Dave Harris

As evening falls on a cloudy September day, chilly office workers hurry home sparing little more than a glance for the lone musician setting up to begin his day's work. The musician is Dave Harris, a causeway artist I have featured briefly in an earlier post. I have always been a bit timid about attempting a more detailed post on him for fear of not doing justice to his amazing artistry. Dave is a one man band. This may not seem like much now when, with sound loops and synthesizers, artists can easily accompany themselves on a variety of instruments. But Dave is a true one man band in the traditional sense that he plays a number of instruments simultaneously. At various times during his performances he sings and plays the violin, harmonica, banjo, guitar, mandolin, drum, cymbal and fotdella, usually two or three and sometimes four at a time. You begin to understand why I fear to run out superlatives when I add that he plays all of these instruments superbly.

It's easy to be mesmerized when he picks up his fiddle and accompanies himself on the harmonica, but the mind boggles when you hear the steady thumping bass line he's adding with his right foot on the fotdella and the crisp cymbal accents from the "high hat" cymbal he's playing with his left foot at the same time.

In this photo can be seen (from the left) the fotdella (looks like a bloated guitar and doubles as a cd rack), the suitcase bass drum (that black suitcase with a poster on it), high hat cymbal, tambourine and other percussion instruments, a banjo (in the back), two violins and two steel bodied guitars. Dave's playing a 12 string guitar and wearing a harmonica rack.

His wide range of musical skills enables him to express his respect for and profound knowledge of traditional American music, especially the blues. He's a true scholar of this musical form with a collection of aged recordings numbering in the thousands. Sit down and listen to him for an hour and it's like a short course in the history of the blues. He always gives credit to the artist who wrote or originally sang the song and may throw in some background information as well. It's a rich experience and a privilege to sit and listen to this musician. Below is a photo I took earlier this month that conveys a little of the warmth and humanity that mark his performances. If you're ever in Victoria, make sure you set aside some time to see him play. Skip the famous gardens and castles if you must, but don't miss Dave Harris, a matchless entertainer.

Below is a video of Dave performing Goin' to Chicago.

And, Shake, Rattle and RollMore Dave Harris to come....