playing in a pro situation, there's absolutely NO excuse at all for having shitty time and too many harp players have that as a problem. Most musicians I've met in my lifetime who had excellent time also either started out or also played drums where if you don't have your time, groove, and feel together, you're gonna be considered totally garbage.
If you've been mainly a weekend warrior, playing 3 straight nights can be a challenge if you party too much and don't get enough proper rest and take care of yourself, ESPECIALLY the voice, which can get badly damaged too easily.
For the voice, for at least 2 hours or more PRIOR to the gig, avoid ANY dairy products so that mucous doesn't form on your vocal chords and that will make vocals more of a chore when that happens and avoid drinking too much alcohol as well, drinking more water with some lemon (an NO sugar at all) and you can get through the gigs much more easily.
When I was on the road with Luther Guitar Juniir Johnson in 1988, part of the tour was in the province of Onatario in Canada, and we did 6 straight nights in a row with one night off and then another 3 nights in a row afterwards, and if you don't learn how to pace yourself quickly, you can get burned out in a hurry. Luckly, the tour had us for 3 straight nights first in Kitchener, then 3 straight in London, a night off, and then another 3 straight nights in Ottowa.
Once you do a few of those, 3 straight nights, even with travel, won't be much of anything after awhile. ---------- Sincerely, Barbeque Bob Maglinte Boston, MA http://www.barbequebob.com CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
It doesn't seem like 18 months ago that I first saw the kickdrum debut in St. Pete. Man how time flys and harp progression slows. The pillow has a nice dampening effect on the drum. Rock solid performance. With that kinda a playin it makes you wonder why anyone would question the Marine Band harp huh fella's?
Lovely playing and a very solid vocal--it seemed to me that you hit just about every syllable the way you wanted to, and like harp playing, once one can execute reliably like that, then the unwilled flourishes can emerge more readily and you start finding out what you can really do on your instrument.
I didn't check the archives, but I know that what I call the "Dare to Be White" blues vocal approach has been discussed here before. There are few things that irk African American blues musicians and audiences more than a white singer trying to sound black and failing. What they respect is sounding like yourself and expressing the mood of the song effectively. Aspiring white blues singers would do well to listen to Mance Lipscomb, Junior Parker and Little Walter as one set of models, because what they do is within reach of people who can't sound like Howlin' Wolf. Hit the notes and let the song's melody do the heavy lifting--if you're really hitting the blue notes, and your phrasing is good, you'll be bluesy.
Adam's reading of this tune is a bit more jaunty, devil-may-care, and less laid-back than Jimmy Reed's original, and his vocal is consistent with that.
I thought I heard some cool echoes of the live James Cotton/1968 version of "Honky Tonk," but it may just be parallel thinking.
I'm definitely not a self-hating white guy, so it's okay with me if I sound like what I am. Htown has me right: my intonation is starting to come together--it's been a problem in the past--and a few of those "unwilled flourishes" actually swam into the picture as I dipped into the lower octave.
I didn't realize that Cotton did a version of "Honky Tonk." I stole my own version off a Steve Gadd cassette that I got back in 1990 or so..........
Here's another video from the Munster concert. This isn't as polished a performance, but around 5:28 or so I suddenly kick into another gear and start writhing on the chair. THAT is what I'm looking for. In OMB guise, it's hard to keep all the balls up in the air, so I sometimes look--to my eyes at least--a little too controlled. (I'm constantly adjustint the vocal mic, for example, an annoying tic I plan to work on). But this is supposed to be an epic song, very loud, very "big," and I'm looking for a big VISIBLE energy release. That's what Sterling Magee's performances always had. In this respect I've got a great model. Keep your eyes on the prize!
PS: At some points in this song I'm missing acres of notes at a time. The OMB thing is still a challenge.
During the 70's, EVERY blues band was doing Honky Tonk, Chicken Shack, Hold It, and a few other tunes. I made it a point on Honky Tonk not only to learn all the Shep Shephard sax parts, but also the Bill Butler guitar parts as well. In nearly every cover version of Honky Tonk I've ever heard, almost everyone plays both solos pretty close to note for note, and that's for both parts I & II (and there are several more parts to that tune as well).
A lot of bands today often have no clue about those three tunes. When I used to see Muddy, they brought him on the bandstand with Chicken Shack and brought him off with Hold It. ---------- Sincerely, Barbeque Bob Maglinte Boston, MA http://www.barbequebob.com CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
@BBQ: I love and play all three of those tunes. "Hold It" was one Sterling and I used to do. I should clarify my initial post: I wasn't saying that I found it difficult to play 3 gigs in a row, or 7 gigs in a row. That's part of the life, and I was always ready for it. I was saying that when musicians AREN'T playing full time, but are only getting together on weekends and for occasional tours, I always found that the first couple of gigs, while perfectly competent and professional, always involved a subtle dance through which the DEEP swinging core of the band was being reassembled, so that the band tended to achieve only 90-95% of its all-out inspired best. But on the third night out, in my experience, the magic started to happen. I could reach for more difficult phrases and they'd suddenly be there for me, without effort. Or the energy level of the band would suddenly soar and the groove would magically lock in. That was my experience. And it surprised me that the same thing happened on my third solo gig in a row this time out.
Obviously this isn't true for full-time musicians who are gigging 3-5 nights a week. They're up to speed and have their chops, and the band is tight. It's more a phenomenon of the part-time musician.
On the other hand - when you are out three or more nights a week - it becomes a lot more like a job. Less exciting and more grind - though you certainly do get comfortable on stage and with the material. ----------
/Too many harp players tend to focus FAR TOO MUCH on soloing and NOT ENOUGH on getting the time and the groove together so that you FEEL the groove happening 24/7/365/
If I agreed any more strongly, my head would explode.
@kudzurunner:
1. Enjoyed the vids. Thanks for posting!
2. I'm curious as to your choice of four-on-the-floor (rather than, say downbeat kick / backbeat hi-hat, or half-time backbeat on the 3, etc.) all the way through. To get the eighth notes with other foot? (Neat trick, by the way. I'm trying - unsuccessfully - to rig up two tambourines on a foot pedal to go ker-chink-ker...)
3. Your harp tone comes across as thick, middly, punchy, crisp, crunchy. Your voice is sits nicely on top of the harp. (I like the singing, BTW. You sound like you.) But... I'm missing something underneath. Maybe it's the vid, maybe the recording, but, to my ear, that bass drum sounds too clean, too middly, too punchy... Too like the harp? Do you ever play with a dirtier, bassier bass drum?
4. The smoothness of the transitions between singing and playing in the first vid is really rather special, Professor. The way the delay (right? And the execution, of course!) feathers the end of one phrase into the next. Cool.
xxx
EDITED further to parenthesise. And to correct spelling. And to correct attribution. Eek!
Last Edited by on Dec 22, 2010 3:23 PM
.......I think the cool-down and abrupt stop at around 6:30 was almost as equally amazing as when Mr. Satan channeled himself through you at around 5:25 or so.
hermonica too white and whiny for blues? nothing wrong with sounding white and where is it written that you have to have gravel in your craw to sing the blues.
that being said there are many who share your views on the subject. i will vote with you for the pretty singer.
i will say this adam....you might want to try a different key....or not.
@Kudzurunner --- Even if you're gigging 3-5 nights a week, there are gonna be nights where you simply don't have "it," and so sometimes having certain little solos a tad rehearsed can be a godsend to compensate so long as you can keep them sounding fresh like you're doing it for the first time. Some guys play the exact same solos night after night, and if you're gigging 3-5 nights a week, especially on the road, where you're almost never really getting proper rest, it can be a necessity and for some audiences, it may be what they want to hear. Having a few different pet licks you can jump off of and eventually loosen up the mind with, but it is tough to be truly "on" every single night even if you're on the road playing 3-5 nights a week, though at the same time, one's musical brain should be a lot sharper so that reeling off something different each night is more the norm.
Heck, when I opened up for William Clarke a few months before he passed away, his guitarist at the time, Paul Bryant, told me he had to learn all the arrangements of all of his tunes not only in all 12 keys, but also in different tempos because it was different every single night and a lot of musicians, especially the weekend warriors, would often have a difficult time dealing with that, and Clarke learned that from being around old school guys like George Harmonica Smith (tho on the other hand, there were plenty of old school guys who expected you to play the exact same thing every single night as well). ---------- Sincerely, Barbeque Bob Maglinte Boston, MA http://www.barbequebob.com CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
I basically have two beats: a shuffle and a two beat. Both are L/R. In the first case, the tambo pedal lags to create the shuffle; in the second case, I strictly alternate: one-two, one-two, as opposed to onnnnne-three, onnnnnnnne three, onnnnnnnnnne three. (A shuffle is a triplet beat where the first beat is actually the first and second beat of the triplet, fused.)
I use the shuffle beat in the first video above.
In the second video, I use a variation of the two beat. Instead of alternating left and right, I hit left and right at the same time. This is a beat that Sterling Magee often used. To vary this beat, I also sometimes double-time the right foot. I can come into this variation from the two-beat as well as from the "sunshine" beat.
That's pretty much all I'm able to do at this point. They're the easy, obvious beats. They're essentially what I was already doing when I patted my feet on a gig where somebody else was the drummer.
In every case, though, my left foot hits the kickdrum on the downbeat.
On a few slow shuffles, I alternate the left and the right feet on the downbeats, so that 1 and 3 are the kick and 2 and 4 are the tambo pedal. I do that on "Poor Boy Blues," on my new album. I do that for variation.
It's hard to keep the four-on-the-floor left foot downbeat when the shuffles speed up past a certain point, so I'm experimenting with the 13, 24 thing on those. I'm also experimenting with continuing to hit the kick on every downbeat at a fast tempo--on the uptempo John Lee Hooker style boogies, for example.
Hope that answers your question.
Oh: you're quite right about the somewhat overbright sound off the kickdrum. That's because the camera, I believe, was close to the drum and out of the range of the miked-up drum sounds coming from the PA. I asked the PA guy to give me ONLY bass frequencies from the drum. I'm not sure he did, but there was definitely some more low end coming out of the PA than coming out of the drum itself. This is something I'm working on. But I agree with you; more tweaking is needed.
[Edited to add: actually the problem is the recording device. It had no low-end response and thus inevitably made the drum sound middy.]
And yes: digital delay helps smooth everything out.
Last Edited by on Dec 23, 2010 12:54 PM
Are there any harp players out there who uses the farmerfootdrums ?? I use a 'farmerfoot'-shaker/tambourine, and I'm serieusly thinkin' about ordening the bassdrum, but I don't hope people will say that i'm copying the Adam Gussow style... ---------- www.sweetportblues.nl http://www.myspace.com/arnoudbluesharp
