Michigan Music History Podcast -- MMHP989 · Scott Baker, Gary Johnson, Fred Reif, Mike Beattie

Michigan Music History Podcast--Peter 'Madcat' Ruth: Harmonica Heard From Ann Arbor To The World Part 2 of 2

·51 min·3 clips

Peter Madcat Ruth won a Grammy as a featured soloist on a classical album recorded at Hill Auditorium.

1. MMHP989 part two centers on Peter Madcat Ruth's Michigan music career and instrument history. 2. Scott Baker, Dr. J, Sir Fred, and Mr. Mike host Madcat, who is presented as the show's first Grammy Award winner. 3. The episode asks what Madcat has been doing lately and how his career has moved from blues to folk, jazz, and classical work. 4. Madcat recalls a Blind Pig video with Lazy Lester and says he does not remember the performance, even though the hosts do. 5. He describes a difficult Rory Block record date, saying she told him he was 'playing too much' and made him borrow a guitar in New York. 6. He says Rory Block rarely plays in the key of E and jokes that many blues songs use E more often than she does. 7. Madcat explains that he made two Homespun Tapes harmonica lesson videos after connecting with Happy Traum at the NAMM show. 8. He says Homespun wanted a beginner harmonica course, so he made one alongside his more specialized chugging-style lesson. 9. He remembers Big Walter Horton coming to Ann Arbor through John Nicholas and regular Blind Pig Chicago blues bookings. 10. He names Peter Mad Cat Ruth's Karma Quartet as his favorite recent recording project. 11. He says the name is an acronym for Churchville, Andes, Ripke, and Mad Cat, and that adding his own name improved recognition. 12. Madcat says 2020 stopped live music, with 65 concerts in 2019 and only two in 2020. 13. He explains that the Karma Quartet began from a Gopherwood Music Series request in Cadillac, Michigan, after Sum Kali broke up. 14. He says the group first made a demo and videotape, then kept playing because they enjoyed the project. 15. He recounts winning a Grammy for being a featured soloist on William Bolcom's Songs of Innocence and of Experience at Hill Auditorium. 16. He says the production used a full orchestra, reggae musicians, bluegrass musicians, a full chorus, and a children's chorus, with the stage extended over the first seven rows. 17. Madcat describes The Pocket Full of Soul as a harmonica documentary built by enthusiasts and filmmakers who met at conventions. 18. He says he helped arrange access, contributed the theme song, and appears briefly in the film while Huey Lewis narrates. 19. The tone is conversational, anecdotal, and performance-heavy, with live ukulele and jaw harp demonstrations. 20. Anyone who likes Michigan blues, harmonica history, and working musician stories will get the most from it, while listeners wanting a tight edited narrative may skip it.

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