Harpo Pix is the finger picking good banjo and harmonica player that graces the band with soaring harp solos and blue grass backing that gives 21 Whiskeys the authentic sound of the deep south. If you are lucky enough to get his autograph then save it as something to show the grandchildren.

 

Lets hear from the man himself. I picked up my first Guitar at about 14 and spent many hours of my teenage years practicing in my bedroom, endlessly refining songs or parts of songs with a hazy vision of someday making it big as a world beating guitar hero. By the time I hit 20, I realized that good as I was, I was unlikely to stand shoulder to shoulder with Mark Knopfler(and I didn’t suit a headband) but my love of playing music endured.

 

Anyone who plays will understand that this guitar thing gets into your DNA and to this day I get withdrawalsymptoms if I don’t play for a few days. I have travelled the world with a guitar on my back and busked all over.Whilst drunk at a University party, my naked harmonica playing came to the attention of a likeminded moderately talented undergraduate and I found myself playing in my first band.

 

Success came easily to us and we found ourselves supporting Norman Cook and Bad Manners. The image of being mooned by Buster Bloodvessel just before we went on stage back in ‘87’ makes me fill up to this day.Still playing guitar, I expressed a fleeting interest in the banjo and my girlfriend went out and bought me one the very next day. Forever curious and up for a challenge I practiced like hell in our 1 bedroom flat and my girlfriends initial enthusiasm soon turned into deep regret and a tick.

 

I flip flopped between the guitar, banjo and harmonica and 10 years on there was another turn in the road when I met Mike and the 21 Whiskeys. The rest is history.

 

Come and see us and make your own mind up.I still play the banjo that my girlfriend (now wife) bought me. It is an interesting beast. I am told that it is East German, made after the war as Germany struggled with its economic recovery. If you look carefully you can see that the rim is made from a Howitzer shell case. I have recently bought a great little banjo from Andy Perkins(Grafton) that actually sounds good. My main influence is the bluegrass work of Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, as well as more modern players such as Tony Trischka and Charlie Cushman. I play Lee Oscar and Hohner harmonicas.