You’ve got to hear him to believe him, but you will believe. Harry Manx blends traditional blues with classical ragas of India to concoct his own unique potion of clever covers and creative originals. Billboard Magazine has called him “Canada’s most versatile and expressive blues player” – but that doesn’t quite capture the Indian influence. Downbeat Magazine comes closer, saying his real skill lies in creating “a rare musical place where blues, country, folk, and Indian classical music co-exist as some spirit force.”

Born on the Isle of Man, Harry immigrated to Ontario with his parents when he was six. He started doing sound at age 15 and gradually worked his way up to becoming a regular sound man at the well-known El Mocambo club in Toronto, where he worked with a slew of blues legends. He went to Europe at 20 and made a living as a busker, then traveled to India and studied for five years with Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, the inventor of the 20-stringed Mohan Veena, Harry’s signature instrument. “Sometimes I’d throw in some blues licks in the middle,” he says of his time in India, “and everyone would fall over laughing and enjoying themselves. And I thought if I can get Indian people to enjoy Western music like that, then maybe I could get Westerners to enjoy Indian music, too.” Harry has released ten albums in the last dozen years, including his latest, Strictly Whatever. East meets West and Berkeley meets British Columbia when Harry brings his passionate playing and smoky, soulful voice to the Freight for a delicious masala of raga and blues.

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