by JOHNSON CUMMINS

Y'know how some pets start to resemble their masters? Longtime Montreal musician Harris Newman is kind of like that. Not necessarily with his pets, but his finger-picking guitar style perfectly parallels his "Aw, shucks" demeanour - subtle, clever, somewhat reserved, relaxed and, as roundabout as some of his music is, it always will come home to roost.

Newman has just released his first debut record Non Sequiturs on Portland's Strange Attractors Audio House and is about to head out on tour in the U.S. to support it. Although Newman's percussion support is supplied by godspeed! you black emperor's Bruce Cawdron, he is still pretty new to this stripped-down approach - or dare I say (gulp), solo performance thingy. Having played in a ton of Montreal bands as a bassist (most notably y'all-ternative twangers Sackville), Newman is now striking out on his own, letting his finger-picking arpeggios doing the talking.

"It can be a bit nervewracking and scary," says Newman of the daunting task of performing. Despite rarely leaving his house, Newman has proven to be quite a mover and shaker both behind and in front of the Montreal music scene. Having mastered more than a fair share of local recordings, Newman is now finally moving his mastering studio out of his house and into a building where he will now work on it full time.

This former Toronto resident may be laying down stakes in Montreal for good, but Newman's musical ambitions still suffer from wanderlust. "I thought that signing with a Portland label was a good idea just because it is great being involved with a whole different sphere. There are a lot of advantages to being involved in something outside of Montreal. There is a thriving scene here and you can do well by just staying home but if you play music that isn't winning people over in droves, you have to look to the world if you want to find people who are listening."

With Fern Knight at Casa del Popolo
on Thursday, March 18, 10pm, $5

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