by RUPERT BOTTENBERG

“Blues is like the earth and Indian music is like the heavens. What I do is find the balance between the two.” So says the little epigram inside the jacket of Mantras for Madmen, the latest CD from Juno-nominated Canadian blues adventurer Harry Manx. At times, he sticks to the poles—a folksy banjo jam here, a droning raga there. His true brilliance, however, shines through when he fuses the two.

The meeting of blues and Indian classical music isn’t an obvious one. The former is a raw, undisciplined folk-music style rooted in pain and sorrow, the latter a complex, scholarly realm focused on transcending life’s miseries. But where one might see conflict, Manx sees congruity.

“The two styles are not opposing each other in any way,” explains Manx. “They are simply different, and the differences complement and complete each other to some degree. The one thing they do have in common is that both are ancient forms of music. Blues is basically African music with very deep roots in that culture. Indian music has been around since longer than anyone can recall. Both have proven that music is the true sound of the human spirit.

“What I do is attempt to find some common ground. I always fall short of my goal, but during the attempt, I find some new recipes for making music. As I get closer to where I want to be musically, it moves further away. I play in this direction not to impress anyone, but rather to find uncharted musical waters I can explore.”

Exploration has been the theme of Manx’s life. He left Canada at 19 to work soundboards and busk his blues, spending the ’80s and ’90s residing for long stretches in Europe, Japan, Brazil and ultimately India. It was there that he found his ideal instrument—or rather, it found him.

“I happened upon the Mohan Veena after hearing it on a CD in Japan. After figuring out what it was, I became hungry to know more and to see it played. In a sense, I was searching for an instrument that would take me further than I was going on the slide guitar, even though I wasn’t consciously aware of it.”

The Mohan Veena is an original creation of Grammy-winner virtuoso Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, basically a hybrid of slide guitar and sitar. Prior to Manx, the only Westerner to master the contraption under Bhatt’s tutelage was George Harrison. In Manx’s case, the Mohan Veena drew together his two parallel paths in life, those of curbside troubadour and spiritual seeker.

“It was only after studying Indian music for five years that I started to mess around with jumping from one style to the other. It started out more as a joke than anything. I had felt at that time that playing Indian music was something I did for myself, and I didn’t really see myself sharing that with the public. That changed after I saw the great interest in the Mohan Veena.”

After a quarter century abroad, Manx marked the millennium by returning to Canada and kicking off a prolific recording career (roughly a CD each year). “When I came back after such a long absence, everything felt foreign to me. But it was probably me that changed more than the place. I really like to be in Canada now. I think it’s got a lot going for itself, but I’m not a nationalist. I could live anywhere and find something to enjoy there. Every place is unique in its own way.”

At Théâtre Outremont on Wednesday, April 26, 8 p.m., $32.50

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