Seth is originally from Arkansas, lived in Chicago and moved to Tennessee two years back, where there is a great Old Timey scene for Seth to join
Seth mainly plays Old Timey music, and also some pre-war harmonica
Similarities between old-timey and pre-war harmonica, which are both acoustic styles
First song Seth learned on harmonica was the ‘Simple Gifts’ folk song
Returned to harmonica when played in a folk/boogie/rock band, in which he played harmonica through a megaphone, and some keyboards
Learnt some harmonica from Adam Gussow’s YouTube videos
Friend introduced Seth to Bluegrass and Old Timey music
How well suited the harmonica is to play traditional forms of music
Doesn’t play the 3 hole draw bend, going up to the 6 draw using tongue switching
Old Time music is generally played in 1st position on the diatonic with very little improvisation
Neil plays some Old Time music due to availability of sessions near where he lives and the countries Seth has traveled to play Old Time music
Origins of Old Time music
Seth started learning Old Time music from the albums of people he heard playing the music
Mark Graham and Dave Rice are two Old Timey players who influenced Seth
Learns Old Time music by ear
How to control breathe with fiddle tunes and pre-war blues songs
Old Time music tunes are usually in 1st position with some songs in 2nd position
Great grandmother played the Quill, a reed instrument which is a precursor to the harmonica and the history of Quill playing
Seth’s pre-war harmonica playing was inspired by the Harmonica Masters album
Freeman Stowers Medley of Blues song and barnyard imitations
Seth has written the ‘Old Time Harmonica Booklet’
How harmonica became an accepted instrument in Old Time music
1924 was a breakout year for harmonica, including Henry Whitter and the Crook brothers
First harmonica recording by an African American is the unfortunately named ‘Dat Mouth Organ Coon’ by Pete Hampton
First reference Seth found to a fox chase was from 1880
Early recordings were mainly 1st position diatonic, with some chromatic and tremolo
Techniques used for Old Time harmonica style, including rhythmical accompaniments
Kyle Wooton was a great rhythmical harmonica player from the 1930s
Example of Seth playing rhythm behind a fiddle player
Example of machine gun rhythm by Bob Cranford of the Red Fox Chasers
Playing a drone note on one harmonica with the nose and the melody on a harmonica in the mouth and some of the players who have done this (including Seth)
Can use two draw / three blow in cross harp to also get a drone
Seth has also written an article called ‘One In Every Pocket’, where Seth looked at newspaper archives to find the early history of the harmonica from around 1850
First newspaper report of a harmonica concert in the US was in 1828
First harmonica recordings are probably on home wax cylinders from the late 1800s
Seth also writes how the first time African Americans appeared on screen, one of them was playing a harmonica
Seth joined an Old Time duo after he saw them, learned their songs and then asked to join the band
Also in a band called The Ozark Highballers, with a couple of albums released
Song Gastonia Gallop is an example of an early rag song on harmonica
Gwen Foster played ragtime with syncopated back-up, single note driven
Approach to playing solo on harmonica in these early styles
Seth works up his solo pieces so he plays them mostly the same each time, with some subtle differences
Plays the harmonica on a rack with a uke banjo
Also plays harmonica with the bones rhythm percussion instrument in one hand, piano in the other hand
Plays the harmonica through an Edison cylinder phonograph horn replica for acoustic amplification
DeFord Bailey also played with a metal megaphone device
Seth may make some videos on using the Edison horn with harmonica and may sell some of them
Changes tone of harmonica to make it sound ‘older’
Ten minute question focused on people interested in playing Old Time music
Good Facebook group: Bluegrass, Old Time and Country harmonica and books from Glenn Weiser
Popularity of playing tunes on the harmonica is because it suits the instrument well, and Seth thinks it works well if you’re lazy!
Seth uses standard tunings when he plays Old Time, moving up an octave to get the sixth note from the scale
Hasn’t tried a Paddy Richter, although that is the tuning Neil uses for tunes
Doesn’t play any chromatic harmonica
Seth has taught Old Time sessions at SPAH and other harmonica festivals
Seth Joe Filisko when he lived in Chicago
Joe Filisko, James Conway and Andrew Larson are the three people Seth knows who can do the rapid Gwen Foster tongue trill
Has just purchased the Masterharp USA tuning table company and is thinking of going into business using it
Is considering making the tuning tables commercially available
Cost of the tuning table could be around $400
Tuning table currently only takes diatonic reed plates but considering adding chromatic
Harmonica of choice is currently the Hohner Rocket Amp
Positions: mainly 1st, some 2nd, sometimes 3rd
Overblows: doesn’t use them
Amps: plays through a vocal mic, playing off it so can use hand vibrato
Has owned a Green Bullet in the past and a Fender Blues Junior amp, but it was too loud for practising
Doesn’t use any effects: can get reverb using hands and reverb would muddy sound when playing a lot of rhythm
Teaching plans at festivals and offers a free old time teaching lesson online
