FRIDAY 25 | A little over a century ago, Oklahoma-based Hart A Wand’s Dallas Blues became the very first copyrighted blues sheet music ever published. Within weeks, this catchy 12-bar tune was being hummed the length and breadth of the Mississippi River – and its influence on all the blues music that followed has earned its place in the annals of history. Rooted in spirituals and work songs, blues music is believed to date back to when slaves were finally granted freedom under the Emancipation Act of 1862. As Samuel Charters notes in his 1975 book The Country Blues, it’s thus more than a little ironic that the first published piece was, in fact, “by a white man” (Wand called his melody ‘Dallas Blues’ after a black porter who worked for the family said the tune ‘gave him the blues to go back to Dallas’). No less ironic is the fact that the man credited with introducing the blues to Australia, guitarist Phil Manning, is also conspicuously pale of complexion. Pity the fool who points this out. “Forget the colour. Everybody gets the blues sometimes.” A veteran of life on the road, Manning has been praised for his keen technical abilities, silky vocals and insightful songwriting. He’s an accomplished finger-picker and slide guitarist and echoes of country, bluegrass and folk reverberate through his songs. Expect the unexpected: rather than stick to a rigid set list, Manning prefers to let the crowd determine the direction each performance takes.
WHO: Phil Manning
WHAT: The blues, with echoes of country, bluegrass and folk
WHERE: The Gym Bar, Street 178
WHEN: 8:30pm October 25
WHY: Who says white men can’t sing the blues?