Harry Manx has spent years fusing eastern musical traditions with the blues.
He switches effortlessly between guitar, harmonica, banjo and the mohan veena, a 20-stringed instrument invented by Manx’s mentor Vishwa Mohan Bhatt. Manx is returning to the Heriot Bay Inn Dec. 4-5.
Manx blends Indian folk melodies with slide guitar blues, adds a sprinkle of gospel and some compelling grooves to create his unique “mysticssippi” flavour.
He quickly envelops the audience with his warm vocals and the beautiful melodies of his original songs. It’s hard to resist, easy to digest and keeps audiences coming back for more.
Manx has an impressive collection of awards to prove how skilled and hard-working he is. He’s received seven Maple Blues Awards and his mantel shelf also holds honours from the Canadian Folk Music Awards, Vancouver magazine Georgia Straight, and the South Australia Blues Society.
He received CBC Radio’s Great Canadian Blues Awards for 2007 and his albums have garnered five Juno nominations.
Experience Harry Manx live Dec. 4-5 at the Heriot Bay Inn. Seats are $79 and include a two course dinner; there are a limited number of show-only seats available at $59. Call the Heriot Bay Inn to reserve your seats: 250-285-3322.
It’s in the live setting, Manx says, that the bridge between “heavenly” India and “earthy” American blues is most effectively built.
“Indian music moves inward,” he says. “It’s traditionally used in religious ceremonies and meditation, because it puts you into this whole other place. But Western music has the ability to move out, into celebration and dance.
“So when we play the Indian stuff on stage, it has the tendency to draw people into something really deep. Then we’ll play some more Western music, and it grounds them, they sort of come out of the mood the Indian music had put them in and get into the performance. My goal has always been to draw the audience as deep as possible into the music.”