Sept. 19, 2023

Jason Ricci interview: part 2

Jason Ricci interview: part 2

The interview with Jason Ricci continues on episode 94, part 2. Jason shares how he has matured into his music, including on his 2021 album, City Country City, playing jazz, funk and blues with New Orleans musician Joe Krown. Jason goes on to share what he considers to be his best work on harmonica, and the elements that make up a great performance. He’s recorded two albums with JJ Appleton, and Bad Kind is Jason’s current band, having released two albums so far, and a new album coming ...

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Season 1 Diatonic Harmonica Blues Harmonica Overblow Player

The interview with Jason Ricci continues on episode 94, part 2.
Jason shares how he has matured into his music, including on his 2021 album, City Country City, playing jazz, funk and blues with New Orleans musician Joe Krown. 
Jason goes on to share what he considers to be his best work on harmonica, and the elements that make up a great performance.
He’s recorded two albums with JJ Appleton, and Bad Kind is Jason’s current band, having released two albums so far, and a new album coming out with Bad Kind at the end of the month: Behind The Veil.
Jason has a big social media presence, with Patreon the place to go for his teaching material, with over 600 harmonica related videos available.
And Jason has just released a signature harmonica in partnership with Blue Moon harmonicas.

Links:
Jason’s social media links::
https://mooncat.org/
https://www.instagram.com/jasonricci93/
https://twitter.com/jasonricci93
Patreon page:
https://www.patreon.com/jasonricci
Tip Jason:
PayPal.me/jasonricci
Bandcamp:
https://jasonricci.bandcamp.com/
Harp Gear amplification:
http://harpgear.com/

Videos:

Paul Butterfield induction into the rock ’n roll Hall of Fame:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zix79vpAjG0

2023 SPAH concert:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKPuDDJz66M

Pedal Board (2019):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8CeSabvTy0

Hip-Hug Her with Bad Kind:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMlB_rL8REU

Podcast website:
https://www.harmonicahappyhour.com

Donations:
If you want to make a voluntary donation to help support the running costs of the podcast then please use this link (or visit the podcast website link above):
https://paypal.me/harmonicahappyhour?locale.x=en_GB

or sign-up to a monthly subscription to the podcast:
https://www.buzzsprout.com/995536/support

Spotify Playlist:
Also check out the Spotify Playlist, which contains most of the songs discussed in the podcast:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5QC6RF2VTfs4iPuasJBqwT?si=M-j3IkiISeefhR7ybm9qIQ

Podcast sponsors:
This podcast is sponsored by SEYDEL harmonicas - visit the oldest harmonica factory in the world at www.seydel1847.com  or on Facebook or Ins

Support the show

01:40 - Jason doesn’t feel he has to prove himself anymore, although still has the drive to work on his music

01:57 - Supporting his band members is one of his primary motivations

02:29 - Recent album with Joe Krown, City Country City, is from a more settled Jason

03:52 - Maturity comes from spiritual growth

04:21 - City Country City is New Orleans themed music (and is where Jason now lives)

05:17 - Hoping to make another album with Joe Krown, after a disagreement with him

06:59 - Formed Bad Kind in 2011, while living in Indiana

09:24 - Playing long solos on albums is trying to capture the essence of when that happens successfully in live gigs

10:14 - Down That Road is a New Blood album recorded live from different gigs by a fan of the band

10:42 - Live At Checkers Tavern is another live album

11:15 - Doesn’t overdub on albums as he only ever plays completely improvised solos

11:57 - How Jason tries to break out of musical habits is to practise lots of scales and arpeggios

13:33 - Some of the songs Jason considers as his best work

15:40 - The magic happens in Jason’s favourite recordings comes from a sense of freedom, of being able to fly

17:44 - The importance of technique in playing with soul, and there’s beauty in playing lots of notes

20:44 - Technique is the only thing that’s not subjective

22:09 - The importance of delivering different aspects to our performance, and not focusing on just one

24:31 - How much Jason’s obsessive personality has shaped his music, but life gets in the way of further development

25:54 - How good a living does Jason make out of the harmonica

26:23 - Found a tumour behind Jason’s eye in 2019

26:42 - Finances are a struggle, probably more now than when he was first starting out

29:43 - If had chosen the saxophone instead, would have been more difficult to rise to the top

30:00 - Doesn’t think his playing is that technical, compared to other players he admires: Howard Levy, Filip Jers, Konstantin Reinfeld, Gregory Hommert

30:48 - Filip Jers has just won SPAH player of the year

31:24 - Two albums with JJ Appleton, which are more acoustic based

32:38 - Played at Paul Butterfield induction into the rock ’n roll Hall of Fame

33:22 - Mark Ford was also an influence on Jason

33:54 - Jason’s sound is now sounding less overdriven, partly because he stopped using the Kinder anti-feedback pedal

35:07 - Now plays in several different acts, not just one main band, as he did with New Blood, although Bad Kind still his main band

35:47 - Has recently recorded for a Disney movie and the Netflix movie: A Jazzman’s Blues

36:46 - New Orleans tends to hire musicians who are based in the city, so Jason is getting more session work, but can’t read music

38:22 - Chromatic: going to play one song on next album

38:47 - Disagrees with Howard Levy that the diatonic can be played as a fully chromatic instrument

39:36 - Using different tunings doesn’t provide full chromaticism, that is needed on certain songs

40:21 - Not that many people can play the chromatic that well. Jason mainly likes the 3rd position chromatic sound

40:42 - Loves the micro bending ability of the diatonic

42:09 - New album coming out end of September 2023: Behind The Veil

44:04 - Jason has been using Patreon for his tutorial content for 16 years, with a new video every month. Now with over 600 videos

45:42 - Does a lot of teaching, including scholarships (free tuition for some select students)

47:40 - Recently appeared at the SPAH 60th anniversary event

48:06 - Has won various awards, including best harmonica several times

48:26 - 10 minute question

49:13 - Recently released signature harmonicas made by Blue Moon harmonicas and Jason has been closely involved in the specifications

49:21 - Harmonica of choice: was Hohner, then Suzuki, now back to Hohner

51:19 - There will be a choice to purchase the signature harmonicas either set-up for overblows, or not

51:34 - The tuning of the signature harmonicas

52:11 - Jason has a great relationship with Tom Halchak from Blue Moon harmonicas

53:57 - Embouchre: uses pucker or tongue block according to what best suits the music being played

55:49 - Has three Harp Gear HG50 amps, trying to sell on to buy a Fender Twin reverb to use with the HG50

56:07 - Plays acoustic mics: currently plays the Lone Wolf Jason Ricci signature harmonica, and previously helped design the BlowsMeAway Ultimate 58

56:45 - Doesn’t believe in modifying amps for harmonica

57:23 - Plays the ‘acoustic’ type mics through tube amps, and not a PA, as thinks bullet mics have just one sound

58:08 - Makes extensive use of effects pedals

WEBVTT

00:00:00.034 --> 00:00:03.720
The interview with Jason Ritchie continues on episode 94 part 2.

00:00:04.602 --> 00:00:14.077
Jason shares how he's matured into his music including on his 2021 album City Country City playing jazz funk and blues with New Orleans musician Joe Crown.

00:00:15.339 --> 00:00:21.009
Jason goes on to share what he considers to be his best work on harmonica and the elements that make up a great performance.

00:00:21.954 --> 00:00:33.128
He's recorded two albums with JJ Appleton, and Badkind is Jason's current band, having released two albums so far, and a new album coming out with Badkind at the end of the month, Behind the Veil.

00:00:33.762 --> 00:00:41.668
Jason has a big social media presence with Patreon, the place to go for his teaching material, with over 600 harmonica-related videos available.

00:00:42.409 --> 00:00:46.933
And Jason has just released a signature harmonica in partnership with Blue Moon Harmonicas.

00:00:47.475 --> 00:00:49.936
This podcast is sponsored by Seidel Harmonicas.

00:00:50.398 --> 00:00:59.706
Visit the oldest harmonica factory in the world at www.seidel1847.com or on Facebook or Instagram at Seidel Harmonicas.

00:01:09.090 --> 00:01:18.013
Thank you.

00:01:32.513 --> 00:01:35.721
You know, you seem to be very innovative and you've got a great reputation.

00:01:35.762 --> 00:01:40.152
You know, do you feel that pushes you on, you know, to keep exploring, coming up with new things?

00:01:40.552 --> 00:01:43.319
I also, I think actually to a degree, I've relaxed a little.

00:01:43.358 --> 00:01:46.365
Like I've, there's, I have very little ambition now.

00:01:46.530 --> 00:01:49.034
in terms of career these days.

00:01:49.635 --> 00:02:00.257
I have a drive that is motivated by getting the music heard in a really organic way and also financially supporting the band members.

00:02:00.998 --> 00:02:02.981
That's the primary motivation.

00:02:03.322 --> 00:02:11.544
But in terms of solidifying my reputation as a harmonica player, I think I've I've sort of stopped worrying about that.

00:02:11.625 --> 00:02:15.830
I've stopped thinking about, like, will Howard hear this recording?

00:02:17.132 --> 00:02:22.139
Or what is Kim Wilson going to think if I play this, you know, too many notes?

00:02:22.199 --> 00:02:24.181
I really don't care anymore.

00:02:24.662 --> 00:02:26.544
I just want to make good music.

00:02:27.186 --> 00:02:32.612
So I think that, you know, like when we get into, if I was to jump ahead to the record I just did with Joe Crown.

00:02:32.633 --> 00:03:24.763
¶¶ i think that's really the very beginning of really listening to me going like you know i'm not trying to show off anymore right i'm just trying to play music and if there's elements of it that are show-offy that's great i think that's good so I think as musicians, we should explore that area of virtuosity or an attempt at it anyway, or just being good on our instrument, right?

00:03:25.204 --> 00:03:26.164
And making it fun.

00:03:26.224 --> 00:03:33.110
I mean, when a painter paints something very realistically, we don't say, well, that's too many lines, too many pixels, you know?

00:03:33.251 --> 00:03:34.671
We don't say, well, that's too many lines, too many pixels.

00:03:34.671 --> 00:03:37.776
We just look at it and go, oh, wow, that looks just like a photograph.

00:03:38.038 --> 00:03:49.377
You know, I still have that in me, but I'm less concerned with trying to make an impression on the music world or get my name out there.

00:03:49.417 --> 00:04:04.159
It's something that I think is motivated The underlying theme is an area of spiritual growth being the primary focus and an underlying belief that if that is in place, everything

00:04:04.280 --> 00:04:05.441
else will work out.

00:04:06.021 --> 00:04:09.784
So as you mentioned the album, let's touch on that one, then we'll jump back in time again.

00:04:09.824 --> 00:04:13.668
So you've done this album in 2021 with Joe Crown, it's called City Country City.

00:04:13.989 --> 00:04:15.610
So he's a Hammond organ player, right?

00:04:15.629 --> 00:04:16.911
And it's a trio, you've got a drummer.

00:04:17.170 --> 00:04:18.151
Yeah, yeah.

00:04:19.252 --> 00:04:20.353
Really interesting album.

00:04:20.494 --> 00:04:27.964
So you live in New Orleans so it's kind of new orleans bass it's jazz and funk and blues lots of instrumentals and

00:04:28.365 --> 00:04:31.632
yeah yeah it's very new orleans sounding very yeah

00:04:32.072 --> 00:04:36.119
yeah and it did really well yeah it was in the in the top 10 of the blues albums for for some time

00:04:36.158 --> 00:04:48.576
i was really pleased with it and i'm very grateful to the guitarist michael zito mike zito who owns a record label for taking a chance on a harmonica lead organ trio.

00:04:51.302 --> 00:04:53.305
What a nutcase, you know?

00:04:53.326 --> 00:04:53.526
Yeah.

00:04:54.869 --> 00:04:55.550
No, fantastic.

00:04:55.569 --> 00:04:55.711
Yeah.

00:04:55.771 --> 00:04:58.456
And the, and the song city country city, the, the, the title.

00:04:58.555 --> 00:04:59.137
Yeah.

00:04:59.177 --> 00:05:00.459
That's a war song, isn't it?

00:05:00.839 --> 00:05:01.601
Yeah.

00:05:01.822 --> 00:05:02.944
And what a beautiful one.

00:05:16.865 --> 00:05:17.613
That's a great album.

00:05:17.896 --> 00:05:19.857
Any more coming out with your crown?

00:05:20.386 --> 00:05:22.026
Oh, God, I hope so.

00:05:22.047 --> 00:05:23.428
I really do.

00:05:24.249 --> 00:05:29.733
Joe and I had a disagreement over a booking situation with an agency.

00:05:29.834 --> 00:05:33.257
And the industry kind of got in the way of our relationship.

00:05:33.317 --> 00:05:34.838
And I hope that's temporary.

00:05:35.399 --> 00:05:40.624
Because I was talking before about father figures and big brothers and male role models.

00:05:41.384 --> 00:05:42.845
And Joe certainly is that.

00:05:42.906 --> 00:05:45.348
So I'm sort of in a place of mourning right now.

00:05:45.408 --> 00:05:49.190
I'm kind of reaching out to him and trying to make things better.

00:05:49.230 --> 00:06:04.608
And that's not because It's, it's stuff, you know, that, well, I mean, maybe a couple things I said, actually, you know, but I've apologized and, you know, but, you know, stuff happens in our industry and people make decisions and.

00:06:05.026 --> 00:06:26.745
that other people don't agree with and mistakes and you know there's financial incentive involved and money and you know and and clout and all these different things and sometimes uh relationships that should never end get interrupted or or ended and it's tragic but i certainly hope that joe and i get to do another another album i did get him to play on my record

00:06:27.144 --> 00:06:36.795
well it's again really interesting in a different direction you know for you and the music and the use of the harmonica so it is great to hear definitely recommend people to check it It's a really interesting album, yeah.

00:06:37.076 --> 00:06:40.281
Thank you, Neil.

00:06:40.300 --> 00:06:57.271
So we'll jump back then.

00:06:57.331 --> 00:06:57.932
So after...

00:06:58.913 --> 00:07:08.040
think you formed bad kind in uh in what year was it around 2011 exactly So where were you based at this stage?

00:07:09.120 --> 00:07:14.225
I was still serving out a probation sentence in Indiana.

00:07:14.826 --> 00:07:20.391
So I was not allowed to leave Indiana, but I was eventually allowed to tour out of Indiana.

00:07:20.870 --> 00:07:25.654
So I could leave if I had a job, but I couldn't live anywhere else.

00:07:25.716 --> 00:07:29.319
And I couldn't return to New Orleans.

00:07:30.158 --> 00:07:34.062
So the bad kind started driving up from New Orleans and picking me up.

00:07:34.702 --> 00:07:35.845
And then we would go out tour.

00:07:35.865 --> 00:07:43.788
Eventually I moved back here after I finished my probation and we started touring and living here in New Orleans.

00:07:44.490 --> 00:07:44.831
Great.

00:07:44.891 --> 00:08:03.815
So I think you've had, is it two albums out with a bad kind now you've had approved by snakes um and then uh my chops were rolling right and then now the third is coming out september the 29th yeah sure yeah then the third one's come out yeah so so your first one with them was approved by snakes yeah

00:08:04.096 --> 00:08:04.357
yeah

00:08:04.877 --> 00:08:16.646
really dark album yeah really dark album i i almost can't listen to it really so broken toy is a good example of that you got these kind of tortured i guess autobiographical lyrics on this song yeah

00:08:17.187 --> 00:08:20.814
yeah Yeah, those are heavy-duty lyrics.

00:08:21.896 --> 00:08:23.759
I think they're channeled.

00:08:25.000 --> 00:08:28.307
I wrote them in about a minute and a half, the entire song.

00:08:31.752 --> 00:08:41.309
Yeah.

00:08:44.833 --> 00:08:56.734
Listen

00:08:56.774 --> 00:08:57.095
here.

00:08:57.134 --> 00:08:58.538
There's another one on there.

00:08:58.557 --> 00:09:03.065
She's got, you know, you do a lot of kind of big, long-ranging kind of songs.

00:09:03.105 --> 00:09:05.629
They're quite like epic sort of eight-minute songs, aren't they?

00:09:05.669 --> 00:09:10.398
Lots of really long solos by Ewan Harmonica and the guitarist and obviously the other instrumentalist.

00:09:24.673 --> 00:09:29.581
So how do you approach playing these kind of really long solos and maintaining the interest when you're doing that?

00:09:30.562 --> 00:09:32.043
Well, shucks, I don't know if I do.

00:09:32.063 --> 00:09:37.491
I think what we're trying to capture is the nights when that does happen.

00:09:37.532 --> 00:09:41.256
And trying to get that in the studio isn't always easy.

00:09:42.259 --> 00:09:48.907
But I think I've always been somebody that's maybe a little too brave, a little too ambitious musically.

00:09:48.927 --> 00:09:51.409
And I'm always going after that.

00:09:51.509 --> 00:09:52.311
So I don't know.

00:09:52.350 --> 00:09:55.434
Every now and then, I think we get it.

00:09:55.735 --> 00:09:59.399
And I would say more often than not, I think I fail.

00:10:02.323 --> 00:10:06.750
You've released at least one live album with New Blood, maybe two, I think, isn't it?

00:10:06.889 --> 00:10:10.394
And so is it that, like you say, you're trying to capture that live sound?

00:10:10.533 --> 00:10:10.975
Oh, we haven't

00:10:11.034 --> 00:10:13.278
actually made a live album with New Blood.

00:10:13.570 --> 00:10:20.177
I mean, with New Blood, there was one that a fan, Gary Hodgson, made called Down That Road.

00:10:20.278 --> 00:10:20.557
Yeah.

00:10:36.917 --> 00:10:41.461
Which was a collection of various live recordings that he...

00:10:41.761 --> 00:10:42.101
Yeah.

00:10:42.363 --> 00:10:43.884
Live at Checkers Tavern as well.

00:10:44.184 --> 00:10:44.926
Oh, that's true.

00:10:44.946 --> 00:10:48.890
I forgot about that one because it was stolen from us by the record label.

00:10:49.331 --> 00:10:49.432
Right.

00:10:49.451 --> 00:10:50.011
Yeah.

00:10:50.032 --> 00:10:50.192
Yeah.

00:10:50.232 --> 00:11:03.990
You've blanked that one out.

00:11:04.009 --> 00:11:04.090
Yeah.

00:11:04.110 --> 00:11:04.190
Yeah.

00:11:06.850 --> 00:11:13.543
But yeah, like you're saying, you're trying to sort of emulate that kind of live show in the studio, as you say, for these long-ranging songs.

00:11:13.904 --> 00:11:17.172
Yeah, and I've never been a big overdubber.

00:11:17.773 --> 00:11:23.404
I philosophically don't believe in crafting the perfect solo.

00:11:24.086 --> 00:11:27.594
I'm struggling to think of a single solo that I've written.

00:11:28.162 --> 00:11:28.461
Ever.

00:11:29.082 --> 00:11:35.033
Everything that you hear out of me for better or for worse is completely improvised.

00:11:35.673 --> 00:11:40.280
I have never written a solo out and played it the same way ever.

00:11:40.881 --> 00:11:41.864
So I try to do that.

00:11:41.964 --> 00:11:45.188
I believe that's how this music is supposed to be played.

00:11:46.250 --> 00:11:50.456
And I think that whether it comes out good or not, it doesn't matter.

00:11:50.496 --> 00:11:53.261
If it comes out bad, that means you need to practice more.

00:11:53.666 --> 00:11:56.349
And on that note, it's something, again, I've read about.

00:11:56.649 --> 00:11:59.052
Obviously, you're trying to push it and not sound the same, not have habits.

00:11:59.091 --> 00:12:00.232
I think we all feel that, right?

00:12:00.253 --> 00:12:05.278
Yeah, we all feel that we play the same things, you know, because that's kind of your style in a way, right?

00:12:05.318 --> 00:12:07.660
But, you know, what do you do to try and break out of that?

00:12:08.201 --> 00:12:09.883
A lot of scales and arpeggios.

00:12:10.865 --> 00:12:13.586
That stuff forces you to not play the same notes.

00:12:14.649 --> 00:12:17.491
And, you know, you got to make a decision at the beginning of the song.

00:12:18.452 --> 00:12:22.496
I'm just going to listen to the first note I play and then decide what the next one is.

00:12:23.490 --> 00:12:34.602
sometimes my ego doesn't allow me to make that decision because I don't trust in God or whatever you want to call it, your higher self or the moment or whatever.

00:12:34.663 --> 00:12:45.115
And then I, I end up playing some bullshit or some Pat Ramsey stuff, you know, with some Jason sprinkles influence from 30 years ago, you know?

00:12:45.936 --> 00:12:47.418
So I try to just be in the moment.

00:12:47.477 --> 00:13:21.279
I think I did a very good job on city country city of, of, playing in the moment on some of it anyway yeah If you can't tell, I'm pretty hard on myself.

00:13:21.720 --> 00:13:24.322
But it's not in a bad way.

00:13:24.623 --> 00:13:32.009
Believe it or not, it's not self-deprecating because I'm just as likely to tell you when I think something is exquisite that I've done.

00:13:32.049 --> 00:13:35.974
Would you care to share what you think is your best work then?

00:13:37.095 --> 00:13:38.096
You called me on it.

00:13:40.778 --> 00:13:43.981
I think the solo on Loving Eyes off of Rocket No.

00:13:44.001 --> 00:13:45.842
9, I think it's next level.

00:13:48.505 --> 00:13:48.605
Music

00:13:54.721 --> 00:14:05.559
The

00:14:05.620 --> 00:14:10.366
playing on Enlightenment, the Sun Ra song off Done With The Devil.

00:14:16.918 --> 00:14:16.957
Oh!

00:14:24.193 --> 00:14:26.738
as well as the solo on Broken Toy.

00:14:41.601 --> 00:14:43.924
I'd say there's some work I've done with J.J.

00:14:44.066 --> 00:14:45.947
Appleton that's really good.

00:14:46.469 --> 00:14:55.982
I think the solo on the song Down and Dirty, the opening track of City Country City, I think that that rhythmically swings very, very hard.

00:14:56.003 --> 00:15:19.673
¦On the new record, there's a number of both, I think, vocally and harmonica playing wise that I think are very, very sincere and very heartfelt.

00:15:35.841 --> 00:15:38.044
And I think in the end, that's what really matters.

00:15:38.144 --> 00:15:40.207
And I'm trying to get more into that.

00:15:40.788 --> 00:15:44.692
So what do you think, you know, what place were you in when you did these good performances?

00:15:44.712 --> 00:15:47.235
Do you think it, you know, it was improvising and it came out great?

00:15:47.275 --> 00:15:50.399
Was there something magic that happened to those recordings?

00:15:51.221 --> 00:15:52.842
You know, that's a really good question, Neil.

00:15:52.884 --> 00:15:58.510
I'm really, I think maybe just, you know, like I said earlier, it's like a sense of abandonment.

00:15:58.630 --> 00:16:01.995
You know, it's like, have you ever had a dream that you're flying?

00:16:02.014 --> 00:16:04.317
And, you know, I do.

00:16:04.610 --> 00:16:12.082
Sometimes in my dream, I imagine like, oh, I'm not supposed to be able to fly.

00:16:12.143 --> 00:16:13.404
And then I start to fall.

00:16:14.206 --> 00:16:17.150
Or I want to show somebody that I can fly.

00:16:17.171 --> 00:16:19.235
And that's when I can't, right?

00:16:19.315 --> 00:16:20.517
Or I can barely do it.

00:16:20.616 --> 00:16:23.642
Like I can hover a little, but I can't fly anymore.

00:16:24.423 --> 00:16:25.586
And I think it's sort of that...

00:16:25.953 --> 00:16:28.798
It's that faith that you have to have.

00:16:28.839 --> 00:16:39.596
And I think that's why practice is so important, as I think it gives us confidence so that we can abandon everything that we've practiced and just sort of be in the moment.

00:16:39.616 --> 00:16:47.049
I think what we're all after in life, whether it's in music or in life, is a sense of freedom.

00:16:47.522 --> 00:16:59.043
of careless childlike exploration, the same way that a child goes up to a piano for the first time and pushes one of the keys on the piano and it makes a noise.

00:16:59.764 --> 00:17:03.662
And then that child, you know, learns that if they Yeah.

00:17:04.262 --> 00:17:04.863
Yeah.

00:17:33.327 --> 00:17:33.909
Yeah.

00:17:34.169 --> 00:17:42.941
I mean, I think a lot of people would, you know,

00:17:43.442 --> 00:17:48.068
sort of describe you as being quite a technical player.

00:17:48.088 --> 00:17:50.451
Obviously you talked about playing scales and arpeggios.

00:17:50.471 --> 00:17:54.597
I mean, you know, how important is the, is the technique behind, you know, playing with soul?

00:17:54.849 --> 00:17:55.351
I

00:17:55.411 --> 00:17:56.230
think it's everything.

00:17:56.251 --> 00:17:56.271
I

00:17:56.832 --> 00:17:56.971
think

00:17:57.051 --> 00:18:00.736
playing with soul, first of all, soul is very subjective.

00:18:01.136 --> 00:18:04.681
It depends a lot on a person's personal experiences.

00:18:05.481 --> 00:18:15.593
I think people that haven't had a lot of, this is just an example, exposure to Latin culture are going to have difficulty hearing soul and Latin music.

00:18:16.292 --> 00:18:27.464
Like for example, I used to get more defensive than I do now, but I I used to get really defensive over people that would criticize Howard Levy as being too technical because...

00:18:27.970 --> 00:18:31.977
I hear a lot of soul in Howard's playing, but I didn't always kneel.

00:18:32.577 --> 00:18:34.340
I had to move to Florida.

00:18:34.501 --> 00:18:41.673
I had to be around Brazilian people, Haitian people, Trinidad, Cuban, black, everything.

00:18:42.355 --> 00:18:44.038
I had to listen to a lot of bebop.

00:18:44.118 --> 00:18:45.059
I had to listen to that.

00:18:45.540 --> 00:18:51.230
And I had to have a lot of personal experiences in my life, both good and bad, for me able to hear that soul.

00:18:51.751 --> 00:18:57.046
So when somebody maybe critiques my playing and says, oh, well, this is all technique and it's no soul.

00:18:57.685 --> 00:19:01.009
I think there are times when that person is critiquing accurately.

00:19:01.028 --> 00:19:07.474
And I would certainly agree on some cases that it is very cerebral and flashy.

00:19:07.994 --> 00:19:11.518
But there are many times when people say that where it's simply not true at all.

00:19:12.138 --> 00:19:15.221
And that music is very heartfelt, very sincere.

00:19:15.240 --> 00:19:26.271
And the frequency or amount of notes should be no more significant than if I look at a rainforest and say, well, I find this rainforest beautiful.

00:19:26.751 --> 00:19:28.273
A rainforest is very busy.

00:19:28.314 --> 00:19:33.299
There are lots of ferns and plants and roots and trees and birds and insects.

00:19:33.559 --> 00:19:39.165
But then do I look at a desert and say, well, that desert is more beautiful because less is more.

00:19:39.205 --> 00:19:45.854
And there's not all those busy insects and rotten ferns around to clutter up everything, right?

00:19:46.145 --> 00:19:48.428
I mean, that's just life, right?

00:19:48.548 --> 00:19:55.173
Life is both sparse sometimes and melancholy and other times it's very elaborate and busy.

00:19:55.193 --> 00:19:59.718
And I'm in a very elaborate and busy cat in general.

00:20:00.117 --> 00:20:03.181
My thoughts, I have bipolar disorder.

00:20:03.661 --> 00:20:04.521
Is it a disorder?

00:20:04.561 --> 00:20:05.343
I don't even know.

00:20:05.363 --> 00:20:12.288
It's certainly something to be checked, but I'm expressing my personality authentically.

00:20:12.909 --> 00:20:15.490
And sometimes that personality is still.

00:20:16.112 --> 00:20:24.019
As I get older and wiser and more spiritually centered, I'm finding more stillness and more calmness.

00:20:24.461 --> 00:20:27.084
But my less is more is not cerebral.

00:20:27.463 --> 00:20:28.444
It is soulful.

00:20:28.585 --> 00:20:40.258
It comes from my heart because I've heard people play less notes cerebrally, like they're trying to be sparse on purpose, trying to play less notes to impress somebody.

00:20:40.577 --> 00:20:41.298
It's garbage.

00:20:42.059 --> 00:20:43.862
So it's completely subjective.

00:20:44.402 --> 00:20:47.925
And I think that the only thing that's not subjective is technique.

00:20:48.465 --> 00:20:51.709
And whether you like it or not, we can measure technique.

00:20:52.288 --> 00:20:53.611
You can't measure art.

00:20:54.010 --> 00:20:56.752
You can't say this is better because I like it better.

00:20:56.833 --> 00:20:59.996
No, you like it better because you like it better.

00:21:00.016 --> 00:21:01.037
Art is subjective.

00:21:01.156 --> 00:21:02.598
Soul is subjective.

00:21:03.259 --> 00:21:03.378
Okay.

00:21:03.419 --> 00:21:05.441
But technique is not subjective.

00:21:05.922 --> 00:21:12.186
I can listen to any instrument and if it's not played well, I can say, well, it's not played well.

00:21:12.606 --> 00:21:15.210
I can also say it's not played well, but I like it.

00:21:16.034 --> 00:21:18.717
Or it's not played well, and I don't like it.

00:21:19.017 --> 00:21:22.319
On top of the fact that it's not played well, I think it sucks, right?

00:21:22.380 --> 00:21:23.661
But that's just my opinion.

00:21:24.061 --> 00:21:45.622
But what is not open to debate is whether or not a note is in tune, whether or not a scale can be played, whether or not an arpeggio can be played, whether or not I can communicate in language with the musicians that I work with when I call myself somebody that has dedicated my life to music.

00:21:46.114 --> 00:21:48.037
Yeah, that is not open for debate.

00:21:48.738 --> 00:21:52.863
Yeah, and I mean, I definitely think you do combine the technical with the soul, for sure.

00:21:53.063 --> 00:21:54.545
You know, there's many examples.

00:21:54.585 --> 00:21:59.731
You're playing a great fast lick and then go into a beautiful soul tone, you know, coming out of the harmonica.

00:22:07.643 --> 00:22:09.085
What about the tone on the harmonica?

00:22:09.144 --> 00:22:10.567
How have you worked at that?

00:22:11.268 --> 00:22:11.728
I don't know.

00:22:11.748 --> 00:22:15.634
I think, you know, initially, that's what everybody wants.

00:22:16.097 --> 00:22:17.825
the most, and certainly me.

00:22:18.950 --> 00:22:24.673
But amplification, and I think I play well through a vocal mic.

00:22:25.275 --> 00:22:28.401
I think that my sound is big enough.

00:22:29.121 --> 00:22:33.005
Dennis Grinling likes to say, you can never have too much tone.

00:22:34.787 --> 00:22:34.967
Right?

00:22:35.367 --> 00:22:35.948
But I don't know.

00:22:35.968 --> 00:22:38.050
I don't even actually know if I agree with that.

00:22:38.270 --> 00:22:43.215
I think you can focus too heavily on anything.

00:22:43.616 --> 00:22:45.377
You can focus too heavily on melody.

00:22:45.638 --> 00:22:47.780
You can focus too heavily on harmony.

00:22:47.820 --> 00:22:50.042
And you can focus too heavily on rhythm.

00:22:50.423 --> 00:22:56.720
And you can certainly focus too heavily on how something sounds like, okay, like put it this way.

00:22:57.221 --> 00:23:07.877
So if you have a harmonica player with great tone, but he doesn't have any chops, you're going to walk in and you're going to go, oh my God, this is incredible for about three songs.

00:23:08.939 --> 00:23:11.663
And then you're going to get here all the same licks over and over again.

00:23:11.703 --> 00:23:18.534
And you're going to get used to that tone, no matter how good it is, your ears will adjust and you're going to go, what's on TV.

00:23:18.614 --> 00:23:19.395
Let's get out of here.

00:23:19.935 --> 00:23:20.958
Let's go see another band.

00:23:21.218 --> 00:23:34.560
Conversely, if you walk into a club and you see a guy who has all the chops in the world, but his tone's not very good, you're going to go, oh, my God, this is amazing for about three songs the same amount of time.

00:23:35.041 --> 00:23:35.521
Right.

00:23:35.561 --> 00:23:39.286
So what you want is a preferably a little of both or a lot of both.

00:23:39.865 --> 00:23:41.267
Same thing with technique and soul.

00:23:41.326 --> 00:23:52.257
If a guy plays everything in the key of A and the minor pentatonic scale, it's going to be amazing for, you know, a certain number of songs before the audience starts to say that.

00:23:52.336 --> 00:24:05.008
Remember, I told you about the naivety and the beautiful nature of the listener that doesn't play music that they'll say, well, I don't know, you know, man, I really like it, but it all kind of sounds the same to me.

00:24:05.008 --> 00:24:13.220
And that's what happens when we don't learn how to express ourselves with different musical ideas.

00:24:13.680 --> 00:24:18.567
Musical ideas that are, in some cases, potentially 6,000 years old.

00:24:19.428 --> 00:24:21.570
Why wouldn't we learn things that are that old?

00:24:21.611 --> 00:24:26.858
I mean, certainly the major scale is at least 3,000 years old.

00:24:27.479 --> 00:24:30.083
Why wouldn't that be something you would learn and explore?

00:24:30.123 --> 00:24:31.244
Definitely.

00:24:32.046 --> 00:24:32.125
Yeah.

00:24:32.513 --> 00:24:36.942
Something else I'm reading about you is that you've, you know, become quite obsessive.

00:24:36.981 --> 00:24:39.185
And I guess a lot of people get to a high level or, right.

00:24:39.226 --> 00:24:43.773
But, you know, you're obsessive in your learning and, you know, you mentioned bipolar.

00:24:43.794 --> 00:24:48.762
Do you think that's sort of influenced the way you play and how you developed your, your playing such a high level?

00:24:49.304 --> 00:24:49.944
Definitely.

00:24:50.846 --> 00:24:51.448
Definitely.

00:24:52.068 --> 00:25:06.965
And I think I'm, One of the reasons that I haven't advanced further technique wise is because I'd spend so much time teaching now and doing things like this and booking gigs and paying bills and going to the grocery store.

00:25:07.006 --> 00:25:08.968
It's only very grown

00:25:09.028 --> 00:25:10.048
up now, Jason.

00:25:12.431 --> 00:25:14.673
Hey, Neil, you're a sweetheart.

00:25:14.772 --> 00:25:15.232
I love you.

00:25:15.854 --> 00:25:16.334
Yeah, man.

00:25:16.413 --> 00:25:17.694
I mean, like Jack D.

00:25:17.714 --> 00:25:23.119
Jeannette said, the great jazz drummer said, the music business ruined my job.

00:25:23.119 --> 00:25:26.604
Yeah.

00:25:27.085 --> 00:25:27.826
Yeah.

00:25:30.669 --> 00:25:34.032
Yeah.

00:25:48.930 --> 00:25:50.230
But I mean, your teaching's good.

00:25:50.290 --> 00:25:50.692
You're learning.

00:25:50.731 --> 00:25:51.791
We'll get into teaching later.

00:25:51.932 --> 00:25:52.393
Yeah.

00:25:52.413 --> 00:25:53.413
I'm being

00:25:53.953 --> 00:25:54.275
silly.

00:25:54.434 --> 00:25:54.615
Yeah.

00:25:54.775 --> 00:26:01.401
Well, a question, if you don't answer this, you don't want to, but obviously you're quite possibly the most successful harmonica player.

00:26:01.421 --> 00:26:03.122
You're talking about the business side of it now.

00:26:04.343 --> 00:26:08.487
How kind of a good a living have you managed to sort of make for yourself?

00:26:08.727 --> 00:26:09.086
Yeah.

00:26:09.448 --> 00:26:11.249
No, I don't mind answering it all.

00:26:11.308 --> 00:26:14.211
I've always believed in full transparency.

00:26:14.791 --> 00:26:28.566
I am absolutely struggling week to Mm-hmm.

00:26:28.826 --> 00:26:31.669
Mm-hmm.

00:26:32.549 --> 00:26:38.816
Mm-hmm.

00:26:45.250 --> 00:26:45.990
No matter what.

00:26:46.151 --> 00:26:47.633
And I have no health insurance.

00:26:48.054 --> 00:26:48.815
I have nothing.

00:26:49.315 --> 00:26:51.077
I'm pulling in a lot of money.

00:26:51.097 --> 00:26:52.599
I would say a lot of money.

00:26:53.160 --> 00:27:02.071
But the bills are astronomical between the van, the car insurance, all of the subscriptions.

00:27:02.573 --> 00:27:05.497
And I'm also a big Patreon supporter.

00:27:05.997 --> 00:27:08.099
I don't just collect money from Patreon.

00:27:08.140 --> 00:27:09.382
I also give out money.

00:27:09.730 --> 00:27:13.136
Every month, you know, I am supporting other artists as well.

00:27:13.198 --> 00:27:18.690
And and and the repairs on the van and the travel expenses.

00:27:18.730 --> 00:27:27.809
And I mean, there are tours that I do where YouTube and Patreon are the only income I'm going to make.

00:27:28.481 --> 00:27:31.605
The band is going to get paid, but I'm not.

00:27:32.567 --> 00:27:34.108
I'm not going to make anything.

00:27:34.609 --> 00:27:40.277
I have a manager now, an agent, and the more money you make, the more money you have going out.

00:27:40.856 --> 00:27:51.089
So it's like I was actually probably making more money a month because my overhead was lower in the earliest days of my performing than I am now.

00:27:51.458 --> 00:27:59.684
The more awards, the more you have to hire a publicist to make sure you get another award and all this other nonsense, right?

00:28:00.185 --> 00:28:02.227
So I'm barely staying alive.

00:28:02.508 --> 00:28:11.115
That being said, I live a life of 100% luxury other than having time to really enjoy the luxury.

00:28:11.494 --> 00:28:17.661
But I mean, I have an unbelievable cigar collection that would rival many millionaires.

00:28:18.842 --> 00:28:19.642
So I'm not rich.

00:28:19.702 --> 00:28:21.223
I'm irresponsible, Neil.

00:28:21.423 --> 00:28:24.565
Good to hear you're spending your money sensibly there.

00:28:27.074 --> 00:28:48.251
this might be a good time to point out that you've got people can tip you on a PayPal link I'll put that on the podcast page oh my bro my bro I hope they tip you too but you know that's like you said the reality of all the costs you know it's kind of depressing that someone that you know you know the top harmonica player quite conceivably for some years now you know even now struggles yeah which is

00:28:48.752 --> 00:28:59.241
I find it very depressing I mean any other industry right you know if like you know I'm like one of the top five most recognizable players, I think, in the world.

00:28:59.321 --> 00:29:03.445
I mean, certainly if you use Google as a reference point, right?

00:29:03.866 --> 00:29:06.068
Like, let's take my opinion out of it.

00:29:06.148 --> 00:29:09.372
I'm just telling you, like, Google the best harmonica players.

00:29:09.432 --> 00:29:12.094
I'm usually in the top 10, 15, right?

00:29:12.674 --> 00:29:13.756
Of all time, right?

00:29:14.175 --> 00:29:19.942
You know, that's just because of analytics and algorithms and all that kind of trash.

00:29:19.981 --> 00:29:21.182
But whatever.

00:29:21.624 --> 00:29:28.445
You know, if you were to Google the top 10 best bankers or accountants or lawyers or anything.

00:29:28.885 --> 00:29:32.532
Even probably ping pong players make more money than I do.

00:29:32.772 --> 00:29:34.195
It's absurd.

00:29:34.576 --> 00:29:36.299
But I knew what I was getting into.

00:29:36.359 --> 00:29:39.385
My father told me when I wanted to play harmonica, he goes...

00:29:39.874 --> 00:29:41.756
Get used to poverty, kid.

00:29:43.356 --> 00:29:45.459
Would it have been different if you played the saxophone?

00:29:46.078 --> 00:29:46.940
Oh, yeah, of course.

00:29:47.401 --> 00:29:49.362
But it would have been harder to rise to the top.

00:29:49.942 --> 00:29:56.989
Because conversely, the harmonica is an instrument that you only have to get kind of good on it to make a name for yourself.

00:29:58.670 --> 00:30:00.231
I don't know.

00:30:00.551 --> 00:30:05.195
I don't think what I do is really all that technical compared to what you guys think.

00:30:05.695 --> 00:30:11.862
When I listen to Howard, I feel like I'm in kindergarten and he He's the professor teaching grad school.

00:30:12.182 --> 00:30:14.404
I mean, that's literally what I feel like.

00:30:20.329 --> 00:30:31.902
You know, you know, and Philippe shares and Constantine Reinfeld and some of these other guys.

00:30:31.942 --> 00:30:35.806
I've just I'm very moved and blown away by what they're doing.

00:30:36.321 --> 00:30:43.795
Gregory Hammer now playing on rack and playing Charlie Parker on rack while playing guitar.

00:30:44.175 --> 00:30:44.517
Come on.

00:30:44.916 --> 00:30:45.137
Yeah.

00:30:45.618 --> 00:30:47.342
Incredible what some people are doing, isn't it?

00:30:47.362 --> 00:30:47.521
Yeah.

00:30:48.022 --> 00:30:49.445
And you mentioned Philip there.

00:30:49.486 --> 00:30:49.885
He's done great.

00:30:49.925 --> 00:30:51.670
He's just won Spa Player of the Year, hasn't he?

00:30:51.970 --> 00:30:53.290
And rightfully so.

00:30:53.692 --> 00:30:54.031
Yes.

00:30:54.172 --> 00:30:55.634
I'm glad you interviewed him.

00:30:56.034 --> 00:30:56.295
I have.

00:30:56.335 --> 00:30:57.195
Yeah, I have indeed.

00:30:57.215 --> 00:30:57.415
Yeah.

00:30:57.615 --> 00:30:59.498
He's a great guy and done some really great stuff.

00:31:00.479 --> 00:31:02.060
I love him so much.

00:31:02.441 --> 00:31:02.662
Yeah.

00:31:02.721 --> 00:31:08.768
He's a darling, darling, wonderful, gentle, kind, nurturing person.

00:31:08.948 --> 00:31:10.529
And I hear all that in his music.

00:31:17.837 --> 00:31:17.917
Yeah.

00:31:21.281 --> 00:31:24.126
So let's get back a little bit to your recording career.

00:31:24.146 --> 00:31:25.087
You mentioned J.J.

00:31:25.188 --> 00:31:25.669
Appleton.

00:31:25.990 --> 00:31:26.269
Yeah.

00:31:26.671 --> 00:31:28.594
This is where you're kind of doing your acoustic thing.

00:31:28.614 --> 00:31:28.693
Yeah,

00:31:29.234 --> 00:31:31.137
and really playing it safe.

00:31:31.238 --> 00:31:41.756
Lots of tongue blocking, single note bends, a lot of tongue blocking, some very consistent rhythmic chugging, some nice interplay between vocals.

00:31:44.058 --> 00:31:44.881
I can't believe it's as good.

00:31:44.901 --> 00:31:48.125
I can't believe it's as good.

00:31:50.210 --> 00:31:57.259
You know, leaving some spaces.

00:31:57.278 --> 00:32:04.588
It was sort of the album I made right around that time, sort of like the one with Joe, where I was kind of done trying to prove myself.

00:32:04.749 --> 00:32:06.530
I just wanted to make good music.

00:32:07.051 --> 00:32:07.471
That was it.

00:32:07.992 --> 00:32:09.555
Was this the second one, Beautiful Slop?

00:32:09.914 --> 00:32:11.237
I think the first one's better.

00:32:11.257 --> 00:32:37.949
Beautiful Slop Now what JJ's doing and singing and playing I think is wonderful on both records, but I think that I was less grounded as an individual and I think that's audible in the music.

00:32:38.390 --> 00:32:44.218
And another thing you did, which is a really great honor, is you played at Paul Butterfield's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

00:32:44.258 --> 00:32:47.362
So you were the harmonica player at that concert.

00:32:47.442 --> 00:32:51.948
And I have discussed this before in a previous podcast episode, but you know, so what was that like?

00:32:51.968 --> 00:32:54.471
And I know Paul Butterfield was a big influence on you as well.

00:32:54.731 --> 00:32:56.032
I was honored to be part of that.

00:32:56.642 --> 00:33:15.153
Yeah, I think some people were a little disappointed I got that gig.

00:33:15.693 --> 00:33:18.397
But I think Butterfield's pretty audible in my playing.

00:33:18.529 --> 00:33:18.911
Yeah.

00:33:19.332 --> 00:33:22.422
And, you know, Pat was butter on steroids, I thought.

00:33:23.083 --> 00:33:28.660
I think it's also important to mention Mark Ford, him being an influence as well, particularly after Pat.

00:33:31.970 --> 00:33:32.029
But...

00:33:43.041 --> 00:33:47.694
And tonally, I think Mark Ford was a huge influence on my amplified sound.

00:33:48.416 --> 00:33:52.568
You know, I think I liked that real compressed, overdriven...

00:33:53.089 --> 00:33:54.010
kind of sound.

00:33:54.131 --> 00:33:58.257
Now I think my sound is becoming less overdriven.

00:33:59.317 --> 00:34:00.920
It's almost like an amplifier.

00:34:01.020 --> 00:34:09.331
Even my amplified playing is starting to sound way more like a harmonica than a guitar on most tracks, I think.

00:34:10.413 --> 00:34:19.204
If you listen to my first record that I made using a 57 instead of a bullet mic, which was Feel Good Funk.

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:00.000
...

00:34:23.266 --> 00:34:31.101
Thank you.

00:34:33.186 --> 00:34:35.527
I think you can hear that on everything that I've done.

00:34:35.967 --> 00:34:42.753
But I think a big part of getting more organic was getting rid of that kinder anti-feedback pedal.

00:34:43.494 --> 00:34:49.820
So I loved that pedal for many years, and I still would never fault anybody who loves it now.

00:34:50.041 --> 00:34:51.661
I think it's a great sounding pedal.

00:34:52.121 --> 00:34:58.467
But it kept me very distorted for a long time, and I'm glad it's gone now.

00:34:59.688 --> 00:35:03.152
Yeah, a lot of people see that as the holy grail of the anti-feedback pedal.

00:35:03.152 --> 00:35:03.893
Yeah,

00:35:04.273 --> 00:35:05.195
I used to too.

00:35:05.277 --> 00:35:07.420
I had three of them just in case, you know.

00:35:07.802 --> 00:35:11.289
I think, are you at a stage now where you're quite diverse in what you're playing?

00:35:11.309 --> 00:35:12.431
You know, are you playing with J.J.

00:35:12.492 --> 00:35:12.873
Appleton?

00:35:12.893 --> 00:35:14.617
You've got obviously your main band, Bad Kind.

00:35:14.637 --> 00:35:16.059
You've got the Kroner album.

00:35:16.420 --> 00:35:17.744
You've got, you're playing with J.P.

00:35:17.804 --> 00:35:18.045
Soares.

00:35:18.085 --> 00:35:21.992
Are you now, you know, being able to sort of, you know, play in these different sort of outfits?

00:35:22.530 --> 00:35:27.916
Yeah, and then now, next week, it was supposed to be yesterday, but it got moved.

00:35:27.976 --> 00:35:30.380
Next week, I'm recording with a Mardi Gras Indian band.

00:35:31.000 --> 00:35:37.527
So that's like heavy-duty funk and jazz-influenced funk jazz.

00:35:38.570 --> 00:35:40.811
Native American, too, influenced music.

00:35:41.273 --> 00:35:47.521
Anyway, yeah, I think I'm becoming more of the guy that gets called for music, not blues.

00:35:48.081 --> 00:35:51.364
And I recently got to record with PJ Morton.

00:35:51.938 --> 00:35:57.326
for a new Disney movie that's heavily jazz and Zydeco influenced.

00:35:57.847 --> 00:36:06.601
And then I just recently was in Terrence Blanchard's soundtrack for the Tyler Perry movie called The Jazzman's Blues.

00:36:06.621 --> 00:36:24.465
¶¶ So I got to record with Terrence, which is probably my favorite thing that I ever got to do.

00:36:25.208 --> 00:36:25.389
Ever.

00:36:25.891 --> 00:36:26.333
Yeah.

00:36:26.626 --> 00:36:27.025
Excellent.

00:36:27.045 --> 00:36:28.547
Because he wrote Mo' Better Blues.

00:36:29.307 --> 00:36:30.969
He did all the music for Spike Lee.

00:36:31.951 --> 00:36:35.434
He's one of my favorite modern jazz composers.

00:36:35.914 --> 00:36:39.016
Recently, I got to play with Donald Harrison in Hawaii.

00:36:39.097 --> 00:36:46.262
And maybe someday down the line, John Batiste will need a harmonica for something, and maybe I'll get the call.

00:36:46.503 --> 00:36:47.003
I'm lucky.

00:36:47.083 --> 00:36:52.487
New Orleans tends to only hire people from here or people that have lived here a long time.

00:36:53.068 --> 00:36:55.050
So I'm finally starting to get those calls.

00:36:55.371 --> 00:37:01.802
And being a diatonic player that can play chromatically, I'm getting a lot of calls by default, right?

00:37:01.882 --> 00:37:03.827
Because there's nobody else that can do it.

00:37:04.248 --> 00:37:08.115
Because we have another wonderful harmonica player here named Johnny Sansom.

00:37:17.282 --> 00:37:26.170
And if anybody wants blues harmonica, Johnny's going to be the first call over me.

00:37:26.730 --> 00:37:27.150
Certainly.

00:37:27.251 --> 00:37:28.851
He's a more established player.

00:37:29.231 --> 00:37:40.722
But for stuff that has to be played a certain way, the saxophone and trumpet players, when somebody in the session says, oh, what do you think about adding maybe like a harmonica on this?

00:37:41.282 --> 00:37:42.083
Who do we call?

00:37:42.664 --> 00:37:45.286
All the horn players in New Orleans know.

00:37:45.326 --> 00:37:49.985
Oh, well, you have to call Jason because he's the only one who can play those notes.

00:37:50.871 --> 00:37:50.952
Yeah.

00:37:50.972 --> 00:37:51.134
So

00:37:51.233 --> 00:37:52.280
I get to call a lot

00:37:52.320 --> 00:37:53.429
just out of default.

00:37:53.762 --> 00:37:54.922
So you're coming to session man.

00:37:54.963 --> 00:37:56.463
Now you're going to be rich yet, Jason.

00:37:56.864 --> 00:37:57.485
I don't know, man.

00:37:57.545 --> 00:38:08.054
I need to learn to read music like, but it's so hard to translate to diatonic, but yeah, I think I'm going to maybe hopefully take lessons with Winslow or somebody.

00:38:08.134 --> 00:38:08.554
I don't know.

00:38:09.516 --> 00:38:15.340
I've been, I had to send my music for Terrence to Winslow and then Winslow had to teach it to me.

00:38:16.402 --> 00:38:20.744
So I had to spend like$150 in order to do the session.

00:38:22.286 --> 00:38:23.547
So, I mean, what about chromatic?

00:38:23.608 --> 00:38:26.070
I mean, I did see that you played some chromatic.

00:38:26.090 --> 00:38:29.134
Is that something you might delve into or you're purely diatonic, man?

00:38:29.353 --> 00:38:32.117
I'm going to play one chromatic song on my next record.

00:38:32.577 --> 00:38:33.318
It's an old number.

00:38:33.378 --> 00:38:35.940
It's called Cutting With The Button, but I've rewritten it.

00:38:36.300 --> 00:38:37.902
And it has a new turnaround.

00:38:38.443 --> 00:38:39.405
It's very jazzy.

00:38:39.844 --> 00:38:41.827
It doesn't sound good on diatonic.

00:38:42.288 --> 00:38:46.672
There's some triad arpeggios that really don't sound good in any position.

00:38:47.373 --> 00:38:49.615
And that's where Howard and I sort of disagree.

00:38:50.036 --> 00:38:58.467
Howard believes this is a fully, or at least he used to I might have changed his mind, actually, on an experience that we had together.

00:38:58.507 --> 00:39:05.679
But anyway, he used to say that it's a fully chromatic instrument, whereas I will say it's an instrument that can play fully chromatically.

00:39:06.079 --> 00:39:09.844
But can you play a C harp well in E flat?

00:39:10.369 --> 00:39:13.652
And I think the answer is no, not where it sounds good.

00:39:14.072 --> 00:39:15.974
If anybody could do that, it would be Howard.

00:39:16.034 --> 00:39:21.179
And maybe he'll hear this and do a whole album in E flat on a C harp and change my mind.

00:39:21.519 --> 00:39:27.063
And that's more than possible because anything in the world is possible in the hands of that man.

00:39:27.824 --> 00:39:36.251
But I'm at a place right now where an E flat major triad sounds like garbage, no matter how hard I try on a C harp.

00:39:36.652 --> 00:39:42.740
There's a lot of people I've talked to on here, you know, they use different tunings for particular songs or So there's different ways to approach it, right?

00:39:43.021 --> 00:39:52.942
Yeah, but see, the problem with that, Neil, is when you're talking about chromaticism, there's certain songs, jazz songs, that there's no tuning in the world that's going to get you through it.

00:39:53.282 --> 00:39:55.344
You got to be able to play all of the notes.

00:39:55.864 --> 00:40:01.168
And when you tune a harmonica, you make one thing easier and now you've made another thing harder.

00:40:01.469 --> 00:40:11.016
But chromatic harmonica in general is an instrument that I don't think sounds very good in most people's hands.

00:40:11.557 --> 00:40:13.980
And of course, there's many exceptions to that.

00:40:14.320 --> 00:40:20.144
The ones that come to mind are Philippe, William Gallison, Bill Barrett, Hendrik Mierkens.

00:40:20.846 --> 00:40:27.032
I think Papa Rosie plays very beautifully But I'm talking about the heavy duty jazz cats, Gregoire.

00:40:27.092 --> 00:40:30.275
But most of them, I think it sounds very hissy.

00:40:30.315 --> 00:40:35.963
There's a hissing sound that I think is a result of those plastic wind savers.

00:40:36.704 --> 00:40:42.349
And the fact that it can't bend more than a microtone is no fun to me.

00:40:42.751 --> 00:40:45.813
The whole reason I got into this thing was to be able to go...

00:40:50.146 --> 00:40:52.972
And all the little micro tones in between.

00:40:53.012 --> 00:40:55.096
So like, you know, like on a three draw, you have...

00:40:56.498 --> 00:40:58.061
Three draw, three half step.

00:40:59.445 --> 00:41:00.567
And then three whole step.

00:41:02.110 --> 00:41:03.532
And then a step and a half.

00:41:05.597 --> 00:41:07.099
But in between those...

00:41:21.858 --> 00:41:24.237
And even on the blow bends, right?

00:41:24.297 --> 00:41:35.103
Like just even on a regular blow bend, There's spaces in between those.

00:41:35.565 --> 00:41:39.971
And I don't think you get to explore that as liberally on a chromatic.

00:41:40.871 --> 00:41:40.952
Yeah.

00:41:41.052 --> 00:41:41.954
Not too interested.

00:41:42.034 --> 00:41:48.101
I like the sound of the tongue-blocked octave, third position or first position.

00:41:48.922 --> 00:41:53.128
I like the blues-driven amplified chromatic sound a lot.

00:41:53.528 --> 00:41:53.608
Yeah.

00:41:53.628 --> 00:41:57.715
Like when Dennis plays chromatic, to me that's very exciting.

00:42:02.862 --> 00:42:02.942
Yeah.

00:42:09.282 --> 00:42:12.505
So yeah, so as you mentioned earlier on, you've got a new album coming out at the end of September.

00:42:12.525 --> 00:42:13.646
I think it's out on the 29th.

00:42:13.865 --> 00:42:15.567
It's called Behind the Veil.

00:42:15.586 --> 00:42:16.588
This is with Bad Kind.

00:42:16.648 --> 00:42:19.891
So yeah, more kind of traditional playing I'm hearing on this.

00:42:19.931 --> 00:42:21.992
Is that a deliberate approach you took?

00:42:22.273 --> 00:42:24.034
Yeah, I've just relaxed.

00:42:24.454 --> 00:42:26.577
I'm just playing what sounds good for the song.

00:42:26.657 --> 00:42:35.965
And I'm heavily moved by a radio show that is on WWOZ on Wednesday nights that plays a lot of 50s R&B.

00:42:36.465 --> 00:42:38.427
I'm also writing to the band.

00:42:38.927 --> 00:42:42.172
And so I Not just writing, but choosing songs based on the band.

00:42:42.213 --> 00:42:47.079
I have a new guitar player who is very, very capable of playing traditional music.

00:42:47.521 --> 00:42:53.050
My wife, I really enjoy the way she is singing some of that old stuff.

00:43:01.824 --> 00:43:03.586
So

00:43:03.706 --> 00:43:05.369
I'm wanting to record...

00:43:05.922 --> 00:43:16.490
and write and play music that is the best for the musicians that I have, rather than forcing the musicians to play stuff that they're not into.

00:43:17.251 --> 00:43:21.474
And right now they're not really into Softly as in a Morning Sunrise.

00:43:22.456 --> 00:43:29.882
So I may quote that on a number, but I'm not going to play that number until the band decides that's what they want to do too.

00:43:30.583 --> 00:43:33.425
There's some great harmonica instrumentals on here too.

00:43:33.465 --> 00:43:38.753
There's also Shipwreck, which I think I'm listening to you thinking you sound quite a lot like Kim Wilson.

00:43:38.833 --> 00:43:40.197
Is that something you were aiming to do?

00:43:40.657 --> 00:43:41.960
I think I was going for cotton.

00:43:43.463 --> 00:43:44.885
That's funny, but thanks.

00:43:57.762 --> 00:43:58.242
So that's great.

00:43:58.302 --> 00:44:00.969
So that album is out at the end of September.

00:44:00.989 --> 00:44:03.717
So yeah, people can get it through by your website and other means.

00:44:04.318 --> 00:44:07.807
So let's talk about your extensive social media presence.

00:44:07.847 --> 00:44:11.077
So you've got lots of YouTube videos out there.

00:44:11.809 --> 00:44:14.813
You know, it's something obviously that's linked to all the teaching you're doing.

00:44:15.193 --> 00:44:17.255
You know, is that, you know, when did you get into that?

00:44:17.335 --> 00:44:22.518
And is it, you know, how much of an important part is this now to your kind of earnings and, you know, being a harmonica player?

00:44:22.980 --> 00:44:31.306
I'd say it's 75% of my earnings come from YouTube, which the majority of the money I get through Patreon.

00:44:31.806 --> 00:44:35.951
So I'm asking Patreon patrons for a tip, essentially.

00:44:36.351 --> 00:44:38.313
I'm asking them for$1 a month.

00:44:38.773 --> 00:44:40.815
And most people contribute at that level.

00:44:41.074 --> 00:45:33.586
The promises that you will get two videos a month on Patreon that may or may not contain any harmonica content at all it's oftentimes me just talking about life and behind the scenes stuff and things that i'd really rather not discuss in public the belief is that if you're paying a dollar to come over and you're tipping me for four lessons a month that's which is every friday there's a new harmonica lesson no matter what i haven't missed a friday in five years the channel itself is 16 years old there's over 600 harmonica related videos on it now so the idea is you're just tipping me a dollar and there's no real promises but you get two extra videos and you already are giving me the dollar for the harmonica lesson so it shouldn't matter whether you like me or not but some people come there and then don't like me and I understand that too

00:45:36.257 --> 00:45:36.798
So that's great.

00:45:36.818 --> 00:45:39.382
So I'll put the link onto your Patreon page as well.

00:45:39.461 --> 00:45:41.583
People can find that on the podcast page.

00:45:41.804 --> 00:45:42.005
Thank

00:45:42.045 --> 00:45:42.164
you.

00:45:42.445 --> 00:45:45.027
So obviously linking on and touching on your teaching.

00:45:45.088 --> 00:45:48.371
So, you know, you teach at Harmonica Camps and you mentioned Winslow earlier on.

00:45:48.391 --> 00:45:51.494
You do a Harmonica Collective Camp with Winslow you've done.

00:45:51.554 --> 00:45:54.978
And obviously you do Skype lessons and you do your videos and Patreon.

00:45:55.039 --> 00:45:57.963
And so teaching is, you know, it's really important.

00:45:58.043 --> 00:45:59.463
It's something you really enjoy doing as well.

00:45:59.503 --> 00:46:00.826
Is it not just paying the bills?

00:46:01.507 --> 00:46:02.047
I do.

00:46:02.628 --> 00:46:20.387
I'm trying to get to the place where, really really bad though where i can take a break from teaching right now um you know with the pandemic it was like six hours a day almost yeah and uh now it's decreased to about four, three or four hours a day.

00:46:20.427 --> 00:46:20.588
But I

00:46:20.947 --> 00:46:22.389
mean, that's the good thing about patron, right?

00:46:22.409 --> 00:46:25.512
You can make a video and then you don't have to do lots of one-on-one teaching.

00:46:25.532 --> 00:46:27.193
You may not get the same amount of income.

00:46:27.454 --> 00:46:27.713
Right.

00:46:27.893 --> 00:46:29.976
But I do enjoy one-on-one contact.

00:46:30.056 --> 00:46:36.802
And the other thing I do too, that people might not know, and I'm not bragging, is I do a lot of scholarships.

00:46:37.402 --> 00:46:42.067
So at any time, I usually have three to four people that I'm teaching absolutely for free.

00:46:42.867 --> 00:46:53.677
So like right now I have a Ukrainian little gem of a kid who's worked And if somebody works hard and doesn't have the money, I will teach them for free.

00:46:54.097 --> 00:46:59.844
But it's at my convenience, and the lessons are only 30 minutes, and don't flood me with requests.

00:47:00.445 --> 00:47:05.070
But if you do, remember that you may have to ask 20 times before I say yes.

00:47:05.710 --> 00:47:09.434
But you'll have to work very hard as well to earn the right.

00:47:09.855 --> 00:47:17.583
Yeah, even to get a lesson with me right now takes multiple, multiple emails and a very patient person.

00:47:17.983 --> 00:47:18.063
Yeah.

00:47:18.063 --> 00:47:22.369
I have to remind myself to be the same way when I'm pursuing clubs.

00:47:22.786 --> 00:47:27.311
Like, you know, our tendency is to send an email and expect an instant result.

00:47:28.052 --> 00:47:29.394
And that's not how the world works.

00:47:29.896 --> 00:47:30.936
Some people are busy.

00:47:31.177 --> 00:47:35.001
They don't hate you or they're not saying no just because they didn't respond.

00:47:35.041 --> 00:47:39.809
They might in their head say yes, but then forget and get really busy with something else.

00:47:40.369 --> 00:47:43.693
Recently, you appeared at the Spa 60th Anniversary Festival.

00:47:44.215 --> 00:47:44.996
Always an honor.

00:47:45.597 --> 00:47:46.898
My favorite organization.

00:47:52.505 --> 00:48:01.565
Music Thank you.

00:48:06.914 --> 00:48:11.978
And you've won various awards, Best Harmonica Player numerous times.

00:48:12.018 --> 00:48:16.021
You've won the Spa, Bernie Bray Harmonica Player of the Year in 2017.

00:48:16.282 --> 00:48:17.063
I

00:48:17.182 --> 00:48:17.603
cried.

00:48:17.643 --> 00:48:18.384
I cried.

00:48:18.483 --> 00:48:20.565
And Michael and Winslow gave it to me.

00:48:20.606 --> 00:48:26.170
Having Winslow give it to me was Winslow's very, very special person and harmonica player.

00:48:26.610 --> 00:48:33.516
So a question I ask each time, Jason, touching on the learning side, is if you had 10 minutes of practice, what would you spend those 10 minutes doing?

00:48:33.737 --> 00:48:34.217
Probably

00:48:34.257 --> 00:48:42.967
arpeggios and just taking them out of sequence or like trying to go from the third to the 10th or the two to the nine or whatever it is, you know, avoiding

00:48:43.007 --> 00:48:43.387
the root.

00:48:43.786 --> 00:48:44.989
Yeah, yeah.

00:48:45.449 --> 00:48:47.411
We'll get on now to the last section, talk about gear.

00:48:47.451 --> 00:48:50.074
And this could be a whole another two hours with you.

00:48:50.094 --> 00:48:52.536
I know, I'm such a nerd.

00:48:52.876 --> 00:48:54.759
You put lots of material out on gear.

00:48:54.778 --> 00:48:58.543
So people who want to follow up on any of your gear stuff, there's lots of videos available.

00:48:58.583 --> 00:49:00.244
And, you know, you talk about your pedals and all sorts.

00:49:00.284 --> 00:49:04.148
And I put a few links onto those, but let's talk about gear to some extent.

00:49:04.188 --> 00:49:17.835
So I believe early on you used to play, you used to, Yeah, I was Hohner, then Suzuki, then Hohner again.

00:49:20.994 --> 00:49:21.313
Right.

00:49:21.414 --> 00:49:26.898
So we're hoping to have another batch or run before Christmas.

00:49:27.440 --> 00:49:30.382
I was assured that it would certainly be before Christmas.

00:49:31.103 --> 00:49:36.507
I think the second run will be even better than the first, but the first will always be the first.

00:49:36.688 --> 00:49:39.429
So those who bought the first ones will have something special.

00:49:39.869 --> 00:49:41.831
They will be distinguishable too.

00:49:42.112 --> 00:49:50.920
The new ones are going to have powder coated and then laser etched and then sealed covers, whereas the originals had hand painted covers.

00:49:50.960 --> 00:50:01.224
So you will be able to tell from the imperfections or what the Japanese call a wabi, what is something that is imperfect that makes it perfect.

00:50:01.730 --> 00:50:07.195
I think we made maybe 25 or 30 the first run in the world.

00:50:07.795 --> 00:50:09.777
But then the second run, I think we're expecting

00:50:09.797 --> 00:50:11.378
60 will go out

00:50:11.498 --> 00:50:11.798
before

00:50:11.878 --> 00:50:12.398
Christmas.

00:50:12.900 --> 00:50:17.384
And have you been involved in sort of specifying how they're set up and all that kind of side of it?

00:50:17.483 --> 00:50:22.148
Yeah, like I wanted the phenolic resin comb, which is my favorite comb that Tom offers.

00:50:22.867 --> 00:50:26.090
Special 20 cover plates, which is what I play mostly.

00:50:26.150 --> 00:50:28.492
But this time I have good news.

00:50:28.994 --> 00:50:31.695
We're going to be featuring regular Marine Band DLCs.

00:50:31.695 --> 00:50:32.956
deluxe cover plates.

00:50:33.557 --> 00:50:40.885
So for those people that like the vented sound, and so do I, like when I play certain blues numbers, I will play intentionally.

00:50:40.945 --> 00:50:41.646
I will switch.

00:50:41.786 --> 00:50:45.931
I carry like one vented and one unvented harmonica of every key.

00:50:46.271 --> 00:50:55.521
So sometimes if I'm looking for a bluesier sound, a less compressed, less bass sound, I will go to the marine band cover plates because they make a big difference in sound.

00:50:55.802 --> 00:51:07.054
So the Black Corian comb, which will look really, really pretty and feel very comfortable to the lips.

00:51:07.574 --> 00:51:14.221
Also, it has a sort of different vibrational quality in your mouth than the phenolic resin does, which is more like wood.

00:51:14.902 --> 00:51:18.885
And the Corian is like a high density wood.

00:51:19.186 --> 00:51:20.507
Are they set up for overblows?

00:51:20.527 --> 00:51:22.090
You know, the sort of how you would play them?

00:51:22.630 --> 00:51:24.391
Some will be and some will be not.

00:51:24.853 --> 00:51:26.614
And they will be priced accordingly.

00:51:27.195 --> 00:51:44.213
So there will be more affordable versions that are made for people that don't need ones that are set up for overblowing, but all of them will be tuned to the immaculate detail that Tom Halcheck is capable of when he tunes these instruments.

00:51:44.914 --> 00:51:53.523
I'm hoping the whole run will be of more or less the crossover style tuning, like a modern compromise.

00:51:53.983 --> 00:51:59.550
So it's a little closer to equal temperament so that you can play in multiple positions.

00:52:00.351 --> 00:52:11.101
I've really gotten away from the Compromise Just, I ended up having to tune all of my five draws up because it was driving me crazy in third and 12th position.

00:52:11.422 --> 00:52:13.184
You've got a great relationship with Tommy.

00:52:13.224 --> 00:52:14.485
I had him on the podcast recently.

00:52:14.525 --> 00:52:16.108
You played at his daughter's wedding.

00:52:16.568 --> 00:52:17.668
I listened to that one.

00:52:18.289 --> 00:52:19.510
You guys were a lot of fun.

00:52:19.550 --> 00:52:20.411
He's so funny.

00:52:20.431 --> 00:52:21.132
I love him.

00:52:21.353 --> 00:52:22.273
So how did you meet Tommy?

00:52:22.554 --> 00:52:24.757
Was it when you were down in Florida or was it after then?

00:52:25.177 --> 00:52:32.364
I started soliciting him for free stuff and he wouldn't do it because of my reputation.

00:52:32.786 --> 00:52:33.706
And I don't blame him.

00:52:34.367 --> 00:52:37.052
At that time, I was less than a year out of prison.

00:52:37.072 --> 00:52:40.757
And I don't think he wanted to be affiliated with somebody like that.

00:52:41.278 --> 00:52:49.451
You know, over the years, I sort of proved for myself that I was not only going to be doing better, but I was going to use those experiences to help other people.

00:52:50.172 --> 00:53:00.907
And Tom, being a person that is interested in redemption, which he is, and through his own beliefs, was supportive of that.

00:53:00.947 --> 00:53:06.655
But it took some time of me kind of being around and being stable for that to happen.

00:53:07.275 --> 00:53:11.382
And then there were periods of time when I was unstable and he stuck with me again.

00:53:11.422 --> 00:53:16.228
He's been a very, very good friend and a very big supporter of me and my wife.

00:53:16.869 --> 00:53:18.692
I don't know what I would do without Tom.

00:53:19.253 --> 00:53:20.855
He makes all my harmonicas.

00:53:20.914 --> 00:53:23.619
He's gotten incredible as a customizer.

00:53:23.639 --> 00:53:28.766
I can't tell the difference between his work and the top customizers in the world at this point.

00:53:29.186 --> 00:53:33.452
There's subtle differences, I guess, but sometimes I can't even tell those.

00:53:34.092 --> 00:53:36.255
So I'm very, very, very, very loyal.

00:53:36.536 --> 00:53:37.898
Yeah, no, he's a great guy.

00:53:38.398 --> 00:53:42.103
So yeah, so these runner harmonicas are going to be a limited edition, yeah?

00:53:42.164 --> 00:53:44.367
So people want to get in there when they come out.

00:53:44.407 --> 00:53:45.349
60 or less.

00:53:45.389 --> 00:53:46.369
Yeah, 60 or less.

00:53:46.389 --> 00:53:48.112
So yeah, they'll be coming out at the end of the year, yeah?

00:53:48.293 --> 00:53:48.793
Next batch.

00:53:49.414 --> 00:53:49.914
Hopefully.

00:53:50.376 --> 00:53:50.896
Very soon.

00:53:51.016 --> 00:53:52.197
Not hopefully, they will be.

00:53:52.858 --> 00:53:53.960
And they have cats on them.

00:53:54.181 --> 00:53:55.643
Yeah, and flying saucers.

00:53:55.844 --> 00:53:57.565
Oh, awesome.

00:53:57.730 --> 00:54:00.092
Ambition-wise, and you're playing a bit of both.

00:54:00.112 --> 00:54:02.936
Obviously, you mentioned you do tongue-blocking playing, but you're mainly a puckerer.

00:54:02.996 --> 00:54:03.577
Is that right?

00:54:04.338 --> 00:54:05.159
I don't know anymore.

00:54:05.179 --> 00:54:07.722
It depends on who and what I'm playing with.

00:54:08.204 --> 00:54:22.041
So if I'm playing straight blues, I'm probably going to tongue-block nearly all of it, including even one blow and one draw a lot of times, especially if I'm on the way down from, say, I'm on a three-draw bend.

00:54:22.498 --> 00:54:24.420
And I'm tongue blocking, which is a lot.

00:54:24.940 --> 00:54:29.927
Like, you know, if I'm playing jazz or funk, I'm not tongue blocking anything besides octaves.

00:54:30.407 --> 00:54:32.291
Because I have to be so fast.

00:54:32.952 --> 00:54:36.697
And I have to be so accurate with the staccato on the bends.

00:54:37.398 --> 00:54:39.960
So there's no way you can tongue block that stuff.

00:54:40.021 --> 00:54:44.706
And anybody that says different, just please send me an audio of this.

00:54:47.952 --> 00:54:48.172
Right?

00:54:48.552 --> 00:54:48.672
Or...

00:54:54.114 --> 00:54:58.260
And when you send me an audio of you doing that tongue blocking, then we'll talk.

00:54:58.820 --> 00:54:59.041
All right.

00:54:59.101 --> 00:55:05.550
But until then, it sounds better and it's only, as far as I can tell, able to be produced lip person.

00:55:05.570 --> 00:55:12.137
However, when I'm playing regular blues or something slow, I'm more and more gravitating towards the tongue blocking option.

00:55:12.559 --> 00:55:16.503
I mentioned earlier that the JJ Appleton album is mostly tongue blocking.

00:55:16.864 --> 00:55:20.530
There's a ton of tongue blocking, even on the Joe Crown record.

00:55:20.865 --> 00:55:29.463
And so if I'm on my way down from three drop bend to one blow, I will end up on one blow tongue blocking the wood of the harmonica.

00:55:29.483 --> 00:55:29.583
Right.

00:55:30.264 --> 00:55:32.869
But yeah, interesting though, for the, for the fastest stuff you're puckering.

00:55:32.889 --> 00:55:36.496
So yeah, that's a good approach for people who want to get a grip to that.

00:55:36.577 --> 00:55:36.717
Yeah.

00:55:37.239 --> 00:55:37.398
Yeah.

00:55:37.438 --> 00:55:39.182
There's certain things you can do tongue blocking.

00:55:39.222 --> 00:55:42.329
You just can't do lip pursing and vice versa.

00:55:42.528 --> 00:55:42.769
Yeah.

00:55:42.829 --> 00:55:42.909
Yeah.

00:55:43.106 --> 00:55:44.487
Yeah, sure.

00:55:44.507 --> 00:55:44.967
Yeah.

00:55:44.987 --> 00:55:45.288
Okay.

00:55:45.367 --> 00:55:53.335
And so talking then about gear, so you've got various endorsers for the gear that you offer, which is again, great to see, obviously.

00:55:53.755 --> 00:55:55.697
So you've got the harp gear amps.

00:55:56.097 --> 00:56:00.940
Are you still endorsing on using the HG50, which they don't make anymore, but yeah, you've got that one.

00:56:00.981 --> 00:56:01.581
Yeah.

00:56:01.601 --> 00:56:02.762
But I have one of those.

00:56:02.782 --> 00:56:04.403
I actually, I have three of them.

00:56:04.885 --> 00:56:07.007
I have one in Europe and I have two here.

00:56:07.047 --> 00:56:23.983
I'm trying to sell, Tom Halcheck bought me the second one I have here in the United States And I'm trying to sell that one now to buy a twin because I really like the way that the twin sounds with the HG50.

00:56:43.023 --> 00:56:43.585
it better?

00:56:43.605 --> 00:56:44.125
And

00:56:44.186 --> 00:56:45.387
it's not modified for harmonica.

00:56:45.427 --> 00:56:46.829
This is just off the shelf.

00:56:47.269 --> 00:56:51.155
No, I don't even think that HG50 is really modified for harmonica.

00:56:51.175 --> 00:56:54.358
It's just a great guitar amp that sounds good for harmonica.

00:56:54.559 --> 00:56:55.880
We call it a harmonica amp.

00:56:56.121 --> 00:56:58.824
I don't get into all that modding for harmonica thing.

00:56:59.206 --> 00:57:05.353
That usually means, I'll quote Rick Estrin, modded for harmonica means sounds good in your living room.

00:57:05.826 --> 00:57:06.746
Sure.

00:57:06.806 --> 00:57:15.554
And so you mentioned already that you play acoustic sort of mics, such as you've got your Lone Wolf signature, Jason Ritchie's signature mic through Lone Wolf.

00:57:15.594 --> 00:57:18.577
And you also, I think you play the Blows Me Away Ultimate 58, or you have done.

00:57:18.996 --> 00:57:22.039
I designed that microphone, but I no longer

00:57:22.139 --> 00:57:22.500
play it.

00:57:22.721 --> 00:57:22.960
Right.

00:57:23.300 --> 00:57:28.865
But you're playing these mics through Fender Bassman type amps, as you're saying, you know, the harp gear and the...

00:57:29.425 --> 00:57:29.507
Yeah.

00:57:29.527 --> 00:57:31.088
Because that's not something most people do, right?

00:57:31.108 --> 00:57:36.432
They would play a more acoustic mic through a sort of PA, say, wouldn't they, rather, from a tube Right.

00:57:36.512 --> 00:57:37.733
I like the tonal.

00:57:38.094 --> 00:57:42.599
Look, what the advantage of the bullet is it distorts and it compresses on its own.

00:57:43.059 --> 00:57:47.304
So you don't need an outboard pedal to add extra distortion or compression.

00:57:47.525 --> 00:57:59.157
You have, I'm speaking metaphorically, a distortion pedal and a compression pedal built into the microphone, which is extremely useful because those are the two most important effects for harmonica.

00:57:59.336 --> 00:58:01.880
And then you plug that straight into the amp and it sounds great.

00:58:02.260 --> 00:58:04.782
The only problem is that's the only sound it can make.

00:58:05.163 --> 00:58:08.547
You're losing certain tonal qualities with that microphone

00:58:08.907 --> 00:58:26.947
so the other thing obviously you're known for is playing with pedals you got various long wool pedals and you know you use like 11 pedals in your chain again there's a video people I'll put a link people go and listen to you talk all about your pedals so we don't need to cover that here but and you use effects quite a lot on some songs for a different sound yeah you're just trying to get that different sound different approach yeah

00:58:27.266 --> 00:58:38.099
yeah I like Ottawa and then maybe the octave after that and then of course a long delay and a short conservative delay the the The pedal that's always changing is the other one.

00:58:38.318 --> 00:58:40.963
It's either a chorus or a rotary.

00:58:40.983 --> 00:58:43.585
A phaser is what's on there now.

00:58:43.726 --> 00:58:44.606
I have a phaser.

00:58:44.907 --> 00:58:46.588
So thanks so much for the time today.

00:58:46.630 --> 00:58:49.032
It's been amazing to speak to you today, Jason Ritchie.

00:58:49.413 --> 00:58:49.833
Thank you.

00:58:50.253 --> 00:58:52.817
Once again, thanks to Zydle for sponsoring the podcast.

00:58:53.097 --> 00:59:02.989
Be sure to check out their great range of harmonicas and products at www.zydle1847.com or on Facebook or Instagram at Zydle Harmonicas.

00:59:03.650 --> 00:59:06.032
Thanks so much to Jason for joining me today.

00:59:06.052 --> 00:59:08.376
The podcast would not have been complete without him.

00:59:08.836 --> 00:59:11.280
Please support him by signing up to his Patreon page.

00:59:11.380 --> 00:59:12.922
The link is on the podcast page.

00:59:13.503 --> 00:59:23.757
We'll play out now with a song from his new album, Hip Hug Her.

00:59:23.777 --> 00:59:23.998
Hip Hug Her