’Whenever I set foot back here on this island, I feel like I’m walking on sacred ground.’

So said slide guitar virtuosos and world music and blues star Harry Manx during the second of his island concerts at the Basement bar last weekend.

Sat on the small stage, surrounded by his eclectic mix of instruments, a banjo, which he described as a ’cross between a guitar and poverty’, slide guitar and his stand-out, exotic Mohan Veena, a 20-string cross between a sitar and a guitar, Harry played a two hour-plus set of songs taken from his 13 albums and lengthy career.

Switching from one stringed instrument to the other, he conjured up sounds that mixed eastern mysticism and western blues.

This mix of styles was beautifully demonstrated on ’Tijuana’, a slide-blues song written about a frontier Mexican town, and full of Indian and eastern sounds. It was a real blend of styles and sounds that sounded like they have always belonged together.

His song ’Don’t You Forget To Miss Me’, a hit in his native Canada, and ’Coat of Mail’ also demonstrated Harry’s ease of mixing influences and cultural genres.

Harry interspersed the night with tales from his past travels, and spoke warmly about his family connections to the Isle of Man that gave him his stage name.

It made for a wonderful night of souful, touching and intimate music.

Harry was brought to the Isle of Man by 3fm.