Interviews you'd like to see?
There are a ton of great interviews already posted. Who would you like to see David entice from his burrow to sit in the hotseat next?
My choices (pretty obvious I think):
Rod Piazza
Charlie Musselwhite
Kim Wilson
David, any comments on our choices?
I can probably guess at least a few of those who wont. In the context of what you are trying to do, it's unfortunate. It's not like you would be asking them "If you were a tree, what tree would you be?"
The greatest thing an artist can offer outside of their music is that of helping those at the bottom learn to work their way to the top. You can bet that they took advantage of this at some point in their own careers by the generosity of others. This is what you have made your goal in life - and not sucking up - we appreciate that mightily.
I do look forward to many more of these interviews, though. What a great learning experience outside of the lesson plans!
Totally agree...
Steve Guyger
Jim Liban
Phil Wiggins
Jerry Portnoy
Players that can use the Harmonica Holder with guitar, banjo or mandolin.
Guy Davis
John Hammond
Keb Mo
Personally I think it would be really cool, and informative, to see one of these in-depth interviews with Sugar Blue. I know he's got a pretty busy touring schedule and he spends a lot of time in Europe, but if you do somehow get a chance to meet up with him and get an interview, I'd be really interested in seeing it. He's got a really unique, and very identifiable, sound/style. It would be great to hear how his style developed and to hear his personal philosophy/ideas on the harp and blues.
David, I would love to see Adam Gussow inteviewed, he directs people to your learning material on his Modern Blues Harmonica website an in particular believes you have "cracked the code" with your improvising books :)
As well as all of the above, Wade Schuman.
all of the above, and Jimi Lee (especially for those interested in songwriting, singing, playing in the rack)
Jerry "Boogie" McCain would be awesome!
Charlie Musselwhite
Adam Gussow
Jon Gindick, he's so smooth and talk with alot of passions
"Jon Gindick, he's so smooth and talk with alot of passions"
Wouldn't that be like Bill Gates offering Steve Jobs face time on the Microsoft newsletter?
(or vice versa depending on your Mac vs PC preference)
Nothing is impossible!
What about a woman harmonica player for a feminine touch.
Annie Raines does great stuff.
I'll bet David already caught up with him when he was in Santa Cruz this week.
I'd really like to see an interview with Carlos DelJunco. Of all the new crop of guys out there who do overblowing his playing has struck me as the tastiest. His use of overblows never seems gratuitous but integral to the music and yet he also maintains a strong fidelity to tradition even as he inovates. This combination is rare. His overblowing also seems (to me anyway) to be very pitch-true. I hear many players doing overblows where its fast and they aren't careful with the pitch. When it's done carefully (DelJunco) it can be VERY TASTY.
I think Carlos DelJunco would probably have some really interesting things to say.
Oh, one more thing. Carlos does some really interesting things with alturnate tunings. "B Thing" is great. He uses Lee Oskar Blues tuning 11.21b and does some really beautiful and amazing things. You could ask him about his work with alturnate tunings.
Sam Blancato, PIttsburgh
Yeah Steve Guyger, Jim Liban and Annie Raines would make great interviews in my opinion. Also Lee McBee would be pretty good I think.
He helped me go from a crawl to a walk-and even a jog, and taught me a ton about the blues, musicianship, and music in the process.
I'd add Lee Oskar!
:-)
i like to see an interview with West Weston. i really like his playing.
Yes Steve "West" Weston is a great player. He's a really nice guy and very knowledgeable about all things related to blues harmonica.
Mitch Kashmar would be great!
And maybe a very special interview with James Cotton?
I'd love to see that!
Yeah I agree Mitch Kashmar would be great.
Lee McBee would be great......
Charlie Musselwhite
Adam Gussow
John Popper. I know he is a rock player, but He was very well known when I was a kid.
I heard Chevy Chase is a harmonica player. That would be very cool.
Agree with Guyger, Liban and Raines 1000%.
What I think would be great would be interviews with the cats who really know how to back up a harp player. Guys like Rusty Zinn, Eli Fletcher, Rick Holmstrom, Alex Schulz and Junior Watson.
If those guys could explain what they do in guitar terms, tell some war stories, it would be useful to guys who want to communicate what they NEED to wannabee blues guitarists. Those guys are geniuses at supporting harp.
Ev630 - That's a great suggestion. That would make a really interesting interview, especially Rusty Zinn.
Oh yeah - and Charlie Baty, who started as a harp guy and has a very strong James Cotton influence in his playing.
Maybe it doesn't fit exactly in with the other interviews, but I'd love to see someone do a full interview on Mr. Barrett.
Sure, we are able to pick up a lot of insight from the lessons, but it would be interesting and helpful to hear more about his history, struggles, main musical influences, personal favorites, etc. How did he become such an effective teacher? What the heck is he doing up at 2:00 am evaluating song submissions? Stuff like that.
Maybe it belongs in a different section, but I bet it would make a really interesting video.
James Cotton is not easy to talk with due to his vocal damage
Jon Gindick isn't to David Barrett what "Steve Jobs is to Bill Gates" any more than Adam Gussow is (who also runs online lessons). -and Adam Gussow got and interview. Plus they have really different teaching styles. Also Howard Levy and Anne Raines would be neat but they works for online lesson companies that might prevent them from doing interviews for other sites (Artistworks/Truefire).
Jerry McCain - RIP :(
Lee Oskar, it would be cool to get his backstory about designing his company but Hohner seems to sponsor this site so it may be a conflict of interest.
John Popper and Sugar Blue are both fast players with very unique styles. That'd be an interesting perspective but they don't seem super personable when I've talked to them about questions. Might just have been my timing though.
Jerry Portnoy would be great too along with Magic Dick, James Harman, & Lazy Lester who I didn't see mentioned.
I would love to see some interviews from the Brits there are some great guys out here. For blues Paul Lamb springs to mind, whom I was lucky enough to get a lesson off a couple of weeks ago.
Also Steve Lockwood is one of the most talented players i have had the pleasure of learning from and listening too and very well rounded musically.
How about some Canadians: Mark Bird Stafford; David Rotundo; Carlos del Junco; Lee Oscar. These are some of my favourites.
Don’t let the oldsters get away! My top in this category are:
Toots Thielemans: though Toots is widely regarded as a jazz harmoniscist, he has played plenty of blues, and besides, jazz stems from blues. I’d like to hear him talk about his amazing technique and no one can serve a song like Toots. And as a bonus, he’s a professional whistler and considered one of the top jazz guitarists of all time. In the opinion of these ears, he is the best chromatic player in history and can be challenged for that title only by Larry Adler. Toots is 91 years old; don’t miss the opportunity to interview this harmonica god.
James Cotton: though someone mentioned his vocal damage, he just released an album where he sings on a couple of tracks, so he’s not totally dysfunctional. Won’t hurt to ask him. He’s 78 years old—time’s a wastin’.
After you take care of business and interview these guys, the next tier is:
Europeans:
Paul Lamb: the finest player in the U.K. I have nearly all of his albums and have learned much from his YouTube videos. He also has an educational video that is worth checking out. He taught himself to play by copying licks from Sonny Terry and Big Walter, also my top two players to learn from.
Jean-Jacques Milteau: The top player in France. I can’t say enough about Milteau. Our musical tastes coincide very closely, so when I buy one of his recordings, I know that I’m going to like almost 100% of it. Not sure about his English language skills though.
David, the next time you’re at a Steve Baker workshop in Germany, take a detour home and interview one of these guys.
Canadians:
Carlos del Junco: Everyone on this site knows his music and that he is Howard Levy’s most famous student. ‘Nuff said.
Don’t forget Mike Stevens. I have all of his recordings and I can honestly say that I like every single track that he’s ever recorded. He’s a brilliant song writer and a master of overblow technique. He’s done some great bluegrass stuff. He is the only guy that I know that can challenge John Popper for being the fastest player alive.
My first harmonica formal learning experiences came from delving into instructional materials by David Barrett & Jerry Portnoy. You gotta interview Jerry sometime, one of the best educators there ever was. I still use his exercises to work on my chops.
I’d like to see more country blues artists interviewed, and my top in this category is Phil Wiggins. He did a some brilliant albums with his late partner John Cephas (think Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee); my favorite is Dog Days of August. Wiggins & Cephas were featured on Mark Hummel’s Blues Harp Meltdown, Vol. 3.
I mentioned Howard Levy and I’ll say that even though he’s predominantly a jazz musician and an overbending expert, that’s no reason to exclude him. Madcat Ruth, Gussow & Ricci are not mainstream blues players and they were interviewed. I think Howard is a very generous man and he would be flattered to share some his insights. What he offers on his instructional website is different than what’s offered here so I don’t think any business interests will be hurt. Increasingly, overbending is becoming a standard part of playing the blues harmonica and I’d like to see David Barrett’s website eventually offer lessons in this area, even if they’re done by others that have more expertise.
Finally, please make time to interview John Popper. He’s already had one heart attack. Someone needs to probe this guy’s technique deeply before his secrets are lost to the world.
All great suggestions, thank you everyone.
Ryan, I agree with you, Sugar Blue has his own style and I'm very interested in his high-end riffs. An interview would be very welcome.
Lee McBee would have a great interview,left us last year. I listened to him for several years in Dallas. Lee made you BELIEVE anything he performed. Listen to him on Mike Morgan And The Crawl recordings. The late Sam Meyers would have been a good one also. I second the vote on Jerry Mcain. And Dave, thanks so much for interviewing Gary Primich. I 'd recommend another very good player: Brian Calway, aka,Hashbrown, Dallas,Tx. Tone oozes down down the the mic cord and out of the speakers when he plays.Fabulous tongue blocker, very well schooled in blues history.
Lee McBee would have been a great interview,left us last year. I listened to him for several years in Dallas. Lee made you BELIEVE anything he performed. Listen to him on Mike Morgan And The Crawl recordings. The late Sam Meyers would have been a good one also. I second the vote on Jerry Mcain. And Dave, thanks so much for interviewing Gary Primich. I 'd recommend another very good player: Brian Calway, aka,Hashbrown, Dallas,Tx. Tone oozes down down the the mic cord and out of the speakers when he plays.Fabulous tongue blocker, very well schooled in blues history.
I had a conversation with Cotton maybe two years ago and he could make himself understood pretty well. About 15 or so years ago, I remember being completely unable to undestand him; his voice sounded like a saw ripping through cardboard at the time.
BTW, Toots Thielemans almost never talks about technique. I tried to get him to co-author a work some years ago and he just didn't feel like focusing on harmonica technique was important (also, he doesn't feel like he has any(!)). He felt that it was more important to focus on harmony and phrasing.
I've become an avid listener of Sugar Blue (his version of 'Mona' is wicked) and would add his name to my list. Good call Ryan!!
Talked to Sugar Blue last year. He said he tongue blocks 99% of the time btw. Just some info for people that say you can't play as fast while tongue blocking....
Talked to Sugar Blue last year. He said he tongue blocks 99% of the time btw. Just some info for people that say you can't play as fast while tongue blocking....
How about Paul lamb?
Didn't see Billy Gibson mentioned, but perhaps I missed it if he was. Great player, would love to see an interview with him. He just put up free song download from his current band The RV's, for those unfamiliar with him. www.BillyGibson.com or search Facebook for Billy Gibson and you can find a link to the free song download there as well.
Cheryl Arena is good,lives in the Boston area.
Mark "Madison Slim" Koenig - great player
Paul Lamb
James Harman
Bill Lupkin
Phil Wiggns
Jerry Portnoy
John Hammond
phil wiggins
&
play all button
Mark Wenner
James Harman
Tex Nakamura
I have seen a lot of Christelle Berthon on youtube. She is an extremely accomplished musician. It'd be interesting to know a bit more about her.
All of these guys are on "the list," it's all about finding a time that works for them and such... and, some don't do interviews, especially video interviews, so, unfortunately, some will never be done due to that fact.