Harry Manx and Kevin Breit

HARRY MANX – born on the Isle of Man (you can find it in the atlas, with a magnifying glass, midway between the UK and Ireland), he came to Canada when he was a kid. Eventually, he moved on - and on, and on - to South America, China, Europe and India - before he returned home to Saltspring, an idyllic retreat off Vancouver Island.
His years in India, and his mastery of the mohan veena (a 20-string modified slide guitar, developed by Manx's mentor Vishwa Mohan Bhatt) influenced his accomplished slide guitar work, Harry's deep affection for the blues and his laid-back vocal style led him to a career as a solo artist, with stunningly enthusiastic response from festival audiences in Canada, the U.S., Europe and Australia.

KEVIN BREIT lives in a small Ontario country town, but almost every Monday night - for more than 10 years - he has packed some of his many guitars and driven to the Orbit Room, a tiny club in the middle of Toronto's Little Italy.
"That gig grounds me," he says, acknowledging that there have been times, on extensive world-wide tours with Cassandra Wilson or Norah Jones, that he yearns to be on that little stage in Little Italy. "I remember once, in Brazil, looking at my watch and thinking, 'heck, I've got to get ready for the Orbit Room' before I realized where I was."
His studio work and tours with Wilson and Jones may have ramped up his fame, but he has become a first-call recording guitarist for literally hundreds of other artists including recent sessions for Molly Johnson, Holly Cole, Rosanne Cash, Serena Ryder, Rita Chiarelli, Janis Ian, k.d. lang and Natalie MacMaster have added to a lengthening discography and pay tribute to his skills. To prove his versatility, he's also recorded with Ian Tyson, Marc Jordan and Amos Lee.

HARRY MANX + KEVIN BREIT are a duo who seem made for each other. More importantly, they're made for us.
Kevin Breit tells the story: "We were both at a folk festival in Owen Sound and were asked to share a workshop. We were introduced, we shook hands, and we went on stage and started to play. No rehearsal, no set list, no plans, no parachute - and we had a great time." That was in 2001, and the instant friendship the pair had struck resulted in the award-winning album "Jubilee."
Now, four years on, the magic is still there. Says Kevin: "Originally, Harry had the idea of recording a slide guitar album with myself and our friend in California, Greg Leisz. Then, at the last minute, Greg got sick and couldn't make it. But the studio was booked, tickets purchased, so we went ahead. At first, we thought we'd leave spaces for Greg to fill later -but, to be honest we just couldn't leave an invisible hole. So we all decided to leave that idea for another time.
"For four days we just played. Two or three takes of each tune at the most. It came together so well; we are so familiar with each other's work now, but we were able to transcend that - to get past it - and explore new dimensions of our playing that we could not do when we recorded Jubilee."

IN GOOD WE TRUST: This new CD has four songs written by each of the musical partners, plus one co-write, Springsteen's "I'm on Fire" and a dark traditional ballad called "Death Have Mercy."
Manx handles the vocals, with Breit contributing backups. No massive instrumentation, no supporting players, no studio trickery. Just the sounds made by two surprising players and the multitude of stringed instruments they brought to the studio with them. Trust in good is well placed. And this CD is proof.