Date: Fri, 23 Nov 2001 11:04:50 -0800 From: "IronMan Mike Curtis" Subject: re: ... different styles
A few years back, I drove (an hour) to my (then) Tuesday night regular gig at Perqs (Huntington Beach). When I got there, one of the owners ran out to my car, looking a bit pale. Turns out one of the other owners had booked an alternative rock show for that night, and had neglected to tell anyone else (including me of course). Being firm (but not nasty) I said "I drove a whole hour to get here, packed allo my stuff, etc. So what are we gonna do about this?" He conferred with the others and said "Well, we'll pay you your usual, and have you play between the bands."
I wasn't exactly sure how to handle it, being more of a blues and jazz player, but I do know a couple of old punk tunes and such. So I gave it my best shot. The couple of punk tunes went over well - and surprisingly, so did my blues.
The 2nd band asked me to play some harmonica with them, thru the PA. They played this weird kinda-atonal thrash music, which was in a sense a challenge for me to come up with something that'd fit. But we made it work and it went over quite well.
There are a few tricks to fitting in with anyone. Listen carefully to what they're doing. Try copying a melodic line, such as the vocal, guitar, etc. Keep an open mind. Try to figure out a "mood", a "feel", or something that will complement what's there. Think about the music, and see what comes to your mind. Don't be afraid to experiment. After all, you're the "new kid" and no one's expecting much, so if you hit a few clams, big deal - we all knew we would anyway. If you have the tone and technique, try a few long notes rather than a lot of fast stuff. I did a techno session, with all this zillion notes a second stuff going on, and played mostly single note or double stop "wails" that lasted 4 bars at a stretch. The contrast was amazing.
A lot of blues harpers are scared to death of playing with a non- blues band. A very few might actually have a problem, but I honestly suspect (based on experience) that most decent or better blues harpers could fit right in with a surprising number of different bands and acts with a minimum of (if any) preparation. And it's really a lot of fun.
- -IronMan Mike Curtis LIVE video of Mikes #1 MP3 hit PLAY THEM BLUES http://bumpngrindrecords.com/ironman_play_blues.ram See the whole feature length video http://www.ironmancurtis.com/imc.rm Order IronMans CD-get a FREE vacation! http://www.bumpNgrindrecords.com
