Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, CA)
THE BLUESMAN
by TONY HICKS, TIMES STAFF WRITER
April 18, 2004
MARK HUMMEL somehow survives as a working musician in the East Bay, where in some places, affordable housing means the pool is unheated.
What's astounding is that Hummel is a blues musician. Even more unbelievable is that he plays the harmonica, a time-honored and essential blues instrument that nevertheless doesn't produce a lot of household names.
"I make my living at it, but there's not that many (full-time professional harp players)," says Hummel. It's about eight hours after a late-night flight brought him home to Castro Valley from a string of Midwest appearances. "There's somewhere between 50 and 100."
The money isn't great, even for a guy at the top of his profession. Hummel has recorded and toured for the better part of two decades. He also has appeared at and judged the World Harmonica Championships, and he organizes the annual Blues Harmonica Blowout. He's played with names like Charles Brown, Charlie Musselwhite, former Muddy Waters sidemen Willie "Big Eyes" Smith and Bob Stroger, and Dave Myers from Little Walter's band.
Yet it's done out of love. He says he didn't really have a choice. As a self-described high school outsider in the early '70s Southern California, music attracted him the way it does so many kids who don't feel they fit. But even within that group, guitars and drums just weren't enough for Hummel.
"(Making it big) was never the goal for me. Part of the reason I got into the blues was because nobody really did it much. It was almost a rebellion thing. When I first heard a harmonica played through an amp, it was just a different sound, almost like an electric sax. It was really a great sound. It was mysterious to me, as opposed to a guitar."
He played part time in a number of bands through the '70s while supporting himself with day jobs. After moving to Berkeley, playing the blues enveloped him to the point where, in 1982, he decided to quit his oth! er jobs and make the full-time professional jump that frightens so man y musicians.
He did it, but not without sacrifice. Going on the road meant missing much of his daughter growing up. He missed his ex-wife's father's funeral. He missed holidays and birthdays.
"I left a lot of wreckage," he says. Yet it was the music that helped him recover.
"Blues is real life. At some point, everyone goes through something tough. Blues is about getting through those hard times, to the other side. Blues is when you feel less than. You feel like somewhere you're not being accepted. That's what appealed to me."
"The thing is, it's all been done at a cost," he adds. "I'm divorced because of (going on the road). I lost my kid because of it (Hummel has a 12-year-daughter who lives across the country). But I really didn't have a choice. I had to get my name out there. It's not like blues is on the airwaves."
It's been his way of life for decades now. He credits his longtime girlfriend for being able to live in the Bay Area ("Luckily she has a good job," he says). Hummel knows he'll never be a household name. And he doesn't care. Playing is what matters.
"It got its hooks into me," he says. "And it still does."
Tony Hicks is the Times pop music critic. Reach him at 925-952-2678 or thicks@cctimes.com.
Copyright (c) 2004 Contra Costa Times. |
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