Russell Self / Hannah Harding

I am Wellington based. My guitar style is definitely a jazz/blues mix, in 2007 I attended New Zealand School of Music jazz foundation course, after having playing and listening to jazz/blues stuff all my life 'twas an eye opener and a great learning experience.

Last Year whilst back in London I had the good fortune to meet and attend a slide guitar workshop with the great Bob Brozman. (Check him out if you don't know him, Google will find him for you)

And now back in old New Zealand I'm back playing and writing...

Expect a 45 minute set packed with jazz/blues/poetry/slide/guitar/mandolin/ukulele.

Hannah Harding Hannah Harding

I’m sure Hanna Harding’s been singing forever, before she was born, you and I even, her voice sounds like time and place have lost their importance and it leaves you so locked into the now, the then and the always thet none of it even needs to make sense anymore. A dangerous but gloriously wonderful feelin'.

For those who care about trivial things Hanna’s been drifting across the south singing and playing for what seems like longer than what could possibly be considering her tender age, but its true, solo and with friends and enemies she taken every opportunity to play for herself and anyone listenin’ currently a member of lyttelton's country road dogs the eastern she’s supported the old crow medicine show (who made her the backing singer who half their set), punk old timer john doe and country mystic Jim white.

She’s sung with friends the ragamuffin children and shared the stage with the nationally known Lindon puffin and Reb fountain. But none of that really matters, its what she does on her own which really matters. When people talk music and write about it they’re loose with their words, they give them up cheaply for nothin’ they’re ill considered with their clichés and leave you little to play with especially when your desperate to nail just exactly what it is that makes someone or something so goddamn special.

With Hanna the words feel, soul and gift tumble freely but its not enough they’re lazy descriptions and also a little to smooth and polished, they lack the requisite badass that is such a crucial and thankful part of Hanna and her songs. Sure she’s beautiful, can sing you under the table and swing the guitar like a cross between sister Rosetta and mother Maybelle, but that ain’t it its in the lost moments the ones where she drops her head close to the strings and just seems to breath it all in, the times when her hands twist and shake like representatives of a physical form unsure where such a heavenly voice is issuing.

It’s in the way she smiles both full of guts and humility, It’s the way her mind is chasin’ her soul just a step behind the kick of her heart yet still comin’ fast and sharp with one liners and sneaky blink-and-you-miss-it asides. It’s there when you see a whole room lost and wanting her to be something for them and knowing she can only unquestionably be that what she is, a jaw dropper, a singin’ swingin’ heart breaker, a girl who’ll right you sweet poetry and kick your ass all in the same afternoon, an old soul dealin’ with the now remembering the past but forgetting the future, the lover who left, the friend who returned, the little sister who’ll surrender her last lullaby just to help you sleep.

In short you can trust her believe in her songs and lose yourself in three minute bursts and remember what its like to feel like you’ve discovered something softly hidden but beautifully out of your reach.

Event listed by ChristchurchFolkClub

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