Harmon and Nolan Van Keulen and Bennet Myhre (left to right) got their harmonicas and tried them out right away. Getting the kids involved was a good way to drive home the kind of music played by Smithson’s group.
Bill Black and his “doghouse bass,” and Kathleen Smithson on the accordion wound into one of their songs during, “Music of the Mississippi” in Minneota.Layla and Wyatt Opdahl played the egg shakers in The Monkey Speaks His Mind. Getting the kids involved is an excellent way to teach the music to the younger generation.
Smithson shows a washboard that is 100 years old and made for washing clothes (left) and another one that is newer and designed for music (right).

Music of the Mississippi rings through local library

Sixteen years ago, an ensemble of accordions, washboards, and harmonicas came together to produce an upbeat sound.

On Wednesday, they showed up in Minneota. Based in the Twin Cities, the Everett Smithson Band toured libraries in the area this week, including the Minneota Public Library on Wednesday evening.

Everett Smithson played the washboard and the harmonica as his wife Kathleen provided vocals and played the accordion.

Jeremy Johnson doubled up on the drums and guitar. The final member of the quartet played the “doghouse bass.”

“It’s called the doghouse bass because of its size,” said Smithson.

“You could fit a big dog in there.” Kathleen used a diatonic accordion that had been in her family for over sixty years.

She grew up watching her mother play, noting how her fingers moved and yearning to pick up the accordion herself.

She’d listened to her mother play older music, but as she began to play, Kathleen gravitated toward southern tunes. The band played a mix of genres with a southern feel.

They played Zydeco, Tex-Mex, and Cajun songs.

They also performed a Memphis mini-tune called The Fisherman Blues. The children in the audience served as the percussion section during the southern nursery rhyme, The Monkey Speaks His Mind.

The band also performed at the Ivanhoe, Lake Benton, Tyler, Slayton, and Windom libraries this week and was funded by the Minnesota Art and Cultural Heritage Fund.

After the concert, the children received a harmonica lesson from Smithson.

He told the kids that the harmonica was invented 2,000 years ago in China.

Smithson explained the trick to making a clear sound is to play one hole at a time. He gave them straws to practice their embouchure.

“I call it pucker up and kiss grandma,” said Smithson, making the kids giggle.

After they had mastered their straws, Smithson gave each of them a new harmonica and they learned various techniques, including the wa-wa.

Smithson’s first harmonica was similar to the one that he gave the kids, and he had a lot of fun with it. He still does!

The kids took home Smithson’s advice and literature about the instruments, along with their harmonicas.

“The most important thing to do is take your instruments home ... and drive your parents crazy with them,” joked Smithson.

Maybe the parents have mixed feelings, but it looked like the kids were ready to enjoy making some music with their harmonicas.

Smithson demonstrated how to make a wa-wa on the harmonica. He gave the kids harmonicas and gave them a chance to get in on the action. Staff photo by Hannah Buysse.

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