(BARNEGAT, NJ) -- Over the summer, New Jersey musician James Dalton debuted Harmonica Lesson – The Show in Europe. No stranger to performing around the world, James is bringing his new show to Waterview Art & Cafe in Barnegat on October 19, 2024 with performances at 6:00pm & 8:00pm.
In the show, James plays harmonica, tells stories, sings and engages the audience, while teaching some beginners harmonica lessons. Stories come from a musician's travels and life. Lessons are tied in with stories, some humorous, some melancholy, and there are improvisation elements throughout. The show will move and change from performance to performance.
James Dalton has run harmonica workshops for beginners and has taught the instrument, along with other instruments, in a variety of settings, from music shops, livestreams as well as music and theatre festivals. Essentially, he is is blending the workshop with a storytelling show. New Jersey Stage reached out to him to learn more about the show.
What can you tell me about the new show? What sort of stories are you telling?
So, this show was born, basically, from running a Beginners Harmonica Workshop at the Reykjavik Fringe in 2023 while I was there with another one-person show called Asbury Park & Me. I had similar audiences coming to both happenings and while one of them was a storytelling show that looked like a cross between a barstool gig and a songwriter night (AP&Me), the other was supposed to be me just teaching harmonica to a group of characters nut it quickly morphed into its own storytelling standup thing. Harmonica Lesson-The Show is like the last show in that the stories are always different and so is the vibe, to be honest, all depending on the engagement of the audience.
Did you debut the show at RVK Fringe 2024?
Yes, it did make its debut there. I reached out to the Reykjavik crew with the idea and they accepted it as a work in progress. Iceland is a pretty different kind of place. You're in a sort of far flung place in the world and yet it's very cosmopolitan and there are lots of tourists from all over the world. Luckily for me, people everywhere seem to really like the instrument, and when you are doing a storytelling show, if you are honest and open with your audience, you tell them the truth and they will definitely listen. That was in June. Just after Labor Day weekend, I brought the show to the Gothenburg Fringe in Sweden and the response was even more positive. Maybe it was the momentum, or maybe because Fringe festivals have their own community and word travels within that community. I worked hard and there were even people that caught the show at both festivals in both countries!
You've had several shows at fringe festivals over the years. Do you just like the vibe of being at a place very welcoming to new works?
You know, I just really like the vibes:)
Not only the push for new works, but it's a very DIY crowd. These Fringe Festivals, they feature performers of all kinds from everywhere on earth. There are so many languages and styles of performance, lots of ages etc. Most people are funding themselves, and in my position, when I am funding myself, that means I can do anything I want to, literally anything. I am just going to be me.
Tell me about the place you're playing in Barnegat. It's a new space?
So I stumbled upon this venue on social media, I think and yes, I believe it is relatively newer. They host jazz and standup comedy and they want to host some smaller more theatrical programming as well. The Waterview Café is at 689 E Bay Ave in Barnegat and I'd say it's a welcome addition to the arts in southern Ocean County.
Do you remember the first time you played a harmonica? Did things just click for you? Or did it take a while to get things sounding the way you wanted?
That's an interesting question. I think most of us get one as some sort of gift where we are children and we don't really care what kind of noise we make with it, just as long as we are making noise. I got one in my 20s to take a little more seriously than that because I was getting into singing blues music and I was already a terrible guitar player. So I felt obligated to get a different instrument to pair with my singing. Things did click, but that hasn't changed the fact that I am always trying to find that sound I am looking for.
Is it hard to teach people how to play it?
No, it isn't. Not many instruments literally come out of the box ready to play. There is no tuning or assembly. Just out of the box, breathe in, breathe out and you've got music.
Who are some of your favorite harmonica players in history?
Growing up around here we've got some great players that I've had the chance to meet and learn from like Rob Paparozzi, Steve Guyger and Stringbean, and I've learned a lot from Little Walter and Howlin Wolf and an irish player named Mick Kinsella, but that absolute greatest player will always be Howard Levy.
Finally, I've seen you play a lot of instruments but there are three you seem to play the most. If you could only play one instrument out of guitar, mandolin, or harmonica which would it be and why?
That is a tough one. I like the strings so I can accompany my voice, but i have also done a lot of just harmonica/voice/toe tapping stuff, so i guess, maybe the harmonica.
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