Harry Manx (born 1955) is a Canadian musician who blends

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

, and

Hindustani classical music Hindustani classical music is the classical music of northern regions of the Indian subcontinent. It may also be called North Indian classical music or, in Hindustani, ''shastriya sangeet'' (). It is played in instruments like the violin, sita ...

. His official website describes his music as being a "blend Indian folk melodies with slide guitar blues, add a sprinkle of gospel and some compelling grooves and you'll get Manx's unique "mysticssippi" flavour." Manx plays the

slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos tha ...

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

, six-string banjo, mohan veena and

Ellis Ellis is a surname of Welsh and English origin. Retrieved 21 January 2014 An independent French origin of the surname is said to derive from the phrase fleur-de-lis. Surname A * Abe Ellis (Stargate), a fictional character in the TV series ' ...

stomp box. He studied for five years in India with

Vishwa Mohan Bhatt Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, professionally known as V. M. Bhatt (born 27 July 1950), is an Hindustani classical music instrumentalist who plays the Mohan veena ( slide guitar). Personal life Bhatt lives in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India, with his wife and ...

. Bhatt is the inventor of the 20-stringed mohan veena, which has become Manx's signature instrument. He has released twelve albums in twelve years, and has his own record label Dog My Cats Records. He has received much recognition and many awards, including: seven Maple Blues Awards, six Juno nominations, the Canadian Folk Music Award in 2005 for Best Solo Artist, and CBC Radio’s "Great Canadian Blues Award" in 2007. Manx was a nominee in the 8th Annual Independent Music Awards for his cover of

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originat ...

's "

I'm on Fire "I'm on Fire" is a song written and performed by American rock performer Bruce Springsteen. Released in 1985, it was the fourth single from his album ''Born in the U.S.A.'' History "I'm on Fire" was first recorded in January 1982 during the fir ...

". Manx is a longtime collaborator with Canadian guitarist

Kevin Breit Kevin Breit is a Canadian musician from Northern Canada. Breit has collaborated in numerous bands, and recorded solo albums on his own Poverty Playlist label, and Stony Plain Records. He is also well known for session work on numerous Grammy awa ...

and Australian keyboardist Clayton Doley.

Early years: Canada and Europe

Manx was born in 1955 in

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals * Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking *Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civi ...

on the

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. His family moved to

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada, when he was six years old. He started working with bands as a "roadie" at age 15 and gradually worked his way up to becoming the regular sound man at the well-known El Mocambo (blues) club in Toronto. He left Toronto in the late 1970s, when he was 20, to return to Europe and started making money as a busker and also found work at festivals as a blues lapslide guitarist and songwriter. He then moved to Japan, where he lived and performed for 10 years.

Japan and India

In 1990, while Manx was in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, he heard a recording of the Indian slide guitarist

. When Manx met Bhatt for the first time in

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...

, he had been living in another part of India for years. He became a student of Bhatt's and remained with him for five years. They travelled together in India and performed for large audiences.

Canada

In 2000, Manx moved back to Canada and set up residence in

Saltspring Island Salt Spring Island or Saltspring Island is one of the Gulf Islands in the Strait of Georgia between mainland British Columbia, Canada, and Vancouver Island. The island was initially inhabited by various Salishan peoples before being settled b ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

and recorded his first Canadian album at the Barn Studios. This debut recording features 14 tracks of his one-man-band sound on the lap slide guitar, the Mohan Veena, the harmonica and vocals.

Family

Manx is married to Najma Manx, and together they have one son, Hector Oswald Manx. In a 2002 interview, in their house on

, Manx talked about the stresses of leaving his wife and son when on touring. "This guy here, he doesn’t care who I’m opening for," Harry said. "He just wants me home once in a while. It gets tough sometimes. We need to keep that connection all the time. We talk on the phone every day. You should see our phone bill."

Style

Manx's musical style has been called an "essential musical link" between the East and the West. His songs are "short stories that use the essence of the blues and the depth of Indian ragas to draw you in".

Discography

Solo and duo

* ''Dog My Cat'' (2001) * ''Wise and Otherwise'' (2002) * ''Jubilee'' (with

) (2003) * ''Road Ragas'' (2003) * '' West Eats Meet'' (2004) * '' Mantras for Madmen'' (2005) * ''In Good We Trust'' (with

) (2007) * ''Live at the Glenn Gould Studio'' (2008) * ''Bread and Buddha'' (2009) * ''Isle of Manx'' (2010) * ''Strictly Whatever'' (with

) (2011) * ''Om Suite Ohm'' (2013) * ''20 Strings and the Truth'' (2015) * ''Faith Lift'' (2017)

Compilation inclusions

* '' Johnny's Blues: A Tribute To Johnny Cash'' (

Northern Blues The Preston Football Club, which trades and plays as the Northern Bullants, is a long-established Australian rules football club based in Preston that plays in the Victorian Football League (VFL). It plays its home games at the Preston City O ...

, 2003) * ''Beautiful (A Tribute to Gordon Lightfoot)'' ( Borealis Records, 2003) *'' Saturday Night Blues: 20 Years'' ( CBC, 2006)A

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

of live performances from the

Saturday Night Blues ''Saturday Night Blues'' is a Canadian radio program, which airs Saturday nights on CBC Music. Hosted by Holger Petersen, the program airs a mix of blues concerts, recordings and interviews with blues musicians. ''SNB'' first broadcast on CBC Radi ...

radio program on

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

, hosted by

Holger Petersen Holger Petersen, (born 23 November 1949) is a Canadian businessman, record producer and radio broadcaster. He founded the independent roots music record label Stony Plain Records in 1975 with partner Alvin Jahns. The label was sold to True Nor ...

. Harry Manx's version of " Thrill Is Gone" is included. * ''Isle of Manx - the Desert Island Collection'' (2010)

References

External links

Harry Manx official website

Dog My Cat Records
Harry Manx's independent record label
Youtube short documentary
Manx describes his signature instrument; sings and play's Rueben's Train with it. {{DEFAULTSORT:Manx, Harry Living people Canadian folk singer-songwriters Manx emigrants to Canada Manx musicians 1955 births 21st-century Manx musicians Canadian Folk Music Award winners Canadian male singer-songwriters Stony Plain Records artists 21st-century Canadian male singers