chris molnar & the country blues cats

Chris Molnar and The Country Blues Cats are a Melbourne outfit, comprised of Chris, Brian Fitzgerald and Dan Kerr, who met while working as sidemen for other artists. At first they concentrated on the instrumental side of the blues, providing keenly-felt and finely-honed interpretations of the genre, from the oldest sounds of the 1920s to the deep electric blues of Memphis and Chicago. They did their first gig in December 2007 with local legend Tinsley Waterhouse as featured vocalist, then dropped into Barry Stockley's Fat Sound studios and recorded their first CD, with Tinsley, Paul and noted Perth bluesman, Ivan Zar.

Chris Molnar has been playing harp (harmonica, or blues harp) around Melbourne for about twenty years. A true blues fan and bluesman, he once made the effort to visit Brownie McGhee in his home in Oakland, and has kept his harmonica playing in an authentic blues style.

Brian Fitzgerald started out playing live in 1975 at a folk club in Ballarat. He was active in Perth from 1976 to 1989 in various groups, and feels that he first learned to play deep blues while working with Ivan Zar in the first version of The Deltatones. Brian shifted to Melbourne in 1989 and has worked in many roots styles. He has played and recorded with Ivan Zar's Deltatones, Acuff's Rose, Sunshine Harvester, The Luau Cowboys & Kate Ceberano.

Dan Kerr did his first gig at 14 years of age, having formed Checkerboard Lounge with Ian Collard and Carl Pannuzzo . Since then he has kept lots of local gigs in lots of different genres alive and exciting and is back home with the blues in The Country-Blues Cats.