Erin Harpe’s Country Blues Duo features Erin and her husband Jim Countryman, who together play some fine fingerpicking country blues.
Erin has jammed with iconic acoustic blues artists including Phil Wiggins, Warner Williams and Jay Summerour, Eleanor Ellis, Jontavious Willis, and James Montgomery. She’s also opened for legends such as ZZ Top, T-Model Ford, Honeyboy Edwards, Roy Bookbinder, and James Cotton.
She’s played at the House of Blues, Caffe Lena, Club Passim, the International Blues Challenge, SXSW, the New York State Blues Festival, and many other festivals and venues around the US. Her Country Blues Duo has also toured Spain and the UK.
The first music Erin remembers hearing is Piedmont blues, which is a syncopated, fingerpicked variant of the blues, popularised on the East Coast of the US by artists such as Blind Blake and Josh White, and later Rev. Gary Davis and Cephas & Wiggins. Arlo Guthrie used a Piedmont guitar accompaniment for his well-known monologue-style song, "Alice’s Restaurant", which was Erin’s entry into playing this style.
The duo’s captivating sound showcases Erin’s exceptional vocals and mastery of finger-style blues guitar, which she does while also playing foot percussion and kazoo. Rounding out the pair’s full-band sound, Jim provides grooving bass and backing vocals. The two boast a career studded with numerous accolades and miles of musical highway.
“One of the finest fingerpicking acoustic blues singers in the land”
“Bonnie Raitt on modern performance enhancing drugs!”
Doors 7pm / Music 8pm / Tickets £14 / £10 for members
All seating/tables are first-come, first-served.