Canberra Blues Society proudly presents Mitch Grainger - Keller Sessions
Mitch Grainger infuses the Blues & Roots genre’s traditional stylings with a confidence, and depth of spirit, that has seen him compared to the likes of Robert Johnson* by American music critics. No overnight sensation, this accolade came after over 25 years of performing and recording, predominantly as a side-man with some of Australia and the world’s greatest blues and blues-rock artists.
Beginning his career at just age fourteen, playing harmonica and guitar in the bars of Balmain in Sydney, Mitch Grainger spent his teens honing his craft as a side-man, by jamming with fellow high schoolmates CW Stoneking and Alex Lloyd before joining The Bondi Cigars, who he toured every inch of Australia with before he had turned twenty-one.
Balmain was fertile ground, and if not for being born here, Mitch’s life may have taken a totally different path. One night at The Bridge Hotel in Balmain, Malcolm Young of AC/DC who also lived in the area, walked in and saw Mitch Grainger playing, this led to a long - term friendship and the introduction of Mitch to the Albert’s productions family and one of Malcolm’s mentors, the legendary Australian producer Harry Vanda, whom Grainger made a deal with for the Australian release of his album Love and Demons in 2006.
Meanwhile, the touring work continued all through Mitch’s 20s and into his early 30s with multiple bands, including The Bondi Cigars, Papa Lips & Grainger (with his sister Kara Grainger).
Then in 2010, Mitch Grainger relocated to Los Angeles and ensconced himself in the live music scene of Hollywood. It was here that subsequently, in 2015, Mitch Grainger took his first real steps into the light under his own name on the world stage, with his solo acoustic release ‘The Blues’.
Mitch’s depth of understanding of the genre and his charismatic stage show immediately thrust him onto the wider blues & roots scene. He packed houses in Australia and Scandinavia, performed at prestigious festivals, such as the American Folk Alliance in Kansas City, and earned standing ovations while opening for Tommy Emmanuel across the North East of the USA.
Then, come 2017, while looking for more of an electric sound, Mitch disappeared, turned recluse, and focused on inventing, patenting and Kick-starting a revolutionary new harmonica microphone called Dyna-Mic, which would enable him to play harmonica hands free, in an electric band setting. This new harmonica microphone is now used by 100’s of harmonica players around the globe, and notably was used by Bob Dylan on his 2018 New Zealand Tour. With a growing global fan base that includes over 120,000 subscribers on various social media platforms, Mitch Grainger is now taking his raw emotional form of Blues & Roots music up the metaphorical Mississippi River, out of the acoustic domain, and into the world of blues rock on the back of his latest release entitled "Plug It In".
“Grainger plays pure acoustic blues with the heart and soul of Robert Johnson. His light-fingered guitar and mournful harp perfectly play up Grainger’s modern lyrics and traditional-sounding melodies; close your eyes, and you can feel the heat and smell the dust of Mississippi” - Suzanne Cadgène, Elmore Magazine
“I’ve watched him search within himself for his true identity as an artist…have a listen to his music…Mitch has come of age” - Harry Vanda
TICKETS: Pre-sales - CBS members $25 / General $27 Door: $30
Doors open 7pm Show starts 7:30pm
