“I know it’s become more vogue,” Chris O’Connor laughed.

“But later on I may have a career as an Irish musician.” 

He focuses on playing authentic old time blues from the two decades and showcases styles of the genre ranging from sparkling ragtime to driving bottleneck blues. 

His love of the sound began years ago when he was a teenager and belonged to a record club.

“You used to pay $10 a month and get new records,” he said. 

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Early blues developed in the Deep South of the USA and often related to aspects of the African-American experience such as racial discrimination, with O’Connor finding inspiration in the likes of Blind Arthur Blake and Tommy Johnson. 

“At the same time I was trying to learn guitar, and they were solo blues guitar players as well so I found that interesting,” O’Connor said. 

“I didn’t know anyone to play in a band with so it worked quite well.” 

The peak recording period for the genre was for about 10 years before the Great Depression hit, he said, and in that time there were different artists from many different regions forming their own sound. 

O’Connor said the Depression put an end to the era due to the lack of money and materials as well as the proliferation of radios, as people no longer had to buy records to hear songs. 

But he said the genre had influenced many different forms of music.

“It’s almost like the circle has come around and other types of music have influenced the blues as well,” he said.

“All the British bands in the ’60s and ’70s picked up on it and made it more well-known back in America.

“I think part of it is quite often with blues songs there’s a lot of irony in them, there’s that sense of humour. It’s not hold your stomach humour, but a lot of shy humour.”

He will perform with Don Hopkins and Damian Coen on Saturday, November 17 from 6.30pm at the Murrah Hall, 2989 Bermagui-Tathra Rd. Tickets are $15.