Anne Tangeman

Writing Samples

u The Lawrencian
u Massresonator.com
{Mass 8treet Music blog}
u Back to Rockville
{Kansas City 8tar blog}

u The Lawrence Journal-World

ANNE TANGEMAN
1613 Rhode Island
Lawrence, KS 66044
785-393-2663
atangeman@hotmail.com
"#$%&'()( *+,&' "'(-$#.
!"" $%&""

'()*+",)* -

Dur mission is to tecch, promote cnd support the cdtcncement oj cll jorms oj Americcn music cnd its
injluences, cnd to pcss on the rcnd trcditions oj Americcn-bcsed roots music to juture enerctions.

Beyond Blue Mondays
with Lee McBee and Pat Nichols
article and photos by Anne Tangeman
Published in Oct. 2005 issue ofThe Lawrencian



Seeing blues in Kansas these days can be as rare as a UFO sighting on
Massachusetts Street (various parades excepted). Back in the 80s, blues
legends still toured: Albert Collins appeared at the Jazzhaus, Willie Dixon
at what is now Liberty Hall and there were a few local blues acts; in
particular, harmonica legend Lee McBee. Whether the players are fewer
with the passing of time, or the college kids just arent interested
anymore, lately its been slim pickings in this town for blues fans. Even the
last blues festival held at Liberty Hall, despite an exceptional line up, had a
thin audience.

Lee McBee and Pat Nichols are changing that every Monday evening. About
three months ago, Lee, known internationally for his killer harmonica
playing and gravelly voice so well suited to blues, teamed up with his
friend Pat, known regionally as a killer lawyer. The two of them have been
playing an early evening set every Monday night at the Jackpot Saloon that
has seen a growing audience as word has gotten out that theres great
blues going on. Its early and its free-though donations to the musicians
tip jar are encouraged. A crowd that includes business women and men
just off of work, college students, and musicians gathers at 5:30 p.m. to
witness McBee make the harmonica howl and Nichols make the guitar sing.
Both men trade off vocal duties, with McBees gruff voice working the
heartier Chicago blues tunes and Nichols smooth one gracing the country
blues songs.

Pat Nichols was a mean fiddle player, hot enough to take second place in
the Kansas Fiddling and Picking Championships one year. He honed his live
music skills in the Shyster Mountain Boys for over ten years, a Topeka
based bluegrass band of lawyers that played to raise money for charity.

"We did a combination of poorly done covers of bluegrass songs and then
we wrote some parody songs, Nichols explained. "You know, everybody
loves a train wreck, so people would come out to see us.

Pat also played guitar and a little mandolin but grew tired of playing
bluegrass by 1999. He and Lee had been friends for years and thought
theyd get together to play.

"Lee and I lived here in the `60s and you can read between the lines as to
what that might mean-thats how we met each other, said Nichols. When
Lee came back to town, I started fooling around with the other style of
T
h
e

L
a
w
r
e
n
c
i
a
n
,

2
0
0
5
T
h
e

L
a
w
r
e
n
c
i
a
n
,

2
0
0
5
T
h
e

L
a
w
r
e
n
c
i
a
n
,

2
0
0
5
Take 5 - Interview with Blazer & Henkes Rudie Blazer
One of todays most revered luthiers and restorers, Rudie
Blazer of Germanys incredible Blazer & Henkes Guitars will
be visiting Mass St. Music on Saturday, Sept. 26th where hell
join Jim Baggett and friends for a free Guitar Clinic focusing
on Building, Restoration and Repair oI fne steel stringed
guitars. The clinic is free, and there will be plenty of Q & A
time. We thought wed get a jump start by asking Rudie a few
questions -
TAKE 5 (plus 2) with RUDIE BLAZER:
1. Ive seen you play a great rendition of Blackberry Rag
and Beaumont Rag on youtube.com. Whats your musical background?
RUDIE: Well, when I try a guitar, like on youtube, I usually play some G runs, and then try a fddle
tune, to hear what it sounds like. As a kid I had to listen to a lot of classical music, and then it was the
Beatles, Bob Dylan, and after some time Doc Watson, and a lot of Bluegrass. As a musician I work in
the local theater, and I play in a Western swingband, using a Gibson ES 125 and a prewar J-200.
2. How did you get into guitar building?
RUDIE: After leaving school, and doing nothing but playing guitar all day, my mother told me to go
and learn a profession. So she wrote to several German guitarmakers, and some of them wrote back.
She liked the idea of me going to a place a little bit further from home, and the place I went was a town
called Bubenreuth in the middle of Bavaria, Germany, called Oskar Teller. A very traditional place, all
those makers originally came from the so called Musik winkel, or Music corner. One of the towns there
is Markneukirchen, the place where C.F. Martin came from.
3. How long does it take to build one Blazer & Henkes guitar, on average?
RUDIE: That is a question that is often asked - and very hard to answer. One must consider that there
is a lot of preparing, such as buying wood, selecting it. For instance, when we buy Alpine Spruce tops,
we will drive either to Austria or Switzerland, and usually stay overnight. Then, for one or two days, we
go through hundreds of tops, and choose the ones we like. A procedure of 3 days altogether. We will
then return with maybe 50 or 150 tops. Then, after some years, they are glued together, usually about
50 at the time, and sand them to the desired thickness. If we add this up, it is about one weeks work for
two people, and you end up with about 50 tops, ready for gluing the braces. About the same goes for the
braces, necks and backs and sides. Meanwhile, you will have to order stuff like lacquer, tuners, binding
and so on - some of this is very time consuming. So as you can see, a lot of time is involved with pre-
paring things. We make about 20 guitars a year. The bodies are put together in the dry season, normally
I will start preparing everything for this in October. At the end of February, early springtime, I will have
them all put together. During the rest of the year, I will do the bindings and sanding. Meanwhile, Willi
will do the necks. I know this still did not answer your question, but like I said, its not an easy one. But
it would come out to be like 1.6666 guitar per month.
4. How have your building techniques changed over the years? Has hide glue been a part of your build-
ing since the beginning or ?
M
a
s
s

R
e
s
o
n
a
t
o
r

b
l
o
g

2
0
0
9
RUDIE: Yes, it did. Actually, with our interest in vintage American guitars growing, and realizing that
those guitars are the best made ever, Willi and I have been studying them seriously ever since. One
detail, and a very important one, is the fact that all of them are glued with hide glue. Working with hide
glue was not new to me, I have been working with it all my life as a guitarmaker.
5. The inlay work is incredible. Do you and Willi do your own inlay and engraving work or do you
have help with this?
RUDIE: We both have our specialities, and Willi is the one who cuts out and inlays the Mother of
Pearl, and he also does the engravings. I do all the pearlwork on the bodies.
6. You`re the go-to restorers in Europe and beyond Ior fne vintage instruments and have collected fne
vintage instruments. How has this access to some oI the fnest American collectible guitars infuenced
your building?
RUDIE: Restoring and repairing all those great instruments was like going to university for us. I was
lucky to know one of the few collecters in the 1970s in my then hometown, Stuttgart. It is a fact that
working on them, and of course also playing them, has an enormous impact on the way we make gui-
tars.
7. Any issues with acquiring the woods you desire for building? Any thoughts on the future of building
and wood supplies?
RUDIE: We are rather lucky to have been in business for a long time. We have aways bought more
wood then we would have needed, and also, we have a great source of Alpine Spruce in front of our
backyard, so to say, because the Alps are right around the corner. So as far as wood selection for our
guitars, I would not want to change anything. As far as building and design, the changes will be very
little, our biggest project right now is trying to have our supplyer for marquetry make us a backstripe
that will be excactly like the ones that were used on the 30s 42 and 45 style Martins.
Thank you Rudie! We look forward to seeing you on the 26th, and well have more questions!
Rudie working in the shop in Tuebingen, Germany
M
a
s
s

R
e
s
o
n
a
t
o
r

b
l
o
g

2
0
0
9
!"#$%&'#$ )



x CcncerI new:: 'GuiIcr Herc' cnc free :hcw: ] Mcin ] Sex, Drug:
cnc CcunIry Mu:ic ] IcLy KeiIh i: in Icwn r
June 29, 2007
"#$%&'( '&)*&+, -.)*/ 0(.12&/

"#$%$& '( )**+ ,-*.+/-*012+34-5 %$ ,#+ 1%-6
"#$%&' ()* $#+' '&,&)* -(./$ 01(%'&$ 2&$2&3/4&* () &)15+$/($1/6
63#7* #8 9:; <5+3$*(= )/,51 (1 15& >#''= <5&(13&?
SLaples, who achleved acclalm ln Lhe '60s and '70s wlLh her
famlly's gr#+%@ 15& 01(%'& 0/),&3$@ ()* /) '(1&3 *&6(*&$ 7/15 5&3
K
a
n
s
a
s

C
i
t
y

S
t
a
r

b
l
o
g

B
a
c
k

t
o

R
o
c
k
v
i
l
l
e

,

2
0
0
7
K
a
n
s
a
s

C
i
t
y

S
t
a
r

b
l
o
g

B
a
c
k

t
o

R
o
c
k
v
i
l
l
e

,

2
0
0
7
K
a
n
s
a
s

C
i
t
y

S
t
a
r

b
l
o
g

B
a
c
k

t
o

R
o
c
k
v
i
l
l
e

,

2
0
0
7
Many more examples of current promotional writing at
www.massresonator.com
L
a
w
r
e
n
c
e

J
o
u
r
n
a
l
-
W
o
r
l
d
,

1
9
9
8
!"#$%&'#$ )