The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #11318   Message #83511
Posted By: Mike Billo
02-Jun-99 - 05:41 PM
Thread Name: Harmonica Players Unite!
Subject: RE: Harmonica Players Unite!
I play diatonics only. Marine Bands and Big Rivers, Special 20's. I play mostly first position. American and Irish fiddle tunes, Cowboy songs, folk, etc. I used to play (cross-harp)Blues exclusively, but not too much anymore. No particular reason, just drifted away from it. Learned a lot from Big Walter "Shakey" Horton during a tenure as his guitarist. I always use a seperate amp for harp. A Roland Cube-60 with a generic Radio Shack Microphone, with treble rolled off and reverb way up. My heroes are Sonny Terry, Robert Cooksey of Leecan and Cooksey (I know, you're thinkin' whose that? Believe me, this guy was a MONSTER!!),DeFord Bailey, and, of course, Big Walter. I'm also an admirer of Mark Graham. For sheer technique, Howard Levy and Norton Buffalo are high on my list. Most useful tip from Big Walter (the king of tone) was to keep as tight a seal around the harp as possible with your hands , and blow HARD.