Harry Manx, the master of the ‘Mysticssippi Blues’ turned in a beautifully accomplished performance to a crowd of around 200 fervent fans at The Showroom of Wrest Point Casino in Hobart.
For those unaware of this Canadian troubadour, Harry Manx is a former sound engineer turned multi-instrumentalist who fits within the folk/blues/Americana (or is that “Canadiana”) genres……but with a twist. His music is tinged with a heavy dose of classical Hindustani sounds, much of which is produced by his mastery of the Mahan Veena, a 19-stringed instrument (which in layman terms is a fusion of an archtop guitar and sitar, and is then played like a lap-slide guitar).
His West meets East style was warmly greeted by the enthralled crowd, even more so given that the largest part of the two-set show was done via audience requests, shouted out when Harry asked what people would like to hear. Aside from the masterful delivery of the music, his between-songs banter tells amusing anecdotes of a life lived largely on the road, and draws the audience into the show, making sure they feel as much a part of it as he does performing.
Songs included a large swathe of his most popular songs from across his 14 albums (all released on his own Dog My Cat Records) including I’m On Fire (Springsteen), Tijuana (JJ Cale), Baby Please Don’t Go (Big Joe Williams), The Thrill Is Gone/Voodoo Chile (BB King/Jimi Hendrix), Spoonful (Willie Dixon), Can’t Be Satisfied (Muddy Waters), Crazy Love (Van Morrison) through to original compositions in Bring That Thing, Make Way For The Living and Coat of Mail.
Gallery Images: ©fullonrockphotography/Andrew Fuller
