Harpin' Help April 14, 2002

I snapped some pictures of Harpin' Help down in Bel Mar. I got there around 3pm and left at 6pm. I wish I could have stayed, but I had been going since dawn and the beers I had knocked me out. 3 hours of harp at one sitting is about my limit.

When I got there, Robin Roselle was playing with her band "Blue Plate Special". Here are a couple of pictures.

She was followed by Marcos Orozco and the Incinerators. I am sorry the pictures here didn't come out well. I took them from the balcony where I had a good view, but the camera must have found something else to focus on.

I then was lucky enough to have my first hearing of String Bean - Kenny Sorensen with his band: The Stalkers. He played with a rack (or necklace) and also played guitar. His rig is a Strnad mic going through a preamp system with a million dials and settings where he was able to get a nice fat chicago style sound. I have never heard a rack player get such good tone and play harp so well.
(sorry for the bad picture)

Next up was Big Mike Devita. I'd hear Big Mike play lots of times at jams and invitational stuff, but this is the first time that I've ever heard him play with his whole band. It was great! I think Big Mike is one of New Jersey's best players.

At the end of Big Mike's segment, a harper got up and shared the stage. I didn't expect much, but the guy was real good. He was announced as a club owner from the next town up the shore, but I missed his name.

Mike is on the right. As you can see, I snapped this on the way out. I wish I could have stayed, but you can be sure the jams went on until the wee hours and I had 100 miles to travel to get home to a lonely wife.

Anybody else got pictures?????.

Here's a picture of the bar area. The Bar A is a nice venue right on the Jersey Shore. The barbeque was only $3, but the beer selection was "any beer you want as long as it's lite beer". No Rolling Rock!