Beginnings...
I first picked up a harp back in 1973, I think it was July of that year.
I'm out in the back getting busy, when a homeboy stopped by to see what I had, that he could share. He brought this guy with him, nothing unusual about that, except the guy didn't quite fit in -- looked like a Black Panther. I just showed my hospitality by passing the doobie. After about an hour, the guy pulled out a harmonica. It looked like it had been in a fight and lost. It was missing teeth and had some stuck reeds, but he was still trying to play it with some success. He must have been very bad, cause he decided he would throw it into my garbage can. I said, "Hey wait a minute let me see that thing, I want it".
That began my love affair with the harmonica and the hypnotic effect that this little tiny instrument still has on every aspect of my being.
In 1975 I was in a band called Fresh. It was an Earth, Wind, and Fire clone. I played tambourine and also did some backup singing. So I was really in the Band for the girls… One tune by War: that is what I played on my harmonica. I had only been playing for a couple of years at this time.
I really wanted to make my harmonica work for me, so I started playing by myself; making different kinds of sounds and annoying everyone around me until 1981.
I started playing with the house band at the restaurant where I worked.
One night I was entertaining this young lady after dinner with my interpretation of Larry Adler playing "Summertime" with the Chromonica in my right hand and playing piano chords with my other hand. She said, "I know a band at the Hacienda Club in Reno that you could sit in with." That began my association with some people who were playing the Blues. I began sitting-in all over town.
I had other major interests: body-building and acting. I taught weight-training at the YMCA-Reno for eight years. In my spare time I was bodybuilding for competitions. I got some bit parts in TV commercials -- mostly parodies of Mr. T.
In August of 1985, I left my job, friends, everything. I put my belongings in storage and hit the road for Venice Beach.
Jamming in Venice with Butch Mud Bones...
Everything in Venice Beach was closing when I first arrived there, except for one stand, a T-shirt vendor. I pulled out my harmonica and started playing and singing anyway. Some people stopped to listen. When I stood down, this guy introduced himself to me. His said his name was Butch Mud Bones and he played a little harp and guitar. I found out later that he was a master.
Butch was a Native American bluesman. He had played some big gigs in his time. He dropped a lot of important names. I didn't know any of them, but he knew I could play, and we made an agreement to meet on the boardwalk the next day and play some music.
Butch Mud Bones was a mentor to me. Butch and I played together for two months, but it felt like two years. Butch took me to Blues clubs all over L.A., introduced me to Johnny Otis and took me to Johnny's house.
I met Butch in October '85 and he was gone in January '86. Not a word, just gone. He had said it would be that way.
I ended up staying in an LA. I built up a reputation. When I wasn't playing my own gigs, I worked at a blues club, Blues Unlimited, doing everything. My job there were to front the band, take tickets, run the spotlight, be soundman, club driver, and anything else that was needed.
Playing the Blues with Paul Pena...
The Partnership with Paul Pena I met Paul Pena at KPOO Radio in San Francisco in 1989. He invited me to a gig he was doing at the Full Moon Saloon on Haight Street in San Francisco. When I arrived at the club, there wasn't any way to let Paul know I was there, unless I yelled over the music. So I chilled in my seat, patting my foot to the music, when Paul announces that I was in the audience and was I coming up to play. This caught me by surprise, because Paul is blind. This began our partnership together. Over time, I saw more of Paul's magical powers.
Between 1989 and 1995 Paul and I played every coffee shop, radio program, night club, festival, opening act, museum, art gallery, wedding and street fair, just to get our music out there. We became extensions of each other; I had the eyes and Paul was the ears.
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