California has been home to generations of blues harmonica players that are second to none. I believe when people think of the contemporary California blues scene the harmonica players may be the first thing to come to mind. Names like Piazza, Harman, Blake, Wilson, Estrin and Lynwood Slim, for example, are recognized throughout the world. Each November there is a showcase here in Southern California, called the Battle of the Blues Harps that celebrates this grand tradition. For the past twenty three years Dan Jacobson and his Southland Blues Magazine have hosted this popular event. Read about last year’s show in the archive section of this site. 

In recent years an interesting ramp-up to this show has been something called the Road to the Battle of the Blues Harps (RBBH). This is where it gets a little bumpy. The RBBH is a contest in which the winning harmonica oriented, blues band gets a cash prize and gets to play in front of a large audience as part of the Battle of the Blues Harps the following month. The RBBH is held at the Orange County Marketplace in Costa Mesa, California, over five consecutive Saturday afternoons.  

During this past month, the RBBH was marred by a minor scandal. The best harmonica players and best bands lost out to inferior players, playing in inferior bands. I am not the only one who saw this one coming around the club house turn.

Each week the audience’s reaction to the judge’s decision ranged from laughter and booing to a rousing “You have got to be kidding me.” In at least two of the four weeks leading up to finals held on the fifth week, the “winners” seemed genuinely embarrassed by the outcome. The only person to seem unfazed by his “victory” was the ultimate winner, rocker Darrell Mansfield. The curious juxtaposition of Mansfield’s Pat Travers-like classic-rock version of Little Walter’s Boom Boom (Out goes the Lights), a song about a man discussing knocking a woman into unconsciousness, and Mansfield’s Jesus chatter from the stage, was typical of this man’s approach to blues music and prostulatising. Holy crap!

I think the five week debacle could be summarized in one exchange that took place during the “winner’s” announcement. I was standing off to the side of the stage with several musicians who, like myself, refrained from the booing and other expletives being thrown about the concert grounds as the “winner” was announced. We stood frozen, smiling through clenched teeth and offering up polite applause as many of the stunned spectators glanced in our direction to see our reaction to this farce. Just then one of the cats turned to me and asked, “Did you feel that?” I said, “No what are you talking about?” He said, “I think we just had a small earthquake.” The musician on the other side of me said, “I felt it.  I think it was William Clarke rolling over in his grave.”

These contests are a lot like car races in that they are often won or lost in the pits. The “pits” in this case may be found in the advertising section of the magazine that puts on this event. It would seem to me that this obvious conflict of interest would be something a publication such as Southland Blues would try and avoid. For reasons I understand, however don’t agree with, the blues world does tolerate this in their journalism. I know we all have to make a buck but at what price. A band paying to have a write up or their records reviewed in a positive light is the norm in several on-line and print media outlets in this country. Can’t we make money and retain our journalistic integrity? I think we can. The tie in between advertisers and editorial content in many publications is obvious and I suppose is the price of doing business. I think it is too high a price. The winners in this financial equation are obvious. So are the losers. They are the great bands who play blues music with integrity while being trampled in the marketplace full of compromise and corruption.

For many years Dan Jacobson’s Southland Blues Magazine has been a valuable resource to find out what’s happening on the Southern California blues scene. I look forward each month to its calendar listings. I was disappointed however that the publication chose not to take the high road to the battle of the blues harps. Instead it appeared to many observers, that they made the decision to use some very dedicated and talented bands as props in a promotional stunt that was thinly disguised as a contest.

-  David Mac