I recently rescued this interview from oblivion, and here it is, for what it is worth…

Sleigh’s Sleight of Hand

By Cathi Norton Contributing Writer

American Harmonica Newsletter 1997

 

Richard Sleigh sort of slips up on you when you’re not looking. A slim man of moderate height with long silver hair and quiet demeanor, he’s not someone who catches your attention immediately, unless you’ve already been to the rodeo and discovered your taste runs more to the modestly self-confident. Born in Philipsburg, Pennsylvania in 1951, Sleigh grew up with a love of art and music intertwined. Studying art and design in school, he also took up guitar playing and fooled around casually with harmonica.

 

Heading for college with the idea. of studying architecture, he found his dream thwarted by a  lack of architecture design courses at Altoona. “What I really wanted to do then was drop out and be a musician, but…l basically stayed in art for a degree — didn’t want to be a quitter. After transferring to the main campus at Penn State, Sleigh was accepted in an art exchange-student program to England. It was there he first took the plunge, driven by lack of funds, and began performing in the streets as a solo artist.

 

Though naturally shy, Richard’s love of music and the good audience reception he found there encouraged him to continue playing music, so when he returned to the States, he began a regular career of playing music in coffeehouses and small venues. Harmonica was a regular addition to his act. 

 

“When I went to college everybody else was playing guitar and most of them were better than I was,’ he laughed. His innate interest in how things are built, and his great passion for music, moved him to explore exactly why that harmonica didn’t perform the way he thought it ought to, and the world of harmonica repair/building was soon enriched by another *fanatic”. 

 

Much later, after gaining a reputation as a fearless harp destroyer/experimenter, Sleigh had an idea for a harmonica patent and began working on a prototype when he heard about Joe Filisko — renowned harp doctor from Joliet, Illinois. “I tracked him down, ” smiles Sleigh, and after many years the two are close friends and fellow conspirators, both rapidly gaining fame for their harmonica repair, customization and building skills. 

The admiration is mutual. Filisko calls Sleigh n the epitome of style” and Sleigh spares no expense when praising Filisko’s contributions to the world of harmonica. I think we’re all richer for their work and obviously I’m not alone.

 

Cathi: Well Richard, how did all this music start? Were you always into blues?

 

Richard: When I was growing up I heard country music around me because I grew up in a small town and we had a radio station that played Hank Willians, that kind of stuff. A lot of out-of-tune fiddles and steel guitars and screechy harmonies — you know — it was a gospel station. Plus country music like PatsyCline 

 

 But I was listening to a lot of different things. I loved soul music. There’s a few things I remember clearly that really knocked me out. One was B.B. King’s “The Thrill is Gone.’ That was one of those records — the first time I heard it, it was totally mesmerizing.

 

Cathi: I think musicians often experience a lightning-like experience like that.

 

Richard: Yes, in the Sixties I listened to Dylan and the Beatles and a lot of the music was very exciting — it was a very exciting time and definitely magic for music. I loved soul music too — Marvin Gaye, and was always fascinated by Stevie Wonder’s stuff. I’d listen to his harmonica solos…certain things would just stop me dead in my tracks, and that was one of them. Although I never tried to play them, I would stare at chromatic harmonics and think someday I’d get one and do that.

 

Cathi: I just about wore my copy of “Fingertips” out. When did you start performing regularly?

 

 Richard: Well, I went over to England as an exchange student to study silk screening and drawing. When I was going to school there I started busking in the streets when I ran out of money. That pushed me…it was really hard for me. I felt like I was jumping off a cliff. But then once I started I did so well at it that it was really fun.

 

Cathi: Then you had a duo called the “Jive Bombers?” 

 

Richard: I met a guy, a few years older than me, who had been heavily involved in folk and swing music. He’d worked with some really good musicians, heard me and asked if I wanted to try some stuff. We ended up playing together off and on for about 10 years in the mid-’70s. We still play together once in a while.

 

Cathi: Did you play just guitar, or harp too?

 

Richard: I had a guitar and a harp rack and a harmonica, but I would play the guitar usually when I was by myself. I’d play the harmonica a lot — I always had one with me — but I always played it real quietly (laughs), because I just didn’t want anybody to hear me.  

 

Cathi: Didn’t feel too assured? 

 

Richard: Right, and also I didn’t want to annoy people. But what happened was that I got so much encouragement that I’d start playing, and usually end up being part of some group — sitting there with my eyes closed playing a harmonica and just doing whatever I came up with — and the odd vocal. I worked that way for quite a while. 

 

Cathi: Do you play out a lot now, or are you more centered in your harmonica repair business?

 

Richard: The business and my family… I have a three year-old daughter… Between them the playing is definitely on the back burner.

 

Cathi: How did you get interested in the internal workings of the harmonica — playing? 

 

Richard: Well, from the beginning I was always annoyed that you couldn’t bend all the notes. I’d hear something in my head  and I’d hear it as if I was playing it on the harmonica. And then I’d start to try to play it and some of the notes weren’t there. I tried playing the chromatic, but I never liked it. I never liked actually playing it.  

Cathi: The sound or the maneuvering of it? 

 

Richard: Both. It was the sound of the diatonic that I went totally nuts over. And what happened was I started going out and buying cheapo records — anything that had a   harmonica on it. I started listening to Sonny Terry and blues albums with various people on them. But you know, it seemed like Sonny Terry was the real big one. 

 

Cathi: Yes, that man has influenced so many people. Did you not run across country harp much?

 

Richard: After I’d been doing it for a little while I heard Charlie McCoy and he knocked me out. I had been playing bluegrass and my roommate was in a bluegrass band. They’d come over and practice and I would sort of lurk…and see what I could try to play (laughs). But then I started playing fiddle tunes and that became a whole other area! In the early ’70s I heard Charlie McCoy and said to myself “Who is this guy?!?,’ tracked down some of his albums, and really started working on the fiddle tunes.

 

Cathi: Yeah … well, I don’t hear a lot of people playing harmonica on fiddle tunes.

 

Richard: It was a way of trying to be a little more legitimate on the instrument, because it’s something that if you don’t play the right note, you know it. 

 

Cathi: That’s for sure — like Irish music.

 

Richard: Yes! There’s definite melodies and you play them.  Whereas blues can become … especially if you’re playing it with a bunch of people that are just into jamming and not really into arranging things. It becomes pretty vague and you can play it for quite a long time without really progressing. I became this oddly eclectic player — but not in a way that lent itself to putting together a cohesive show. It was something I struggled  with — how to put together a set and not get too scattered. 

 

Cathi: So when you were disappointed that you couldn’t bend the harp, you took it apart to see if you could make it bend?

Richard: Yes – I started tearing them apart and trying one experiment after another, and one thing led to another, and I tried all kinds of things that didn’t really work…and destroyed a lot of harmonicas in the process!

 

Cathi: (Laughs.) I wondered if you were going to be poor after all that experimentation!

 

Richard: And then in ’84 1 went to my first SPAH convention and learned a lot.  I got an idea that I started pursuing as a patent.

 

Cathi: Oh I think I remember Joe (Filisko) told me something about that. Is that how you connected with Joe?

 

Richard: Yes, I started building prototypes of this thing and at that point I was living in Philadelphia. And just from playing and being around — being out in the clubs, I started to meet other people who were harmonica lunatics, and one of them saw a thing in the paper about Joe. So I just tracked him down and talked to him. I wanted to know if he to look at my prototype…and talked   him into letting me come and visit him. So I went out and showed him what I was working on and sat around and then gradually got to know him over a period of time. 

 

Cathi: He liked the prototype? 

 

Richard: Well, what I wanted to happen was to have him going, “Oh my God, this is incredible! I just have to start building these!! 

 

Cathi: (Laughter) He didn’t fall down in a faint or anything? 

 

Richard: (Laughs) That was not what happened. But what happened was over the years, working on this thing, I’d get to  the point where I’d be paralyzed and I’d need something to get out of the rut. At one point getting out of the rut was calling up Pierre Beauregard and talking to him. Plus I met Magic Dick and between the two of them, it inspired me. And basically  what’s happened is that this invention has never really gotten to the point…. Well, actually I did one recording with one prototype and it’s on a children’s tape, so I had a functioning prototype at one point. But I never really liked the tone of it.

 

Cathi: So you’re still developing it then?

 

Richard: Well, it’s been collecting dust for a couple of years because I’ve been getting this business together, and actually I’ve gotten more and more appreciative of the tone quality of a good diatonic harmonica.

 

Cathi: What did you think of Joe’s harmonicas?

 

Richard: Oh they were just totally…l just couldn’t believe it! I was just amazed. I felt like I didn’t know anything! On one hand it was inspiring and on the other, humbling. I went home and said, “Geez…l have to learn how to work on these things!” 

 

Cathi: Did you then study with Joe?

 

Richard: Well I had him make me some parts for my prototype and I also learned some things about tuning and general…. You know just from playing and looking at his harps I realized there were a lot of things I could do to improve my own! I got a lot more interested in playing diatonic harps — Marine Bands, which I’d been neglecting because I’d been trying to force myself to work on my prototype.

I started working on diatonics and I got more and more interested in what you could do with the harmonica as it exists.  And also I got a lot more into playing overblows and expanding my technique on the harp, so I went through a period where I would practice both every day…regular harps and my invention. The invention served as a catalyst.  I never got what I set out for, but the spin-offs have been incredible.

 

Cathi: Well that may have been the point in the first place. 

 

Richard: Well, yeah…l do this business now that I never would have imagined being possible.  

 

Cathi: How did that come about Richard? You were messing  with these harmonicas and decided you could do it for others  and make money at it?

 

Richard: I set up and tuned a  harmonica and  sent it to Joe and he was really impressed with my work  . When he got overwhelmed he brought up the idea of me doing some harmonica work and I jumped at it because I just happened to be at a point where I was bummed out at the 9 to 5 social work job I had. I was ready to try  something different and Joe brought this idea up. Plus we decided to move to Philipsburg, which allowed me to try a business with relatively low overhead. So all these things sort of came together fortuitously at the same time, and I said, “Well, I should give this a shot”. 

 

Cathi: What do you like about harmonica repair? Richard: Well, when I can take a harmonica and make it play really well, that in itself is rewarding. I kind of think of myself at this point as being sort of the ultimate backup musician in the sense that I’m working on the harmonicas and then these harmonica players are going out and playing them, so I’m backing them up.

 

Cathi: (Laughs.) You’re the support system.

 

Richard: Yes. Plus, doing this work I get to hear a lot of different ideas about playing the harmonica, and I hear about a lot of other players and I get ideas from them. I get people  calling me up with all kinds of ideas and inventions they’re working on. When somebody calls me up and says, “Wow, I’ve got this thing and it’s amazing and it’s going to take over  the world…’ I don’t want to rain on their parade (laughs), but  I tend to say, ‘Well, you know you have to build one that  works first! “

 

Cathi: So what are the nightmares about harmonica repair? 

 

Richard: Well, balancing something that’s a passion with  something that has to be a business can be really tough at times.And for me it’s not like I’m some 19-year-old who’s living in  Mom and Dad’s basement and I can just screw around with this endlessly. I have to make the bills.

 

 Cathi: Right. Do you think that working at it as a business stifles the passion for it?

 

Richard: I go back and forth. I mean there are times when it’s really frustrating and there’s always stuff that comes up that is not… I mean, I’m learning all the time and I learn from the problems that are presented to me. And sometimes the problems are…. I mean if this was easy, anybody could do it. (Laughs.) You know? I’ve been in a number of situations  where I will end up working a very long time on one harmonica because there’s something going on that I don’t understand.  

 

 Cathi: Ahah. I wondered if your interest — the passion — would take over and get you carried away, suddenly noticing the rent is due.

 

Richard: Well, I have to be careful about that. I have to guard against spacing out and spending more time on things than I   should. I have to say, *Okay, maybe I can’t fix this!” You   know? I’ve always come up with a solution, but there have been times when I’ll finish and I’ll say, “Well, I guess I’m going to take a loss on this one. 

 

Cathi: Okay, so you’re looking at different avenues to cut down on wasted effort?  

 

Richard: Right, and you know it’s hard. I have a passion to   play music and a passion to work and try to develop the instrument itself, and they conflict. When do you have time to practice? Plus I have a family and not much of a social life (laughs). The whole creative process, whether it has to do with what I’m playing or what I’m doing with the instrument, is frequently chaotic and messy. Business, to me, always sort of implies something that’s tidy and under control!

 

Cathi: (Laughs). Good luck.

 

 Richard: Yeah, there’s a lot of things I’m not very happy with in terms of my progress, but I keep working at it.  

 

Cathi: It’s a continuing battle. So on the work side — your business is growing? 

 

Richard: Well, yes. I have as much work as I can do — and more. And I’m getting better at it and ultimately what I want to do is to do the harmonica work nine months out of the year and  play during the summer. I believe that if I make that my goal and keep working towards developing customers who are aware of that, and would work with me, then I could. I think it’s  possible if you’re a player, to get your rig together to the point   that you’ve got enough harps to make it through the summer…a combination of stocking up in the keys you use a lot, plus having a basic ability to do minor tuning and repair.  

 

Cathi: So do you have a favorite harp you like?

 

Richard: Well, I play almost 100 percent re-worked Marine  Bands; that’s always been my favorite harmonica. I’ve learned how to make them work really, really well. There’s nothing  else that’s as satisfying to me.  

 

Cathi: Do you treat them with something to make them last longer?

 

Richard: Well, we (Joe Filisko and Richard Sleigh) use sealed  combs. In certain models the combs are either sealed or replaced with a composite wood, and we build Marine Bands that are put together with screws. And between that and the way that we re-shape the cover plates to make them stronger and more open, it just makes an instrument…. All of the things that I used to find …if I would have sat down and written what would make the ideal harmonica, it’s pretty much what I’m building now.

 

Cathi: Great…that’s got to be satisfying.

 

Richard: Oh yeah! The thing that got me going in the first  place about the instrument was just the sound. I can remember really clearly the point of no return for me (laughs). I was in  my dorm room at Altoona campus and I’d been struggling with bending notes. I played draw number two on a C-harmonica

and bent the note past the point where I thought I could. And it was like the floor went out from underneath me; it was just like (low voice) “Whoa….a, what is this!?” And then I did it again and thought R That ‘s what I’ve been hearing on these  records!” That was it man! Then it was like *what happens if I try to do that somewhere else?” 

 

Cathi: Thus began the exploration.

 

Richard: Right! And then I started learning real fast. 

 

Cathi: Do you think normal people can fix their harps pretty  well, or is this something that takes some serious study?

 

 Richard: Well, you have to have good hand-eye coordination and you have to have a light touch, but if you’re willing to  spend some time with it and destroy some harps (laughs), you can learn how to take care of basic things. You’ll definitely be  able to prolong the life of your harmonica and get yourself out of some tight spots.

 

Cathi: Is this something that would really be better if you learned it from someone?

 

Richard: Well, Dick Gardner, Douglas Tate, and Alan ‘Blackie” Schackner — sell books on repair. Douglas Tate’s books focus on chromatics, and so do Dick Gardner’s, but there are things that definitely transfer to the diatonic.  Blackie’s books are focused. There’s one on playing blues harp that also has a section on repair. “ Everything You Always Wanted to Know About the Blues Harp and Marine Band, but Didn ‘t Know to Ask.” Douglas Tate’s book is fairly advanced.

And Dick Gardner’s book  must be ordered directly from him.  

OH…and the Bible of the diatonic harmonica is Steve Baker’s “Harp Handbook” – it has a section on repair and it’s focused on the diatonic. You can get that from Kevin’s Harps. In terms of what I’d recommend for diatonic players? …the Harp Handbook first and the Schackner book second.

 

Cathi: So what would be your advice to harmonica players who don’t really know much about repair work?

 

 Richard: Study those books and give it a try. And if nothing else you’ll certainly develop an appreciation for what’s involved. The other thing is just the basics, you know: keep it clean, protect it. I mean if you carry ’em around in your    pocket and they get quarters stuck in ’em and lint….  It’s an instrument that has tolerances of ten thousandths of an inch. So it doesn’t take a whole lot to shut a harp down. It’s amazing how well they hold up in spite of the abuse they get. Like Dick Gardner says, “Keep ’em warm and dry”. When you blow on a cold window you get condensation. The same thing happens in a cold harmonica and that causes all kinds of problems. The more you can get them close to body temperature, the less problems  you’re going to have in general.

 

Cathi: Well what about playing the instrument? What would  be your advice about tone?

Richard: Learn to play the instrument quietly. Learn to play it with the least amount of force that you can. Especially if you’re a hard player. Because you’ll open up a whole new world of subtlety and technique. I learned to play real quietly because I was shy. However, when I started playing with more and more dynamics, I had a lot more control over the instruments as a result. You learn how to get everything with technique instead of force. 

 

Cathi: Same with voice really.

 

Richard: Yeah! Yeah! If you’re having a real hard time playing the harmonica quietly, two things could be going on. One is the harmonica itself is not responsive enough, in which case you need something that works better. It may need to be adjusted…whatever. And the other is that you’ve learned to  get most of what you get out of harp by forcing it. So start over again and learn to get the same things just through technique and it will give you a whole lot more control.  

 

Cathi: Now when you move from a soft — to louder volume, your theory is that if you have control of the techniques, you’ll be able to translate techniques to a higher volume? I find sometimes it’s different when you’re blowing harder.  

 

Richard: Well, it does change, but you will have a lot more control. So if the only thing you ever do is play real lightly, then of course you need to work on the other end of the dynamic range. But if you learn to play things both quietly and as    loud as you can play them without abusing the instrument, and  also learn to play things quickly and slowly, it all has something to teach you. And the other thing is, just in general, the harmonica is a musical instrument. If you approach it in terms  of what basic musical things can I learn to do with this — you know, play scales and do all the things that other musicians do on their instruments, you’ll open up a lot more horizons than if you just simply try to copy harmonica players. It’s a real privilege to be able to play this instrument. Another thing I’ve heard other people say that sticks with me is that you breathe music when you play harp, and it affects people because it is so close to the human voice. 

 

Cathi: I think it’s very expressive.

 

Richard: There’s so much information in the tone of the harmonica. There’s so much content just in the tone. If you learn how to extract that from the instrument, you don’t have  to play much. 

 

Kathi: Oooooo I  like that.

 

Richard: I guess the only other thing I would mention would just be — obviously the  connection with Joe and I and how that has made it possible for me to do what I do. He taught me how to do what he does, and primarily what I do is to build harmonicas using his technique. But of course it’s also influenced by my own playing skills and experience.

 

Cathi: Right…he has often said that he admires your style (laughs). I was wondering why, in particular, he’d reveal these things and work with you. Certainly it has to be because he finds you interested, skillful and he likes your approach.

 

Richard: Plus he decided he could trust me in terms of being able to work with this stuff without…

 

 Cathi: Giving away trade secrets?

 

Richard: Yes! The whole thing is pretty much uncharted territory.

 

Cathi: I think the skill is an art. Do you think your art work helped?

 

Richard: Yes, I’ve always had good hand-eye coordination, a lot of patience and the ability to work with tiny things. And Joe, of course, has always been able to do that and his background as a machinist has a lot to do with that kind of stuff. The harmonica world is very lucky that Joe got interested in harmonicas. Because what he’s done has just opened up the possibilities for the instrument enormously. I just feel real privileged to have been able to benefit from his experience.

 

Cathi Norton is a joumalist, poet, playwright, photographer and singer/songwriter. Her first CD, Various Stages of Undress (Flat Rock Records 0022-0, 1996) is available by contacting:

Finally Publishing, 5707 S. Handy Rd. Bloomington, IN 47401  (812)-824-2554.