Gussow one-man band, "Poor Man Blues" (2010)

[fatgonzo]

Wow. It's amazing to a newbie harp player like me how you fill the whole soundscape with just harp and vocals. My goal is to get good enough to go busking, I can play the guitar decently and I wanna play guitar+harp. I've gone through your lessons many times, much appreciated that you made those available for free. I still don't know shit about harp but I will get there. =)

[h0tguitar]

That smokes man !

[shepherdharp]

This is such a fun groove! Can't believe I haven't seen this before now. Glad I saw it though because it is really, really fun.

[cristianpedraza2010]

genio sos grande no cualquiera toca asi ..tenes un don unico

[devilsriveruk]

Yeah, love the overdrive on the vocals. To be this good takes decades of pure love for music. 

[balibalisong]

Really like that sound of thoose amps! Good Job!

Cheers from Sweden!

[Urbanomad22]

Nice, love me some Sonny Terry.

[anbu94]

i really like this, seems tough coordinating everything at once like that. the drum and singing reminds me of black Betty a little. not saying its a rip off of that because i know its not, but it has a similar feel to it .

[KudzuRunner]

@anbu94: I've never heard of Black Betty, but I have heard of Sonny Terry, and this song is one that he does on an album that I got when I was 16. My version is 90% what he did--with the percussion added, of course, and with a few other things thrown in.

[anbu94]

@KudzuRunner black betty is a song from the 70's by a band called Ram Jam. i never heard of sonny terry but I'll have to look into him.

[anywayuwont69]

@KudzuRunner Ram Jam - Black Betty 1977

[OmniphonProductions]

Hootin' like Sonny! I love it.  The distortion on the vocal adds a level of roughness that's just perfect for the venue of the performance and the vintage nature of the song. This is a perfect example of why I talk about you to anybody who'll listen.

[macengregora]

I love the way the "chorus" goes, with your woops and the harp playing together, it sound so freaking cool!

[Rainrixx]

Oh god i'm lucky!!!! a great song from my idol Sonny! played by my favourite player/teacher!!!

And by the way I really love the way you gently put ppl that write stupid things to their places...

[mummahotcakes]

Hey Man, Loving the mic sound.... Been chasing that over driven vocal sound for ages... Can you tell me the mic, and how you get the sound etc... Awesome!

[KudzuRunner]

@mummahotcakes: The mic is a Shure PE5-H, nothing special. Just a plastic bodied dynamic mic from the early 1980s. It's the amps that create the sound. A Kay 703 and a Premier Twin-8: both with 8 " speakers, both all-tube, both from the early 1960s.

[ArtofDreaming1]

Adam can you play the flute part on harp from going up to the country from you know canned heat

[deltablutim]

Wow Beatifull! how come you guys have never played the Sunflower River festival, or have you?

[LadyDarknnes]

good and good

[droverboy1]

Sounds killer A.G! Im very impressed with your ability ! It takes alot of practice to get the groove like this! Thanks for all the lessons you put up Sir!!!

[myinsizer]

was this guy in crash test dummies?? oh no wait thats son of dave .... much better than this. no offence like, it's good..... just not son of dave

[KudzuRunner]

@myinsizer: You're funny. I like Son of Dave, but he knows who I am and I suspect he'd agree that I can play circles around him on the harp. He's a terrific performer with an original, minimalist style. He's a seriously limited harp player. He's a much better singer than I am.

In short, I HOPE that what I'm doing here isn't Son of Dave. It's me. Actually, it's a straight-up ripoff of a Sonny Terry song, one that I hard when I was 16 and have been playing for 30 years. Nothing fancy.

[rafox2000]

@myinsizer cock sucker

[mummahotcakes]

Hey Man, Loving the mic sound.... Been chasing that over driven vocal sound for ages... Can you tell me the mic, and how you get the sound etc... Awesome!

[tblach04]

cool 

[longnamesarebetter2]

Man, you are great!!!

This is one of the best things I have heard for a long time!

Wow...

[J4jackass]

Gonna Bring my Harp everywhere i go...

Cus I Hear it calling me to sing...

Thanks to you i can hear it calling me now :D

Love From Singapore~

[arjhendrix]

godspeed

[socalsand86]

I could listen to that all day, Nuttin like the blues harp...

[MrHilbert]

Very cool. Whoops and Hollers!

[OldWailer]

Wow! That is just great!

[PushbladeSymphony]

Adam You're the man!!! "Cheers"

[MiniBeu]

Thanks ! You are a very amazing harmonica player :-o. Thanks for all your vidéos and scuse my bad english ^^"

[SoldatSolutrea]

good times....and GREAT playing!

[FlyPerL]

I am sure that Mr Terry claps his hand and stamp his feets upstairs.

[jaguar27ft]

Thanks for sharing, Adam. Your beginnerslessons are helpful to me. Greetings from The Netherlands

[JaxShores]

really great, my friend. you teach and you and lay it down as well. great jam

[shinngi]

Eita pega, esse cara manda mto bem!!

[gagedaman2019]

holy shit..your my hero...please consider giving lessons

[BluesDfender]

AWESOME !

[zardozica]

Adam, how did you happen to pick those songs - other than being classics?

[KudzuRunner]

I've been singing this song for more than 30 years, so I guess I picked it because it's familiar. I've always liked the other songs, too. In the late 70s I used to jam along with B. B. King and Bobby Blue Bland's version of "Every Day." So I've known that song for a while, too. I also spent many, many hours playing guitar with Cream's records, so "Sunshine of Your Love" is close to my heart, too.

[raymor44]

Adam, I love the way you constantly put yourself out there, never content to just fall back on what you (and others) have already done, but always moving in a new direction, taking chances...and you always seem to be having a ball...you always make me want to pick up my harp.

[YOBABYBUBBA]

Little Sonny Terry in there. Love it!!!!

[YOBABYBUBBA]

Awsome!!!!!!

[RobinVanRoon]

Great stuff Adam!

[Tryharp]

Brilliant and ingenious!! Melding many different styles into one high intensity experience. I liked the sound of the foot base drum more in this one, is it cause its mic'd?

[KudzuRunner]

Yes, it's miked with a kick drum mic. That brings out a lot of bottom end. Listen with headphones and you'll hear that right away.

[HarpDogAustralia]

Sounding good man.

[ilutzio]

That was really great! Your singing has improved a lot, and i can really feel the intensity and the joy of playing. You display a lot of the inherent crazyness that all harpists have, with this set up.

[KudzuRunner]

Thanks! That's a great compliment. You've definitely gotten what I was trying to communicate.

[Krooks44]

Adam, Great stuff put a smile on my face...... Lay it down boy.....

[starrchild99]

Fantastic, love the way you mix the whoops with the playing. Not sure where one ends and the other begins.

Total mastery of the harp!

The groove is cool too.

[DBrownofdc]

FIRE!

[FlyPerL]

What a groove!

[hyndmanstrider79]

Adam.. Can you say a little about your percussion? What is the difference between your foot-drum setup and what Satan/Sterling McGhee used? Doing the one-man band thing takes an enormous amount of guts and I applaud you. GREAT JOB!!

[KudzuRunner]

I'm using Pete Farmer's foot drums--the basic set, which I don't believe he offers in quite the same form. I've had them for 9 months and am still learning my way around. Sterling's percussion setup was entirely different. He had two standard hi-hat cymbals strapped down to a wooden board. In the beginning, he played the sort of 1212 stuff I'm doing, but within five years he was playing incredible stuff. I hope I've got a similar learning curve!

[semionbahtin]

Great old school

!!!

[rbeetsme]

Adam, yes, it works! Great stuff.

[boufgreg]

Awesome! This is my favorite of the three new videos.

[lcorinth]

Hot damn!

[MusicMan20061210]

Adam...that's nice stuff!

[joealanouf]

the whol etime im thinking dang i dig .reminds me of sonny terry!

[superchucker77]

Brilliant!

[KudzuRunner]

As we know, I owe it all to you, Brandon. If you hadn't sent me that little stomp-board thingie and gotten me going in this direction, this video would not exist. Thanks again!

[anotherdeadpanda]

This is so great, you're keep me inspired every time I watch one of your videos.

[LongingCirkel]

Damn Adam, your whole OMB sounds is like an old black guy stompin' his feet on a front porch, when someone walked by and amped it way up. The sound is familiar and yet fresh. Please keep on going with this!

[michau69]

i can feel Sonny Terry's touch, great work!

[harpdude61]

Man! Your grooves are right on! I feel it!

[Korgsv]

Very rhythmically and masterly! BRAVO!

[muzhunter]

I love the implied chord changes. Sonny Terry didn't have to worry about those nearly as much as you do.

[AraguaJam]

Fantastic playing!!!! this of one man band is really amazing and nice