Skip's Harp Site: Harmonica Homepage
Chicago is my sweet home; I'm a long-time recovered New Yorker. My teaching and playing are at the Old Town School of Folk Music and elsewhere in the Midwest. In 2007 Fran (my wife) and I were members of the Hump Night Thumpers when we won the 25th annual Battle of the Jug Bands in Minneapolis (see details elsewhere on the site!) Along with other former Thumpers, we now play with Strictly Jug Nuts. With them, we won the Chicago Battle of the Jug Bands in 2009 and 2011, and hosted the Chicago Jug Band Summit in 2012. As I write this, we are hosting the Fifth Annual Chicago Battle of the Jug Bands, scheduled for 10/12/12 at the Logan Square Auditorium.
The great Chicago performers of the past and present are my ongoing inspiration. That includes the blues greats, and also the folks who play gospel, Irish, swing, country, jug-band music: most everything. I love it all. Links to my classes:
As a Chicagoan, I revel in our people, our neighborhoods, our cultures, our music. I especially enjoy Chicago hot dog stands and the tradition of the Chicago hot dog. (I love hot dog conversations and will readily swap recommendations).
If after lthis visit you think, "hey, maybe learning some harp (or more harp) would be fun," feel free to email me (NOT at the above address, but skiplandt @sbcglobal.net). Or give me a call; we can talk about it: I'm in the phonebook.
Skip
To hear my harp playing, go the music section of this site. The wonderful MK Ness is singing the Frankie and Johnny story with my harp behind her. The track was recorded for the Old Town School Songbook Project. The guitar is Garth Taylor, backed by Matt Dressel (bass) and Tom Shay (percussion). Recording was done by John Abbey. I've also posted some other odds and ends there.
