Cheryl Arena interview

Cheryl Arena joins me on episode 68.

Cheryl is a blues player and singer from the Boston area. She integrated herself into the local music scene there by setting up a jam session near Berklee college, drawing in the great musicians from there. And then set-up another residency with guest musicians joining the house band. Her deep love for the music has taken Cheryl far and wide, and gave her the opportunity to meet and play with some of her harmonica idols, including Junior Wells. This led to her appearing in two blues documentaries: one about Maxwell Street and another about James Cotton. 

Cheryl now runs The Harmonica Experience camp twice a year in the home of the blues, Clarkesdale, Mississippi, where she uses her mouth-on (the harmonica) approach. 

Links:

Cheryl's website:
https://cherylarena.com/

Gigs:
https://cherylarena.com/gigs/

Harmonica Experience teaching camp:
https://www.theharmonicaexperience.com/

Videos:

Sonny Junior playing with Sugar Ray:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rld1Q4umqp0

With Big Band:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7qUXseHLzg&list=PL2B3mUb87_ARcAhCRAUoxKSAy6CEQwI2C&index=19

The ‘Harmonica Experience’ overview, with Charlie Musselwhite:
https://youtu.be/2gBS3welRZY

Blog on ‘The Harmonica Experience’:
https://www.karenpulferfocht.com/blog/2022/8/3/the-harmonica-experience

Greasy Gravy on chromatic:
https://www.facebook.com/david.m.rosen/videos/593960639065696/

Stormy Weather:
https://www.facebook.com/david.m.rosen/videos/790562382263078/

Big Road in duo  with Sonny Collie:
https://youtu.be/pbzS5jwjtps

Off The Wall:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HJtvRhhbv8&list=PL2B3mUb87_ARcAhCRAUoxKSAy6CEQwI2C&index=5

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

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 Instagram at SEYDEL HARMONICAS
and Blows Me Away Productions: http://www.blowsmeaway.com/

Chapters

• 1:24 Cheryl is based near Boston, in the US
• 2:31 Cheryl wanted to be a drummer but parents got her accordion lessons
• 3:03 Bought first harmonica age 15
• 3:20 Had heard James Cotton play on his visits to Boston
• 3:51 Had some lessons with Sonny Junior
• 4:47 Didn’t know about the different keys when started playing
• 5:05 Played guitar and bass for several years and put down the harp for 15 years
• 5:56 Took up harp again aged 30 and it became her main instrument
• 7:17 Took up singing after re-started on harmonica
• 7:52 Took a job driving a limousine so could practise harp while waiting around
• 8:18 Used the pandemic to practise playing harp on a rack with guitar
• 9:03 Ambitions to play rack harp with drums
• 9:21 Teaches band ensemble playing in hometown
• 10:37 Started a jam session near Berklee College, and started singing there
• 11:39 Had to sing to get gigs as not many bands want only a harmonica player
• 12:20 How to develop your singing
• 13:09 Listened to a lot of music to develop playing
• 14:09 Worked on emulating different instruments (especially horns), not just harmonica
• 15:20 Harmonica influences
• 16:44 Taking up harp at a slightly older age, and Cheryl’s teaching of adults
• 17:52 Jam Cheryl ran near Berklee School of Music is where she met her band and started gigging regularly
• 19:04 Hosted a separate event for guest musicians a few years later, meeting a lot of great players
• 20:44 Became a full-time musician in 1991, and travels to the South of the US where the blues began
• 22:19 Met Junior Wells as a result of attending a Save Maxwell Street protest, and appeared in a movie and played on Maxwell Street
• 24:29 Appeared in a movie about James Cotton, coming out soon
• 25:29 Played a gig as part of the movie and Cheryl played a gig with James Cotton’s band
• 26:17 Released ‘Blues Got Me’ album in 2003
• 27:29 Cheryl approach to songwriting
• 29:54 Also protested about tearing down recording studio where Robert Johnson recorded
• 30:59 Recorded a harmonica version of a horn instrumental
• 32:27 Played with a big band while living in Texas
• 33:48 Played in a church band in Dallas, as well as other musical adventures there 1.29
• 34:41 Likes to sing jazz songs
• 35:32 Parents weren’t supportive of Cheryl in her music
• 35:47 Plays a version of Stormy Weather, taken from a Jerry Portnoy album
• 36:21 Doesn’t play overblows
• 36:37 Acoustic playing
• 37:10 Started playing in a duo recently and plans to play some guitar, use a rack
• 37:37 What’s it like being a woman in male dominated music scene and encouragement for more women to take up harp
• 38:48 Why more men play musical instruments
• 39:19 Cheryl runs The Harmonica Experience harmonica camp twice a year at Clarkesdale, the home of the blues
• 40:08 Played at The King Biscuit festival and meeting Pinetop Perkins and others
• 42:36 Cheryl took over running the camps from Jon Gindick
• 43:33 Lots of jamming in a ‘mouths-on’ operation
• 44:18 Harmonica is focus of the camp, although other instruments are covered
• 44:59 Charlie Musselwhite came to the Harmonica Experience camp
• 45:45 Cheryl loves to teach
• 46:29 Mississippi vibe of the camp
• 46:58 Diversity of blues music
• 47:34 Was a dancer before a musician
• 47:47 Fan of Howling Wolf and his groove
• 48:32 Jason Ricci took Cheryl to a Juke Joint
• 50:15 House of Blues was near where Cheryl grew up, and meeting lots of musicians there, including RL Burnside
• 51:54 10 minute question
• 52:48 Cheryl is a Hohner endorsee
• 53:04 Plays Hohner Super 64 chromatic
• 53:14 Doesn’t really use different tunings
• 53:25 Mainly plays 2nd and 3rd and 1st position
• 53:58 Embouchre
• 54:26 Amp
• 55:29 Mics
• 55:42 Doesn’t use any effects
• 55:44 Future plans

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:01

Cheryl Lorena joins me in episode 68. Cheryl is a blues player and singer from the Boston area. She integrated herself into the local music scene there by setting up a jam session near Berkeley College, drawing in the great musicians from there. and then set up another residency with guest musicians joining the house band. Her deep love for the music has taken Cheryl far and wide and gave her the opportunity to meet and play with some of her harmonica idols, including Junior Wells. This has led to her appearing in two blues documentaries, one about Maxwell Street and another about James Cotton. Cheryl now runs the Harmonica Experience Camp twice a year in the home of the blues, Clarksdale, Mississippi, where she uses her mouth on the harmonica. approach. This podcast is sponsored by Seidel Harmonicas. Visit the oldest harmonica factory in the world at www.seidel1847.com or on Facebook or Instagram at Seidel Harmonicas.

UNKNOWN: 1:06

So

SPEAKER_00: 1:23

Hello Cheryl Arena and welcome to the podcast.

SPEAKER_01: 1:25

Hello Neil.

SPEAKER_00: 1:26

You are based in, I think, Arlington near Boston.

SPEAKER_01: 1:29

Yes, a stone's throw from Boston, very close.

SPEAKER_00: 1:33

And so what's the music scene like around Boston?

SPEAKER_01: 1:36

Well, it's getting better again since the pandemic. You know, a lot of places closed, I mean, for good because of the pandemic. So there's less places to play, but then new places are opening up and it's not as good as it was, but it's getting back.

SPEAKER_00: 1:51

Yeah, we thought we were getting back and then we have, now we have this huge recession looming, don't we? But nevermind. I was reading something about how music can bring people together. So maybe if we have some hard times that might even help the music, eh?

SPEAKER_01: 2:04

Oh, definitely.

SPEAKER_00: 2:05

Some more blues

SPEAKER_01: 2:06

Music is everything for me. It's my savior. Did

SPEAKER_00: 2:10

you grow up around the Boston area? Is that where you're from originally?

SPEAKER_01: 2:13

Yes. In fact, the town that I live in now, I lived the first three years of my life until we moved to the town next to this town, Belmont. I feel like I've come full circle being back here. I've been back here for a little over two years.

SPEAKER_00: 2:27

You know, what was it like around Boston when you were growing up and what got you into music?

SPEAKER_01: 2:31

I was into music from an early age, you know, from like nine years old. I wanted to play the drums and my parents were like, no, girls don't play the drums. But I think they really just didn't want to listen to me playing the drums. So I ended up getting a accordion from my grandmother. She had a friend that was a music teacher and I took lessons for a couple of years and I wanted to play anything. So I really didn't want to play the accordion, but it was better than nothing. I wanted to play piano or drums. Anyway, so I played the accordion for a couple of years and then When I was about 15, I bought my first harmonica. It was the only instrument I could afford to buy, and I really wanted to play anything, you know?

SPEAKER_00: 3:14

Have you heard much harmonica before you bought it? Did you like the sound, or was it just the price?

SPEAKER_01: 3:20

No, I actually heard James Cotton. He used to come to Boston. I heard him when I was 15 years old, and I loved it.¶¶ I thought, I could get one of these. So I did, but I played it for about a year and I only had one and I didn't know that you needed different keys. So I had a good year from learning to play music when I was a little kid. I was pretty much self-taught for the first 10 years that I played. Then I took a few lessons from Sonny Jr., Gary Onofrio. He also helped me you know, retube my amp to get it to sound better. Cause that was when he was just starting to make his Sonny Junior amps and they were pretty expensive. I couldn't afford one. So, but he helped me set mine up to sound good. So that was great. And he taught me some things that now I use in teaching. I had a lot of bad habits when I went to him and he corrected them and helped me out a lot. I only took about five lessons from him, but I have, I still have them on cassettes. When I listened, you know, to music, I love music. You know, it was like I said, it was my solace, my savior. I didn't exactly have the greatest home life growing up. So it was a place for me to escape into music. It's always been there for me. I had a G harp. I didn't even know what the letter meant. I just played it. So sometimes it would sound good. Obviously, when I was playing along with records that were in the right key, but then sometimes it would be so frustrating because I knew it didn't sound right. And then on my 16th birthday, my boyfriend bought me a guitar. So I started playing guitar. I put the harmonica down for years. for like 15 years. I played guitar for about eight years and then I played bass. And then I was listening to, there was this radio show that May Kramer did every Friday and Saturday night. It was a blues show called Blues After Hours. That was really my first introduction to the blues. When I was younger, when I was a teenager, I was, you know, into the British Invasion. I mean, I liked bands that were blues-based, but I didn't know that they were blues-based. I didn't really know what the blues was. You know, I loved Jeff Beck and the Yardbirds and the Stones and all these bands, Hendrix, that were later on finding out that that's, you know, that's what they listened to, you know. Anyway, she advertised a jam session and I went down there and I had my bass and And there was a harmonica player there and he had a case with a bunch of harps. And I asked him like, why do you have so many harps? And he told me, and I was just, it was like a light bulb went off. And I just, next day I went out and bought a couple of different keys and that was it. I put down the guitar and I decided, cause I played a little guitar, a little bass. I messed around with the drums. I just wanted to get good at one instrument. And when I picked up the harmonica again, it just felt like this was it, you know? It felt comfortable to me. It just felt natural. So I gave up everything else and focused on playing harmonica because I wanted to get good at it.

SPEAKER_00: 6:51

What sort of age were you then? I

SPEAKER_01: 6:53

was about 30.

SPEAKER_00: 6:55

Okay, yeah, so you went back to it after a bit of a hiatus playing other instruments. I'm sure those other instruments served you well, Lord. Were you playing in bands with guitar and bass?

SPEAKER_01: 7:05

I played in one punk band on guitar, just bashing chords. I never really got into lead. That's why I switched to bass. I'm very rhythm-oriented. So, yeah, so I was playing bass in some bands.

SPEAKER_00: 7:17

And were you singing at this stage?

SPEAKER_01: 7:19

No, I didn't sing. I was very self-conscious in general, you know. I was very shy. and afraid to get on stage. I always was around music. I worked for bands doing lighting and sound and just being in the background, watching, living what I wanted to do through other people. And then the band I was working with invited me to come up on stage and play bass when the bass player played keyboards. And once I got on stage, it was like, I want to be here. I want to be up here. So yeah, that was the start of it. And then with Harmonica, I got a job driving limos, specifically so that I could learn how to play harmonica. And I had a briefcase full of harps. And every time I was waiting for people, I would practice. So I spent four years doing that. I call it my college.

SPEAKER_00: 8:07

That's a good combination, driving a limousine and playing harmonica. That's very bluesy.

SPEAKER_01: 8:12

It was just perfect. It was a way for me to be able to support myself, but also have the time to practice. That's like when the pandemic happened, people were upset about being stuck in the house and not being able to do stuff but I just I felt like a teenager again I didn't have to worry about making a living because I was collecting unemployment and I could just stay home and practice so I picked up guitar again and I started playing guitar and now I've been playing with a rack and learning to do that I'm not very good at it yet but working on a duo with a friend of mine and I'm playing guitar and rack I just got a new rack I got the gecko rack from farmers and Saito and then I just got the adapter from Greg Heumann that goes on the rack so that it's enclosed with his bulletini mic. And then you plug into an amp. So I want to play drums and harp because for some reason, it feels easier to play drums and harp than guitar and harp.

SPEAKER_00: 9:10

Is that something you've been practicing with the drums?

SPEAKER_01: 9:12

Yes. I haven't practiced with the harp and drums yet because I just got the thing from Greg a couple of days ago. But I've been playing drums for about a year now because I teach these band ensemble in my town a couple nights a week to teach people how to play in a band, blues. And so about a year ago, the drummer in one of the ensembles didn't show up. I sat in on drums and everyone was like, wow, you have better time than the other guy. Why don't you just play drums? So I was like, okay. So I've been playing drums now for a year. I've taken some lessons. It's just music. I just love it all. I just want to play everything all the time. That's

SPEAKER_00: 9:51

my life. That's great, yeah. The idea of playing drums with a rack, I don't see, you don't see that many people doing that. Although you do sort of see some sort of one man bands playing kind of one foot drum. Is that what you're planning to do? A kind of foot drum or a bit more full scale on the drums?

SPEAKER_01: 10:06

I'm going to try it all right now. It'll just be, I have like a suitcase drum. So, and everything fits in there. It's got a little short hi-hat. It's got a kick pedal that you attach to the, to the drum and it all fits back in the suitcase, which is really convenient. So with the duo, that's probably what I'll do. You know, I was watching some videos of the guy that plays with, his name is Doug Lemming, I think, from Florida, and he plays drums and harp. I would like to try to do that.

SPEAKER_00: 10:32

So what about the singing then? You started singing shortly after you took up harp again, did you?

SPEAKER_01: 10:36

After about three years of playing harp, I got my first gig. Did a Monday night jam session in the south end of Boston at this club called Wally's. Been a jazz club since the 40s. Myself and this other guy, Bobby Bell, started a blues jam on Monday nights there. It was down the street from Berkeley. So a lot of good musicians would come down and sit in. I probably started singing a little bit after I'd been playing for three years or so, but just a little bit. And then I was in a band for a long time with a singer. So I didn't really start singing I mean, seriously, until I've been playing harp for probably 10 or more years. I say you're going through some changes Ups and downs and rearrangements There's just one thing I can say You've got to live for today Trying to find some peace of mind Got to leave those things that's done behind Start living for today Cause baby, that's the only way And the reason I started was because if you don't sing as a harmonica player, you're going to be very limited as what you can do. Because when people hire a sideman, they're usually going to hire keyboards or horns, you know, unless they're specifically a blues band that wants harmonica. So in order for me to gig all the time and play all the time, I had to sing. Yeah. So I could affront my own band. And that's what I've been doing for, God, many years.

SPEAKER_00: 12:07

And so that exact point you know I raise that question quite a lot on here which is you know as you've just said to get a gig as a harmonica player quite often you know they want a singer as well so you know how's that worked out for you and what would you say to people who aren't that confident you know maybe about the singing than they're playing just harmonica at the moment

SPEAKER_01: 12:26

well it's just like everything you just got to keep practicing and I always record myself and that's the best teacher recording yourself and listening back and it can be really painful especially in the beginning. The first time you hear your voice on a recording, it's not pleasant usually. I mean, with everything, the more you do it, the better you get. You know, I'm just a hands-on or like what I call it for harmonica is mouths-on kind of person. You just got to do it. You just got to keep doing it.

SPEAKER_00: 12:57

Going back then to your harmonica development, when you sort of got more into it, as you said, around the age 30, what were you sort of listening to then? How were you learning the harmonica at that stage?

SPEAKER_01: 13:06

Well, at that point, it was cassettes. I had a friend, Gordon Beadle, who was really a blues encyclopedia. He would make me these cassette tapes. And I swear he could write smaller than anyone on the planet. And he would actually put the label and everything of the recording and the year. It was... So I just immersed myself in blues. I mean, I listened to that show while I was driving limo. I listened to that show every Friday and Saturday night and I would put on a cassette tape and record it at home. I'd go out and drive and then I'd hope that I was somewhere close enough in 45 minutes that I could drive home, run in the house and turn the tape over. I have milk crates full of cassettes of radio shows, gigs. It's crazy. I don't know why I keep them.

SPEAKER_00: 13:54

And harmonica-wise on

SPEAKER_01: 14:09

that show, and other harmonica players you listened to then? didn't know how to do yet. And I had a good ear and I could do a melody. So I would listen to saxophone players. And I think that helped me with my phrasing later on. And I was really pleased when I read the little Walter book, Blues with a Feeling, that he did the same thing. He listened to saxophone players. And there were a couple of saxophone players in my town. There was a lot of horn players around Boston and I would get to hear them live. And so, I don't know, it was just a way for me to to play and not feel intimidated that I didn't sound like a harmonica player yet.

SPEAKER_00: 14:59

So for somebody who might be trying to emulate a horn sound, what would you say about how to approach that?

SPEAKER_01: 15:04

Listen to it and try to emulate, try to, you know, pick out the notes, play the melody.

SPEAKER_00: 15:09

Yeah. Were you playing along with saxophone players or just listening and kind of just trying to absorb it?

SPEAKER_01: 15:15

I was listening and absorbing. Like I said, there were people around town that I could listen to them live. When I started listening to harp players, the harp players, of course, all the chorus Little Walter. I got to say Little Walter is my favorite. I just gravitate towards him so much. You know, I also loved Big Walter and Sonny Terry. I love Sonny Terry. I can't play anything like him because he's so different than anybody. I love his style. You know, Sonny Boy Williamson, one and two. You know, but then over the years, I mean, there's a million harp players that I've gotten into. I like William Clark. So do I. Yeah. I listen to him for chromatic and Walter, too. I just play. I don't use the button. I just play basic. I play it mostly in third position.

SPEAKER_00: 16:12

What about your chromatic? Is that you spend a lot of time playing some blues chromatic in third position?

SPEAKER_01: 16:16

I play it a bit. That was a William Clark song called Greasy Gravy. Yeah. I usually use that for my opener on my shows. It's a nice tune to warm up on.

SPEAKER_00: 16:42

Yeah. Yeah. Great tune. Yeah. Great. So it's good to hear, like you say, you probably didn't sort of take up the harp seriously until about the age of 30. So, you know, I think that's encouraging for people, isn't it? Who, you know, maybe if they didn't start when they were teenagers, like a lot of people do that, you can still do it, you know, then, and you'll really get into it like you did.

SPEAKER_01: 17:00

Yes. I'm a big proponent of, you can teach an old dog new tricks. You can do anything you, put your mind to. That's why I love teaching because I teach all adults. I mean, I've had a couple of kids students, but I teach adults mostly. The ensembles that I teach are all adults. The workshops, they're all adults. And there are people that they might've wanted to play music when they were young, but they didn't because there's a lot of things you need to sacrifice to play music. Would you have a family and a quote unquote real job? Then they're retired and they have the time and they want to take up an instrument and they wanted to play harmonica. And I just, I love that. I love spreading the joy of that little pocket pal. It's just so, it's, it's the people's instrument. It's just so wonderful. I just love it.

SPEAKER_00: 17:50

Oh, we love it on here too. So you mentioned there that you'd started a jam in Boston on Monday nights near Barkley School of Music. So you, you know, you're getting people coming from that. So that helped you sort of get on the scene there, did it? And help sort of get your, get your presence in Boston and be with the musicians

SPEAKER_01: 18:07

there, did it? Absolutely. Because the reason that I started it with that guy was because Bobby, it was like, we would go to jams and we would sit there late and maybe we would get up and maybe we wouldn't. And we were both frustrated. And he told me about this place. It was in the black area of town. And it was basically a black club, but it got infiltrated with all Berkeley students. So then it was a mix. Starting that jam was a way for me to get into the scene. And yes, it was like I started being known. And he left after about three months. So I kept it going for three years. And then I also met a lot of musicians through that and ended up putting together a band and then started going out on the road. And once I did that, I wasn't around for the Mondays. So I ended up giving up that gig after about three years. And did a lot of road work. And that would be more fun for me and more fun for the audience as well. He agreed to it. And I did that gig for six and a half years until the place closed. That was really... a huge learning experience for me. And for singing, I had enough to hire a seven-piece band. I would have bass, drums, guitar, harmonica, keyboards, and a saxophone, and a singer. So I was a different singer every week. And I got to listen to all these great singers around Boston. And even sometimes some nationals, they'd heard about it and they would stop in. It became a musician's hang. And it was so great. I loved those years. I wish I could do that again. And when I would be on the road, I would just have somebody sub it for me I wouldn't go out on the road that long I would go up for trips like three weeks a month so that that was a huge learning experience for me I got not only did I get hooked in with all the musicians on this blues scene but I also learned so much from playing with musicians that were basically better than me because I started so late

SPEAKER_00: 20:34

yeah definitely yeah it's a great way like you say to absorb yourself in the scene oh

SPEAKER_01: 20:38

yeah I mean everything came out of that I really got hooked in

SPEAKER_00: 20:43

Yeah. And then, is it right, you turned into a full-time musician about 91. So then what, you started touring around, did you? Yes. So how did that come about then, that decision?

SPEAKER_01: 20:56

To be honest, one of the reasons was we used to go down to Florida a lot in the winter, you know, down south, travel down to Mississippi. And I wanted to go there. I wanted to go to the land where the blues was born, you know. So we did touring down there. And I also wanted to get away from the winters up here. The winters up here are brutal. And so that was a way to get away, too. I was kind of used to that and used to traveling because when I was a kid, my dad worked a job at a country club that he wouldn't get a vacation in the summer, get a vacation in the winter, and we would always drive to Florida. He didn't like to fly, so we would drive. So I was used to getting out of the winter for vacation. three weeks in the middle, like in February. And so I wanted to recreate that. So we ended up doing, you know, a lot of gigs down in Key West. I held the Fantasy Fest week, which is one of their biggest, it's like their Mardi Gras at the Green Parrot every year for 10 years. We would be down there every October and then do gigs all around there. Yeah, music has been a way for me to meet people, travel, bring joy into people's lives. And there's nothing better than playing music, looking out at the audience and seeing people smile and seeing people dance and seeing people get joy from it. It's awesome.

SPEAKER_00: 22:11

As well as this, you play with lots of the blues greats as well, haven't you? And you've met various ones, including Junior Wells. I think, tell us a story about Junior Wells. I think you went To save Maxwell Street in Chicago, and that's how you hooked up with Junior Wells, is it?

SPEAKER_01: 22:25

Yes. Again, my buddy Gordon told me that Maxwell Street was going to be closing. That was in 1994.

SPEAKER_00: 22:31

This was when the market was closing, was it?

SPEAKER_01: 22:34

The market was going to be closing because they wanted to gentrify it. They wanted to tear it down. And I went there to protest. And also it was during the Blues Festival. So I got to go to the Blues Festival as well. But the Blues Festival was, in the daytime, it was great. But at night it was like herding cows. It was like, it was so crowded and so claustrophobic and I couldn't take it. So I left, got in a cab and went to the checkerboard lounge. There was a jam there. I went and I sat. So I sat in with the band. And while I was playing with the band, Junior Wells walked in. So when he started walking up to the stage after the song that I was playing was done, I started to walk off the stage and the guys in the band said, no, no, stay here. Junior will love you. And I was like, okay. And he'd get up on stage and he was very nice to me. And so I got to play with Junior Wells. It was amazing. And I also got to be in a movie. There's a movie called Cheat You Fair, the story of Maxwell Street. This guy, Phil Randstrom put out from Chicago. 12 years after the Maxwell Street thing, which they did end up tearing it down that August. This was in June of 94. He found me on the internet and told me that he had footage of me because he interviewed me while I was playing with this band. Now, that was my dream to go down there and play where Little Walter played, where Little Walter electrified the harmonica. That was, to me, an iconic place to go. And I did it. I played on Maxwell Street with a band, a street band. It was a great experience. So anyway, he was there with the film crew and they stopped and interviewed me and asked me what I was doing there. And they put me in the film, along with people like Junior well as a charlie muscle white and all all these you know other great folks it might be corny to say but i feel really blessed to have the experiences i've had all through that little instrument my harmonica

SPEAKER_00: 24:29

and didn't you also appear in a james cotton film as well

SPEAKER_01: 24:33

yes i haven't seen it yet because i was on the road when the premiere happened so i'm hoping that it comes out a way that i can see it

SPEAKER_00: 24:43

it's not released yet is it not this james cotton

SPEAKER_01: 24:45

it isn't released to the general public right now it's playing film festivals so I played one in Boston while I was out of town so I missed it and then I played one down in the vineyard which I also couldn't make so I don't know when I'm going to get to see it

SPEAKER_00: 25:02

and what are you doing in this film?

SPEAKER_01: 25:04

I did a bunch of footage there I was there for two days and there was I was in the greatest company. The segments I did, one of the segments was an acoustic segment. They had three different segments and different people played in them. And the people that I got to play with and sit around and talk and interview with was Rick Estrin, Kenny Neal, Jerry Portnoy. I think that was it in our segment. The interviewer just asked us questions about our association with James. And then we played a gig. So we were there for two days. We were in this warehouse and we filmed those. And then we played a gig for the public. And I played three songs with James's band from Chicago. But I don't know if they ended up in the film or not.

SPEAKER_00: 25:44

So how did you get invited to take part in this one?

SPEAKER_01: 25:47

James Montgomery was the one putting it together. And he's a good friend of mine. He asked me to do it. I mean, there was so many great harmonica players on this thing. It was really fun two days. Getting up in the morning and having breakfast with Paul Usher, Jerry Portnoy, Rick Estrin, you know, all these, Curtis Salgado. It was crazy. It was really fun.

SPEAKER_00: 26:10

Yeah, fantastic. We'll get to see that one soon. We're watching out for you. So when you're not appearing in blues movies, you released a critically acclaimed album, Blues Got Me, in 2003.

SPEAKER_01: 26:21

Yes. I need to do a new CD. It's been way too long. I did a CD when I was living in Texas with my duo partner down there. That was 2007. And I've played on a lot of other people's recordings.

UNKNOWN: 26:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 26:50

But I keep procrastinating, and I'm going to say this right now on the air. In 2023, I am putting out a new CD.

SPEAKER_00: 26:59

now you're committed to it now it's out there now that's right thoughts on here with several people about the challenge of making albums these days and the fact that it costs a lot of money which you don't necessarily get back so we can understand that

SPEAKER_01: 27:11

yes that's part of the reason part of the reason is also just i'm super critical of myself and i i have a bunch of songs that i've written that i like oh that's not good enough oh that's not good enough you know so i have to just like let go of that and just do it and you know i'll also do some covers you know tribute to my harmonica heroes

SPEAKER_00: 27:29

i mean on the you mentioned writing songs there so you've you wrote quite a few originals on this album i think five or so songs yeah so

SPEAKER_01: 27:36

yes i seven songs yep

SPEAKER_00: 27:39

yeah so you know how do you approach writing a blues song

SPEAKER_01: 27:42

part of the the reason too that i haven't put on another cd is because i i am definitely into collaborating and my collaborator moved years ago you know i play a little guitar but not necessarily enough to write songs so basically i start with the lyrics and then i hear whatever melody in my head and then I need somebody that can really play proficiently on an instrument to like and then I sing them what I'm hearing you know and it'll kind of be like okay I'm No, not that chord. No, no, no, not that. No, yeah, that one. Because I'm really bad. I don't know a lot about theory. I play totally by ear on harmonica and on guitar. I mean, I know what chords I'm playing, but I'm just really, really an ear player.

SPEAKER_00: 28:29

Yeah, so you need someone to collaborate with to write songs. That's good. Lots of people did that. Lennon and McCartney did that, so it's okay for them. It's okay for you.

SPEAKER_01: 28:38

Well, yeah, it's okay for them. It's okay for anybody.

SPEAKER_00: 28:41

Yeah, so, you know, like you say, you've got a few origins on here. There's a song called Blow My Blues Away. Is that a harmonica-related title?

SPEAKER_01: 29:03

Yes. Well, it's kind of a double entendre, you know, blowing my blues away by going down to the south and thinking I wanted to move there. which I did. I didn't move to Mississippi, but I moved to Texas. I actually wrote that song. I collaborated with Johnny Rawls, who is from Mississippi. I did a little bit of touring with him, and I was telling him about the song one day. He started playing his guitar and it just evolved. I wrote about fantasizing about moving down south because a few reasons. It's warm for one. That's the biggest reason that says it in the song. I'm tired of winter. Also, just the culture and being down there around where the music I love started. A lot of it started in Texas too. I mean, Dallas, where I was living, that's, you know, where the recording studio where Robert Johnson recorded, you know, which they didn't manage to save that because people protested. They were going to tear that down, too. There's so many blues iconic places everywhere. Did you manage to save that one? They saved it. We saved it,

SPEAKER_00: 30:11

yeah. One victory, yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 30:13

Yeah, so it's now a historic place, and they never can get rid of it.

SPEAKER_00: 30:19

And also on here, you do a couple of Little Walter songs. You say you're a big fan, so you do Baby.

UNKNOWN: 30:29

Baby.

SPEAKER_01: 30:39

Yeah, I tried to pick obscure ones. Well, I mean, It Ain't Right isn't that obscure, but Baby is not really a popular song that people know.

SPEAKER_00: 30:48

Yeah, it's not on all the greatest hit ones, is it? You have to go and dig on the albums to find that one, yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 30:54

Yeah, but I love Little Walter. I do a lot of Walter in my live shows.

SPEAKER_00: 30:58

Yeah. And you also, you mentioned earlier on that you like, you know, horn plays and you do grazing in the grass, which is a harmonica version of a horn song. Yeah. So you're definitely trying to replicate the horn sound on that.

UNKNOWN: 31:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 31:34

Yeah, I wanted to do something, a melody, you know, like, you know how it is on harmonica. Melodies don't always lay out perfectly, which is why you got to do bends. And sometimes the bends don't sound right in the mix of a melody. So when I found out, I wanted to do a song that was popular, that people would recognize the melody, but do it on harmonica, you know, that was originally done on a horn, like kind of like what Kim Wilson did with Cherry Pink. And so I remember that song from the 60s, the vocal version and the Hugh Mascala version. And I tried playing it one day and all the notes laid out. And I was like, yes.

SPEAKER_00: 32:15

And so, as you mentioned there, you're desperate to get another album out. You're committed to get another album out in 2023, but you do a lot of playing live. You've got a YouTube channel with that on. So you were saying that you played with a big band, a 20-piece big band. Yeah. So how was that?

SPEAKER_01: 32:32

Oh, that was amazing. There was this big band playing in Dallas and I went to see them and I actually walked up to the conductor and asked him if I could sit in. I think he said no, but he did say he wanted to get together with me and have me do a song he had in mind on harmonica. I can't remember what it was exactly, but it was an interesting part to learn. But anyway, when I went to rehearsal with them, we tried some other songs and Honeysuckle Rose was the one that I think is on that video.

UNKNOWN: 33:05

Oh,

SPEAKER_01: 33:24

It was so much fun. I got to like trade fours with the horn section and switch keys because they modulated in the song. It was just exhilarating. And I played with them quite a bit. I did quite a few gigs with them when I was living down there. I played in the church band in Dallas, Black Baptist Church. It was called the Herve Cedar Baptist Church. And Andrew Jr. Boy Jones, I toured with him for a while. He played with Freddie King back when he was a teenager. Anyway, he took me to the church one day. It was awesome. I loved it. And I ended up auditioning sort of by playing Amazing Grace for the congregation. And the next day I was in the band and I played in the band for eight years. And it was a great experience. I also, you know, in Dallas, I got to hang out with Sam Myers I got to play with so many people. There was opportunities, so many musical opportunities and going down to Austin as well. And three different duo acts I worked with and I played, had my own band. I played in a few black bands in South Dallas. It was just a great, I fit a lot of music into eight years and that big band too. Always been into jazz. I was into jazz before I was into blues and I like singing jazz. I'm starting to do more of that because I'm not really a blues belter. You know, I don't I don't have that kind of voice. I can't sing like Coco Taylor. That's why a lot of times I sing male songs, because just like with the harmonica, when I first started not sounding like a harmonica, I imitated horns. Well, when I first started singing, I would sing songs that were done by men, so I didn't have to sound like them. I just sang like myself. But I find that I really gravitate towards, you know, the soft, like loungy type stuff like Julie London. And I love Billie Holiday. I mean, when I was a kid, I got turned on to a lot of good music. I must say my parents were, you know, they used to go to the Newport Jazz Festival and they had a lot of great records. You know, I heard Louis Armstrong and Billie Holiday when I was a little kid and I loved it. They liked good music, but they weren't supportive of me with my music. It was like, you know, get a real job, you know, all You'll never stick with it. I think that almost helped me because to rebel against my parents, I stuck with it.

SPEAKER_00: 35:46

Talking about jazz, you do a nice instrumental version of Stormy Weather as well.

UNKNOWN: 35:52

Oh, oh, oh.

SPEAKER_01: 36:05

Yes, but I actually kind of stole that from Jerry Portnoy. Jerry Portnoy has a great version of that on one of his CDs down in the Mood Room, which he recorded, same place I recorded it, Duke Robillard's studio.

SPEAKER_00: 36:17

And you're playing this on a diatonic?

SPEAKER_01: 36:20

Yes.

SPEAKER_00: 36:21

You're not playing overblows?

SPEAKER_01: 36:22

No, I don't do overblows. I did one once. to just prove that i could do it but they don't sound right to me they don't they don't sound like the true note a lot of the greats don't do them so i don't feel like it's necessary for me to learn them

SPEAKER_00: 36:36

and i've got you doing a bit of acoustic playing playing big roads you like to play some acoustic harmonica as well how do you approach that

SPEAKER_01: 36:43

i love playing acoustic and whenever i play with a duo i never play through an amp i always play through the vocal mic so that i can use my hands it's a totally different thing you can get so much sound with your hands i love played acoustically. And I finally found a duo partner here. We've been working on on stuff. We started during the pandemic. We have a pretty big repertoire now. We've done one gig, but I'm looking to book more gigs with the duo. You know, expanding, like I said, playing guitar, playing on a rack.

SPEAKER_00: 37:24

Playing drums.

SPEAKER_01: 37:26

Playing drums, yeah. That's the thing about, like before when I said I was blessed, it's like I never get bored with music. There's just so much to learn. It never ends.

SPEAKER_00: 37:36

So, I don't really like to ask this question, but what is it like being a woman in blues and in music? Is that something which you do you find sometimes it's difficult you know the men sort of don't let you in or do you find it sometimes it is you know it's quite a good thing as well

SPEAKER_01: 37:50

both it can work to my advantage and it can work against me I

SPEAKER_00: 37:54

mean you obviously see more men playing music generally than women you know so what would you do to encourage any women listening maybe as harp players especially obviously on here to you know to get out and play

SPEAKER_01: 38:04

play out and let them see me and look and say hey if she could do that I could do it and that's how it works the harmonica camps that I teach to South, when I first started teaching them, it was mainly men. It might have been one or two women. But I think because of me being one of the teachers, it drew in more women. And now the camp that we're doing in September is half and half.

SPEAKER_00: 38:28

Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_01: 38:29

Yeah. I'm trying to make the world a better place by teaching people how to play harmonica in a good way.

SPEAKER_00: 38:35

So the women are better than the men at harmonica, you think?

SPEAKER_01: 38:39

Well, you know what? Maybe, yeah. You know why? Why? because they listen.

SPEAKER_00: 38:43

I've got a song I wrote about that.

SPEAKER_01: 39:13

always changing for the better for women yeah we could do anything you guys can do

SPEAKER_00: 39:19

definitely see you touched on the uh the harmonica camp that you run so so let's talk about that now it's called the harmonica experience it's a five-day workshop camp we're in clarksdale mississippi yes which is which is the home of the blues yeah so this is um this is where robert johnson went to the crossroads mentioned robert johnson earlier on so yeah this is a real home of the blues down there yeah

SPEAKER_01: 39:39

yes it is that's why i chose the location i used to we used to do it uh I worked for John Gindik and we'd do it in hotels all around the country. It was such a sterile environment being in a hotel where... I told John about the Hobson and Shackup Inn down in Clarksdale. I said, this would be the perfect place because it's where Robert Johnson sold it. It's the crossroads. It's like the setting is perfect, the vibe, and this would be a place where they'd appreciate the music. And I knew about it because I used to go to the King Biscuit Festival. I used to busk at the King Biscuit Festival. I played it one time with Big Bill Morganfield, but I used to busk there with my duo partner from Texas. So the Sunday... after party after the King Biscuit Festival that happens over at Hobson and Shackup Inn where we do the camps is Pine Tops Homecoming they call it and it was I believe it was his birthday but he used to work at that plantation and And he was a mechanic and he worked on the tractors and stuff for the cotton fields. And so the building that me and two of the other coaches stay in, they call it Bill's house, was the... the garage where Pinetop worked. I mean, he was there. He was there until he passed. He was there every, you know, King Biscuit Festival on Sunday afterwards. And it would be like a jam. You know, Barb McGowan would run it. It was great to meet Pinetop. I've met so many. I mean, I was so lucky that most of these people were still alive when I started. I mean, most of them are gone now. I mean, who's left? Billy Boy Arnold. You know, I got to hang out with Lazy Lester in Clarksdale. He would come there a lot. And I played with him at Red's, Juke Joint. You know, there's so many people that I got to meet and play with because they're so approachable in the blues, you know. So, you know, I've been going down there for years, you know, to the festival, which the King Biscuit was like the biggest and first, I think, free festival in the country. Yeah. So on Sunday afternoon after the festival, the after party for Pinetop Perkins would be over at the Hobson Plantation. Attached to that was a shack up in. It's an old cotton plantation. So the cotton gin that they turned into little hotel rooms and then the shacks that the workers would stay in, they rent those out. They started growing and growing and building more shacks. And now they have shacks across the tracks and they call it Shacksdale. All the shacks that they built, they build them to look like the old ones using recycled materials so that it stays authentic. The vibe down there, I mean, there's so many people came through there. There's definitely a vibe. Anyway, once we started doing it there, we never went to a hotel again. except for in Ventura, where we would do one in the winter there at a hotel. It was great. And then in 2020, John retired from doing them down there. I think he's doing something up in California, but he retired doing that. And so I took it over with one of the other coaches, Brian Calway, aka Hash Brown. He was my guitar player when I lived in Texas or one of them. And we took it over and we still have the same coaches that we had before. We did our first one in May because we had to cancel three of them due to the pandemic. Our first one in May was a huge success. It was awesome. And our one in September is also full. And it's mostly a repeat. We haven't even really started advertising yet. It's all returnees. We have two different groups that want to come back every year.

SPEAKER_00: 43:15

Great. And so the one in September, you say it's full, is it? People can't sign up?

SPEAKER_01: 43:20

We could squeeze in a couple more people, but we want to keep it small so that people get enough attention. Gets too big when people, especially people that are shy, which I can relate to, will fall through the cracks. And we do a lot of jamming. Like I said, I call it mouths on, you know, we're a mouths on operation. It's like you get in there, we get those harps in your mouth like right away. And it's more of, you know, doing than lecturing. And it's a lot of jamming. And now that I play drums, well, we have Hash Brown, who's a guitar player, consummate blues guitar player knows every genre of blues and and then ralph carter plays bass you know he also teaches guitar lessons and bass lessons and songwriting and he does a songwriting workshop down there and so and now that i'm playing drums we can jam all day and all night long before we had to hire a drummer to come in and we still do that we have lee williams come in a couple of nights a week so that they can have a real drummer i'm good enough to keep a steady beat and back them up for practice

SPEAKER_00: 44:18

it's it's not just harmonica you're teaching Like you said, there's a guitar bass singing.

SPEAKER_01: 44:22

Yeah, there are opportunities for guitar lessons and bass lessons as well. Actually, keyboards, because Ralph plays keyboards too. But most of the people that come are harmonica players. But what happens sometimes is their spouse might be a guitar player, especially the women. And so they'll bring their spouse and their spouse can take lessons from one of our coaches. All of our coaches play guitar.

SPEAKER_00: 44:45

You've got people coming from all around. I think someone comes from Australia even.

SPEAKER_01: 44:49

Australia. One time we had someone come from Japan a lot of people from Australia actually this round in September we have a guy coming from Italy

SPEAKER_00: 44:59

Tell me about the Charlie Musselwhite, the harmonica experience.

SPEAKER_01: 45:02

Well, yeah, we had Charlie. So now that he lives back in Clarksdale, he came in and did a Q&A and we actually played behind him. You know, I actually got to play drums behind Charlie Musselwhite. But he came in. It was really great. You know, Charlie's got a million stories. I mean, and he's so approachable and so like personable, both him and his wife, Henry. I met them back in the early 90s. I've been friends with Charlie since we communicated over email for years. And then now we, you know, talk through Facebook messenger and whatnot, but I mean, he's always sending me stuff, whether it's music or, you know, philosophical stuff too. He's a pretty deep guy. I really love teaching and, and the teaching has made me a better player because it made me stop and think about what I'm doing. And so I owe a lot to my students. It's such a rewarding experience, especially when you teach someone something and they get it. And then it's such a great experience for them and for you. So I just find teaching extremely rewarding.

SPEAKER_00: 46:28

soaking up that Mississippi vibe, as you say. There's some great photos on your website which really shows that Mississippi scene.

SPEAKER_01: 46:35

It is. It's a vibe. A lot of the stuff is gone. I can remember, I remember how it was back in the late 80s, early 90s. It was way different. It's really built up now. I mean, as far as, you know, having a blues tourist attraction. They've got the Blues Trail, which is really cool. All these markers of where people were born and died. Just the whole region. That's the thing, too. about blues that i love is that you know when i hear someone say oh i don't i don't like the blues it's boring or it's just it's sad or it's slow no the reason the blues was created was to bring joy and to make people happy and singing in the fields being able to express themselves the thing that i love love love about the blues is that it's so different it's endless the different genres but because of the regions that it came up from so texas blues sounds different than louisiana blues and then there's pete the piedmont sound and then there's chicago blues you know west coast swing and it's such a vast medium i love swing because i i was really a dancer before i was a musician um i did tap dancing and ballet and I really gravitate towards the groove, especially in blues. It's all about the groove. Then the other totally opposite end of the spectrum is the North Mississippi style, the one chord groove. Like when I was first starting out, I loved Howlin' Wolf and I loved playing his harmonica. I think it was underrated as a harmonica player. You know, I mean, His voice was such a presence and such great tone, and that translated into his harmonica playing.

SPEAKER_00: 48:17

Definitely. That drive to the whole band and the harmonica, that doesn't have a real drive.

SPEAKER_01: 48:21

Yeah, that great vibrato and just that deep, rich tone. I really gravitated towards him. And the juke joint, the one chord groove. I remember seeing the movie Deep Blues and thinking, I would really love to go to a juke joint like that. And then the opportunity came. I was in Memphis playing at the Black Diamond Club. I didn't have an amp because I flew down there. I was bummed that I was going to play through the PA. And the opening act was Jason Ritchie. And he had a bassman up on stage. I walked up to him after his set and I introduced myself. And he said, I know who you are. I'm from Maine. I used to go see your band all the time at the Big Easy. I'm a big fan. And I looked at him, I was like, you're a big fan of me. He was only 18 years old and he was already smoking hot. I said, oh, cool. Thanks. And I said, so would you mind if I used your amp? And then he, of course, let me use his amp and it was great. And then afterwards we were talking, he said to me, well, when are you leaving? And I said, oh, tomorrow morning. He said, oh, too bad. I would have taken you down to Junior Kimbrough's juke joint. And I was like, what? I thought that was in Mississippi. He goes, oh yeah, but It's only 45 minutes from here. It's right over the line. And I was like, hold on a minute. This was before cell phones. I walked out to the front of the club and got on the pay phone, called the airline. How much to change my ticket?$50. Okay, do it. I didn't even know where I was going to stay. I didn't know what I was going to do. I ended up sleeping in Jason's van. We went to Junior Kimbrough's the next night. And oh my God, it was experience of a lifetime. I went back several times afterwards. Whenever I would tour down South, I would always have to do a pilgrimage to Kimbrough's. place. And that was the thing too. One chord drone, 20 minutes on the same song and people dancing in the zone, you know, just this hypnotic groove. I just love that. That's kind of what I, my blues got me song is kind of like what I was going for there.

SPEAKER_00: 50:12

Yeah. Yeah. That definitely has that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 50:14

So, but then that led me back to the other experience that was really great was the house of blues in Cambridge, the original house of blues, which was two miles from my house where I grew up. I used to go there all the time and I played there a lot. They, you know, They had local bands playing there. I also got to go for free anytime I wanted because I played there. I get to go up in the green room and meet the musicians. So I got to meet and play with so many musicians. What an experience. And when RL came to town, he would sell out because he put out that hip hop record because of his grandson, Cedric.

SPEAKER_00: 50:48

Yeah. Yeah,

SPEAKER_01: 50:51

so this is Aurel Burnside. I met R.L. I had all these pictures from when he went to Junior Kimbrough's place and R.L. wasn't there that night neither was Junior but all the grandsons and showed him the pictures and he's looking at my photo album he's going that's my sister that's my aunt that's my nephew he says yeah so you so you blow the harp and I was like yeah and he goes you want to come sit in and I was like yes so I every time R.L. would come he would get me up and I would play songs with him Johnny Copeland would do the same thing you know I opened for him a bunch and was really good friends with him I met all these people people and they were so kind and friendly and willing to let me sit in and

SPEAKER_00: 51:53

A question I ask each time, Sherry, obviously you do a lot of teaching. So

SPEAKER_01: 52:01

if you had 10 minutes to practice, what would you spend those 10 minutes doing? every day. So, and what happens is if you, if you pick it up for 10 minutes, it's going to go longer. I can't, I don't think I've ever practiced for 10 minutes. Once you get started, it's going to keep happening. So, but if I was absolutely limited and I couldn't, you know, for me, for myself, maybe I would tackle a lick that I was having problems with phrasing and just sit there for 10 minutes and play the same, like over and over and over and over and over again until I get it.

SPEAKER_00: 52:47

And gear wise then, well, I believe you're a Horner and Dorsey.

SPEAKER_01: 52:51

Yes,

SPEAKER_00: 52:52

I am. Playing Marine bands.

SPEAKER_01: 52:53

I play marine bands exclusively. Yeah, right out of the box.

SPEAKER_00: 52:58

Which sort of marine bands do you like?

SPEAKER_01: 52:59

Just the regular ones. I mean, I have a few crossovers.

SPEAKER_00: 53:03

And what about chromatic?

SPEAKER_01: 53:05

I

SPEAKER_00: 53:05

have a Super 64. Okay, so the 16 hole, yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 53:11

Yeah, I mean, I have some of the small ones. I like the big ones.

SPEAKER_00: 53:13

Do you play any different tunings?

SPEAKER_01: 53:15

No, I have one harp that's got a note tuned that was good for one song. Years ago, I had it. Somebody made it and I can't remember what it was

SPEAKER_00: 53:24

now. Different positions do you play? You mean the cross harp or other positions?

SPEAKER_01: 53:28

I play second and third mostly. First position once in a while, just the blues playing the bottom end and the blow bands on the top end. And of course, if I play a first position melody, like my guitar player does this Elizabeth Cotton tune, Freight Train. So I play the melody on that in first, and it lays out perfectly on the harp. So I play that, and then when it comes to my solo, it's in C, so I pick up an F harp and play second.

SPEAKER_00: 53:53

Yeah, yeah. Quite often it works out that first position is good for melodies, doesn't it?

SPEAKER_01: 53:57

Yes.

SPEAKER_00: 53:58

Well, I

SPEAKER_01: 54:02

do both, but I started out puckering for the first 10 years. I couldn't figure out for the life of me how to tongue block. Then I finally found it, figured it out through tongue slapping, eventually tongue blocking. And now I do both. I meld them together. I like both because I think you get a different, it's like more three-dimensional. rather than one sound. I feel like I can get more sounds when I do both.

SPEAKER_00: 54:25

And amplifier wise, did you give Jason Ritchie's bassman back or what amplifier do you like to use?

SPEAKER_01: 54:31

Oh, yeah, I just use that on the gig. No, I have a bassman. I have a bassman that I changed, you know, the tubes because it's a reissue, but it's an early one from the early 90s. But what happened one time when I was in Texas was it kept cutting out. I brought it to this guy that used to build Buffalo amps. He was a tech at Texas Instruments. And anyway... Long story short, he worked on my amp and it kept not exhibiting when he had it. And I'd get it back and then it would mess up on stage again. So one day he just ripped out the guts and did a point to point, like a 59 bassman. And so that's pretty much what I have.

SPEAKER_00: 55:09

Do you have a small amp as well or just?

SPEAKER_01: 55:11

I have a harp train that I got from Lone Wolf. I mean, I use it for practice. Not really. I don't practice for the amp. I'm so attached to my bassman that it's really hard for me to use anything else when I gig. I've tried other amps. What happened? And what happens is I'll have my basement with me and I'll end up going back into the basement.

SPEAKER_00: 55:28

And what about microphones?

SPEAKER_01: 55:31

I have the same mic I've been using for years and years. It's an astatic shell. It's not a crystal. I think it's either a controlled reluctance or controlled magnetic. It's one of those two.

SPEAKER_00: 55:41

And do you use any effects? No. Well, then just final question and just about your future plan. Obviously, we know you're already committed to release an album in next year. So any other future plans coming up? You're playing this duo as well. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 55:53

Yeah. I mean, I've got gigs booked and we're doing the camp in September. When I go down there, I'm actually playing at the Niagara Falls Blues Festival with Mud Morganfield. Oh, yeah. And then after that, I drive down to halfway to Memphis is Cincinnati. And a friend of mine is having me on a gig there. And then I drive to Memphis, pick up a few of the people that are coming to the camp and drive down to the camp and do the camp for five days. And then my brother retired and moved to Biloxi. So he's like me, he hates the cold. And so I go visit him for a while. And then he's an hour and a half from New Orleans. So my friend Johnny Mastro hooks me up with some gigs in New Orleans. So I'll be doing that probably being a guest with his band you know I'm just gigging I mean I moved back to New England and I lived in Texas for eight years and I gigged a lot down there the thing about New England well it's my home it's where I'm from and it's where I feel comfortable I missed my friends and family and you know so I'm back

SPEAKER_00: 56:53

so thanks so much Cheryl Arena for joining us today sounds like you're just having a great time playing music all around there

SPEAKER_01: 57:00

yes I love music it's my life

SPEAKER_00: 57:03

Thanks to Zydle for sponsoring the podcast and be sure to check out their great range of harmonicas and products at www.zydle1847.com or on Facebook or Instagram at Zydle Harmonicas. Thanks so much to Cheryl for joining me today. What a ball she's having through music. Showing the way for us all to just go out and enjoy the music as much as we can. And again, thanks everyone for listening and please do check out the website at harmonicahappyhour.com and please check out the Spotify playlist as well. It's linked from the website. And now it's just over to Cheryl to play us out with her Blues Got Me.