Date: Mon, 06 Aug 2001 13:36:22 -0400 From: "Larry Pratt" Subject: =?ISO-8859-7?Q?Visiting=20with=20Mark=20Wenner=20=AF=20longish? Well it took about a year to get our schedules aligned, but recently I spent an afternoon with Mark Wenner of The Nighthawks. Mark is an incredibly nice guy and welcomed me into his home outside of Washington DC. This was not as much of a "lesson" as an opportunity to play and listen and critique techniques. I, of course, had tons of questions, but tried to show some restraint.
We started by playing a couple of cuts from my band, Park House Jam, demo CD. He was very complimentary about a Darrell Nulisch tune "Stop Thinking Take, Start Thinking Give" He gave me good scores on phrasing and tone. He suggested octaves as a possiblity on one part of the solo. This part is straight out of Slim Harpo.
The next cut, "Fine and Mellow" he nailed me. Very frank and honest (which is what I wanted) he said "You should have done a lot more with the solo. It didn't go anywhere." I agreed and showed him how I play that solo today. He agreed it was much better.
We talked a lot about gear, even though he is admittedly NOT a gearhead. He likes his amp settings sharp. He bumps up the treble to help it cut through. Even still, he can get a nice phat tone. I asked about feedback problems, due to high trebs. He showed me a noise reduction (NR) footpedal he uses. It was a MicroHush product. Its not made anymore. We plugged it in between the mic and amp, cranked the amp up to feedback level (including high trebs), punched in the NR box and silence, no feed back. You could boost the volume (or treb) a couple more notches. Very effective little box. He said he called the manufacturer some years back, told them he was playing amplified harp. They said Wha? They didn't have a clue. Soon they stopped making the MicroHush and made other models, that in Mark's opinion were not as good as the Micro. He called them again and bought their entire stock of MicroHush units. (No, he won't sell one).
I asked him about harps and mics and what he's tried and liked. Basically Mark plays out-of-the-box Marine Bands. He has a couple of 'customized' harps, set up for him by a guy from Hohner in Richmond. I don't remember his name, something like Bill Bishop?? He saves them for recording. He doesn't use customs regularly 'cause he blows out his harps so frequently. "I can blow out an A the same night."
As to mics, he is a firm vintage Shure Green Bullet (GB) player. I mentioned that Frank Ruskin lists him as a user of the Ruskin mic. He remembered that Frank gave him a mic. He liked it fine but he sticks with his GBs. This is another item that he bought an electronics wholesalers entire stock of vintage BG's years ago.
The bottom line for gear was that he has a certain sound that he is known for, He likes it and doesn't want to change it. He uses the MBs with a GB into a Victoria "Tweed Champ". This is usually mic'd into the Board. He also uses a Fender Bassman for stage volume. These are not slaved, rather they are played in parallel.
As far as harp maintenance goes, he has pulled off a coverplate to remove a moustache hair, but that's about it. He never gaps his harps. I actually explained to him what gapping was and the effect on action. I handed him a Tim Moyer T-bone. He was intrigued by the apparent Marine Band, but with a plastic comb. He played it up and down, inside and out, and said, "That's very nice".
Most people know Mark Wenner for his play in the Nighthawks and occasionally in a Missouri-based band, the Bel Airs. His sound is one of deep blues with a major crunchy overtone. But he has done some outstanding acoustic work, in a Piedmont style, with Ben Andrews (National steel and other guitars) and Jeff Sarli (slap bass) in a group name the Blue Rider Trio. Mark, Ben and Jeff churn out some great acoustic tunesfrom the early days, full of Ledbelly, Robert Johnson, and others. Two CD's are out "Preachin' the Blues" and "Harp, Steel and Guts". We all say how tone starts acoustically. Mark is a master at playing behind the singer and stepping out for his solos. These are two CDs worth searching out.
I asked Mark how he approaches new material. How does he decide what to play, what kind of solo, etc. He said he basically listens to the song, plays a few "cliche" licks to get started. As he gains insite into the song and what the writer is trying to say, he develops more interesting, or more song specific runs, whatever comes to mind. I said it sounds like you play whatever the voices tell you to. He said " Yeah, you got that right."
Mark was a gracious host, freely answering any question, and sharing his time with another harp player, admirer, fan, etc. If you have a chance to see the Nighthawks, talk to Mark. He's very approachable. Tell him Larry Boy sent you. I guarentee he'll say "Who?"
