Dr. Harmonica

[SuperSwede]

Today I had a almost religious experience....

The day didnt start very good for me.. My wife kept talking about us driving 4 (metric) miles to the larger city of Jönköping... She intended to go on one of those "lets go shop clothes all day!!". Not my favorite thing to do on a Saturday.
Anyway, while she was going through the inventory of store number 5 or 6 I took the smallest child for a stroll down the main street. Almost immediately I heard some mighty fine blues tones and discovered a man called Dr. Harmonica playing on a beat up old Ibanez RG-something. He had a very tasty pedalboard, a unknown brand amp & some kind of drum/rhythm machine. Let me tell you that he played perhaps the finest texas boogie I´ve ever heard. He started out with a "la grange-like" song and his harmonica & guitar work was extremely good. I havent heard such tasty guitar for a long time! I stood there for 1,5 hours and I couldnt leave even if I wanted to. He had that broad Texas accent, but I didnt have a chance to talk to him. I wonder how he ended up in Sweden playing for cash.....

After that I had a excellent espresso, and even managed to snag a new Marshall Guv´nor plus from the music store.

 

[tot_Ou_tard]

You forgot to tell the non-Swedes on The Fret that Jönköping means "Gone Shopping" in Swedish.

Cool! I love running into random music! R

 

[zeusse]

He was probably trying to escape the impending U.S. draft..LOL A southern yawl in Sweden but I guess thats no different to a Swede in North America

 

[SuperSwede]

Actually Jönköping is the closest "big city" here... Unfortunately my favorite guitar store there had a accident (800 litres of water had leaked out from a pipe into the store...) so I couldn´t stay there during the shopping frenzy. Perhaps it was meant to be, I´ve never been so keen on digging up old blues records as today. I´ve been listening to old Robert Johnson albums all evening & sipping on some Italian red wine. This day has been great!

 

[tot_Ou_tard]

Actually Jönköping is the closest "big city" here...

Perhaps an emoticon was necessary

I´ve been listening to old Robert Johnson albums all evening & sipping on some Italian red wine. This day has been great!

Fantastic! I love Robert Johnson & red wine is good too. I'm glad you had such a nice day SS.

 

[jpfeifer]

Superswede,

That's great. Sometimes those "let's go shopping" trips with the wife can turn into an unexpected fun thing like this. My wife likes to take me on these same kind of clothes shopping adventures too. If I'm lucky I will fing a music store in the area but usually I end up tagging along with my wife and daughters pretending to be interested in women's shoes, sweaters, and such.

I love to find good street musicians and sometimes they show up in the most unexpected places. One time I had a business trip to Munich, Germany. I arrived there on a Sunday, very jet lagged. The people at the hotel suggested that I walk into the old city area for some sight seeing. When I arrived I found all kinds of street performers playing classical music on the street corners and most of them were extremely good (there must be a music conservatory in the area or something). There were two guys playing Vivaldi's Four Seasons on a pair of Vibes. I was amazed at how good they were.

-- Jim

 

[tot_Ou_tard]

Europe is so much better than the US for street fun. Although there are a few good cities in the US: San Antonio & Boulder come to mind.

 

[SuperSwede]

Let me tell you that Dr. Harmonica has joined the fret.net! :R

 

[sunvalleylaw]

Europe is so much better than the US for street fun. Although there are a few good cities in the US: San Antonio & Boulder come to mind.

I was in San Francisco over the weekend, and the street musicians included a full Hendrix Experience cover band including a guy dressed like Jimi with and upside down guitar. Playing reasonable covers, fun to listen to, but no one would think it was Jimi himself. I had never seen street musicians fully plugged in to a closed jewelry store with amps, and full drum kits with high hats and the whole thing. Fun to see.:R

 

[Mark]

Proof positive of my long standing belief that for every Clapton, Trucks, Page you name em. Theres unknown guys out there that can smoke em talent wise only cause they were never "discovered" or just didnt get the right breaks.

 

[Spudman]

Is Dr. Harmonica really just one of those cats from Malmo? That's where all the hot players hang out right?

Mark.
I hear ya. Youtube has really been an eye opener for me. There are so many good players on there that no one has ever heard of, and these are just the guys that can afford a video camera. Imagine who else is out there with no money for a camera and computer. Mind boggling!

 

[Hogfullofblues]

How true. From Youtube to the street corner or even in a tiny, smelly bar in New Orleans, you never know when you might run into some special talent. New Oleans USED to be a excellent city for music galore. About 12 years ago I heard the most righteous blues coming out a bar just off the quarter where I found a blind white guitarist just kickin it and I stayed all night. He told me he was the act there for the last like 20 years! He had a CD which I bought, but it was obviously his attempt at commercial success and nothin like he was wailing out that night. Wonder what happened to him and what New Orleans is like now.......

 

[sunvalleylaw]

How true. From Youtube to the street corner or even in a tiny, smelly bar in New Orleans, you never know when you might run into some special talent. New Oleans USED to be a excellent city for music galore. About 12 years ago I heard the most righteous blues coming out a bar just off the quarter where I found a blind white guitarist just kickin it and I stayed all night. He told me he was the act there for the last like 20 years! He had a CD which I bought, but it was obviously his attempt at commercial success and nothin like he was wailing out that night. Wonder what happened to him and what New Orleans is like now.......

I watched a television interview of a couple of the Marsalis's (Ellis and Wynton, I believe) who indicated that the blues (and NewOrleans music in general) were back and that the blues/jazz music served even more deeply as an outlet for those affected. I have not been down there for a few years since the 90s but I would like to think that is true. Hog, did you bring a travel guitar or anything to entertain your self on your trip?

 

[Hogfullofblues]

Alas no, I did not bring any stringed instrument and the pisser is, I could have and actually would have had the time and energy to use it, at least tonight. My infrequent business trips are usually 12- 16 hour days / 7 days a week till completed so I figured why bother? Then today, I ended up in the room all afternoon on teleconferences and got the rest of the day off - go figure. I shall not make that mistake again. But I am catching up on the forum and Christmas wish listing (GAS) so it's all good. And I am being sent home tomorrow so I will be able to invoke some finger pain then.
I spent 2 months in Mississippi and New Orleans right after Katrina and it was just beyond words. I'm glad it sounds like some things there are getting back to "normal" and with the importance of tourists $$ the french quarter would figure to be among the first. I really feel for those folks and hope the best for them. New Orleans really was a unique place and I would like to visit again some day.
Thanks for askin....

 

[Spudman]

I used to live in Gretna across the river from New Orleans and also stayed in Metairie for a while too. I've been kind of staying away from going back just because I know how it would make me feel to see the aftermath.

Yes it was/is a very unique place. I've heard a lot of music and experienced a lot of culture there that I wouldn't have experienced elsewhere. Great players on every corner. Makes the place I live now seem like a vacant lot. There was always something cool going on in New Orleans. I too hope that whole scene survives. Nothing like it anywhere.

 

[SuperSwede]

Is Dr. Harmonica really just one of those cats from Malmo? That's where all the hot players hang out right?

On the posters it says Dr. Harmonica (US) so I guess he comes from america. On his registration here it says Krakow, Poland so I wonder how he ended up there.
Malmo has a great musical scene, but most of Sweden has thriving music scenes at the moment.

 

[Tim]

St. Augustine Florida is a tourist city. The streets used to be filled with people playing their instruments and making shopping the souvenir stores a pleasure to do. As one would stroll down St. George street, you hear just about every instruments known to man.

About every 25 feet there would be a musician playing their mastered musical device. Guitars, violins, harmonicas, accordions, flutes, saxophones, trumpets, bongos, etc, etc. There was even a guy who has several strapped to his body. You all have seen this one man band somewhere in your travels.

About 2 years ago the owners of several establishments started to complain about the musicians. It seems the shoppers where spending more time listening to the street performers than actually shopping in the stores.

So the “city fathers” in their great wisdom passed a law that street performs where not allowed to play with in 1000 feet of any commercial business. That end the wonderful music that serenaded the city.

 

[SuperSwede]

So the “city fathers” in their great wisdom passed a law that street performs where not allowed to play with in 1000 feet of any commercial business. That end the wonderful music that serenaded the city.

What kind of a crap law is that?!!?
Dont they understand that we humans NEED music to function normally.