How To Play The Autoharp

John Sebastian to play Lovin' Spoonful hits and more

With their striped shirts, shaggy hair, granny glasses and string of hits, The Lovin' Spoonful were akin to an American Beatles . But where The Beatles drew on American rock 'n' roll of the 1950s, the Spoonful mined the folk, blues and jug band sounds of the '20s and '30s.

That sound has stayed with John Sebastian , the band's leader and chief songwriter.

Sebastian, whose solo career has been going strong since 1968, will perform at Universal Preservation Hall in Saratoga Springs on Friday.

His music has always been marked by a smiling, sweetly shuffling sound, and his catalog is ripe with songs that bring instant grins.

How about "Jug Band Music," "Do you Believe in Magic, "Summer in the City," "Daydream," "Nashville Cats," "Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind," "You Didn't Have to Be So Nice," and "Younger Girl" from the band's initial chart run, or 1976's seminal solo effort "Welcome Back" and the oft-covered "Stories We Could Tell."

The 67-year-old singer-guitarist (who is also known for his serious harmonica and autoharp skills) has long been a Woodstock resident, but he rarely performs solo in the region. We spoke recently about his upcoming show.

Q: What is a John Sebastaion solo show like these days?

A: It's fluid. It's subject to change. That's one of the nice things about playing solo is that you can respond to an audience. You can change stuff up without having to turn around and explain it to the drummer. I certainly play a lot of stuff I've written, from the Spoonful era to the middle solo period, but I also have a jug band faction that often shows up and I can usually suss them out within a tune or two. That's always fun to respond to because so much of the Spoonful was tied up in sort of answering jug band music in some way.

Q: How consciously was that old-time element laced into the Spoonful's music?

A: We were imitating everything from the old jug bands like Gus Cannon's Jug Stompers and the Memphis Jug Band to more modern groups like Jim Kweskin and The Jug Band. We were borrowing tunes that we'd learned like "Mobile Line" and "Wild About My Lovin'," and "Fishin' Blues." These were all tunes that were being tossed around by the Kweskin band and the Holy Modal Rounders, who were also a sizable influence on the Spoonful in their gonzo country music approach. It was sort of the beginning of the psychedelic old timey sound.

Q: Your generation was able to meet and play with some of the pioneers of blues and folk. Are younger players coming to you in the same way now?

Are you ready for some fun brain teasers? | The Island News


A personal fan, a pail of live bait, and an oyster knife.  All under ten dollars.

2. What is the most beautiful sounding instrument that hardly anyone plays except for kindergarten teachers (in the 1950′s)?  

The autoharp.  Play a recording by Bryan Bowers and close your eyes.

3. Name all the great Lowcountry foods that taste like chicken.

Chicken.

4. Who was the most talented all-around performer of all time?  

Fred Astaire.  He hit the trifecta: dancer, singer, and actor.  Thirty one musical films.  First recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors (1978). Lifetime achievement award from the American Film Institute.  And on and on and on.

5. What were the best musicals ever?   

West Side Story and Les Miserables.  After seeing a performance of either show, can you ever get the songs out of your head?

6. What is the friendliest medium sized city with unbeatable restaurants?  

Charleston.  Pick any street downtown and take a walk.  Count the smiles you exchange.  Pick a restaurant practically blindfolded.  Take off the blindfold, enjoy your meal, continue your walk.

7. What are the most unbelievably great big cities? 

New York, Paris, London.  There’s a good reason why so many people go there (39.4 million combined international visitors in 2010 alone) and why they cost what they do (plenty).

8. Would you like coffee or tea?  

Coffee.   It tastes better than tea (doesn’t it?) and it’s what’s brewed at the office.  Americans drink 9 billion gallons of coffee per year vs. 2.2 billion gallons of tea. Hot tea is great when you are sick, or dying of thirst (my best attempt at a left handed complement and with all apologies to lefties).  Now iced tea, that’s a different story!

9. Would you like grits with that?  

Maybe.  Almost no matter what people say, grits MIGHT be overrated unless you like really soft bland food. Or you’re just completely flexible when it comes to breakfast.

10. Can technology really make the world a better place?  

Sure.  But there might be too many cell phones in the world (about 5 billion and growing fast), especially in the hands of bad drivers when it’s not an emergency.  It’s neat that you can take pictures with them now and do many (most?) things you used to need a separate computer for.  Hey, how about an app for sorting through all the other apps and picking just the ones you really need?

11. Who was the best American novelist of all time?  

Mark Twain.  You can start with Ernest Hemingway’s compliment,  “All modern literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn.”  Or just read The Prince and the Pauper and go from there.  Heaven knows how many scholarly publications were based on Twain and how many million people he has captivated.

12.  What is the rarest positive trait of all in humans?  

A really good sense of humor.  Only about ten people a year are born funny (ok, maybe 15) and they should all have statues made of them.  Funny statues in funny places.

How to play the autoharp

The autoharp book

Songs of Hispanic Americans, Spanish, English Language Edition, Book& CD

The Autoharp Owner's Manual, Everything from Maintaining to Building an Autoharp

You Can Teach Yourself Autoharp