John Harvey
/The first time I met John Harvey was much like any other meeting I have had with John since. He was slouched over a table bathed in the acidic glow of a neon bar sign sipping a frothy beer among friends. We were at local Irish pub, Fletchers. It was close to our little friends’ community, and we had a few, so we decided to walk back to the village. It was then that I got a glimpse of the true John Harvey. Uncharacteristically quiet during that encounter, wearing a blue AT&T polo, and bearing a hard case clipboard, John set down his belongings and picked up the nearest guitar. I thought back to the abundance of beer we just had and braced myself for a scratchy, fumbling, awkward performance. I was very wrong.
Music is all about form. A musician can make the correct sounds and vibrations, but much like a bad acting performance, if there is no feeling behind it, the execution, it falls short. It is something that is easy to identify to the audience. It is this gusto that I witnessed in John’s first performance. His music emanates the down home soulful blues that he draws from idols such as Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, and Tom Waits.
While always having a penchant for music, John was first introduced to guitar playing when he was 19 years old. Teenage John was quite the troublemaker and after getting into a few fights he found himself enrolling in a music program to look good in court. From there it just sort of stuck. Playing eight hours a day and drawing on influences from everyday life, people, love, and heartache John attributes music to helping him become a better person. “At 19 years old I would get into fights every weekend, mostly getting my butt kicked and getting arrested, and since then I haven’t been arrested in 10 years and I haven’t been in a fight. I’m not a perfect person, far from it, but I am a better person than I was being focused and listening to that music.” music” says John about how music has influenced him.
It’s easy to identify those influences when listening to his latest album “The Very Worst of John Harvey” a very tongue-in-cheek anthology of his musical career. When asking John about his music he describes it as “you know how they have the genre, easy listening? I categorize my music as hard listening. It fits in line with the people who have inspired me. I would hope that people would hear that and that would open up the world that I found as the artists I love opened up that world for me.”
If you would like to hear John Harvey he has a few new projects in the works. This includes his soon to be released album “Songs She Wrote.” John describes this as having a more cohesive sound than its predecessor and features many talented local musicians such as Billy Carter on drums, Ian Hood on guitar, Dan Walters on bass and keys, and Mark Hodgeson on the harmonica and be sure to keep an ear to the ground for his EP John Harvey’s Dank Song Stash. Working with Chump Free Studios and many artists one has to wonder who John recommends if you’re looking for some local listening. John’s picks include Clay Jackson of The Transfers, Harum Scarum, Holy Human, and Wounded Shadow. So if you need a local music fix while you wait for John’s albums to be released this summer be sure to check them out after all, as John points out, “as artists we are just amalgamation of the artists and people who have inspired us.”
Music is all about form. A musician can make the correct sounds and vibrations, but much like a bad acting performance, if there is no feeling behind it, the execution, it falls short. It is something that is easy to identify to the audience. It is this gusto that I witnessed in John’s first performance. His music emanates the down home soulful blues that he draws from idols such as Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, and Tom Waits.
While always having a penchant for music, John was first introduced to guitar playing when he was 19 years old. Teenage John was quite the troublemaker and after getting into a few fights he found himself enrolling in a music program to look good in court. From there it just sort of stuck. Playing eight hours a day and drawing on influences from everyday life, people, love, and heartache John attributes music to helping him become a better person. “At 19 years old I would get into fights every weekend, mostly getting my butt kicked and getting arrested, and since then I haven’t been arrested in 10 years and I haven’t been in a fight. I’m not a perfect person, far from it, but I am a better person than I was being focused and listening to that music.” music” says John about how music has influenced him.
It’s easy to identify those influences when listening to his latest album “The Very Worst of John Harvey” a very tongue-in-cheek anthology of his musical career. When asking John about his music he describes it as “you know how they have the genre, easy listening? I categorize my music as hard listening. It fits in line with the people who have inspired me. I would hope that people would hear that and that would open up the world that I found as the artists I love opened up that world for me.”
If you would like to hear John Harvey he has a few new projects in the works. This includes his soon to be released album “Songs She Wrote.” John describes this as having a more cohesive sound than its predecessor and features many talented local musicians such as Billy Carter on drums, Ian Hood on guitar, Dan Walters on bass and keys, and Mark Hodgeson on the harmonica and be sure to keep an ear to the ground for his EP John Harvey’s Dank Song Stash. Working with Chump Free Studios and many artists one has to wonder who John recommends if you’re looking for some local listening. John’s picks include Clay Jackson of The Transfers, Harum Scarum, Holy Human, and Wounded Shadow. So if you need a local music fix while you wait for John’s albums to be released this summer be sure to check them out after all, as John points out, “as artists we are just amalgamation of the artists and people who have inspired us.”
John Harvey
Facebook.com/johnharveymusician.com
Check out John every other Thursday at the Knock Knock with Ian Hood doing an acoustic set
Also the Bank and Blues on July 12th at 8:30pm
