Will Harrison

Will Harrisonbiography.



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Will Harrison's mother taught him to play the piano almost before he could walk. He didn't really care much for it, though, until one summer visit to cousins in the country: “They all played guitar and sang. needless to say, I went home and asked my dad for a guitar.” Then Will hit the regular musical milestones of adolescence - boy forms band, band plays on local radio station, boy leaves band because he wants to try other things. But living in a small town does have its advantages. “I'll never forget my mom taking me to Hardy, Arkansas to the town square. Every Sunday afternoon all these people would gather around with banjos, mandolins, dulcimers, and guitars. They'd play these great old traditional tunes for hours, just having fun. That really left its mark on me.”



At age 16 Will knew that music had its choke-hold on his entire being. While his family did want him to find a career to 'fall back on', Will pressed on with songwriting. “My family wanted me to go to college, but my 'plan B' was always welding. I've used it to pay the bills when music didn't. Actually, I owe a lot to welding. I worked the road quite a bit after age 18 - Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, North Carolina, Colorado. I always seem to write better when I'm traveling. I think you can hear [that time period] in my songs.” Literally. Even Will's new record was recorded in his home studio, built by money earned from welding AND busking.



While his deep, resonant voice is quite at home fronting big rock bands, Will's harnessing his power in more sparse, intimate settings and to astounding affect. Rustic and rootsy, his aptly titled debut solo album, A Place Called Home (2007, Circle Back Music), features Will's triple-threat abilities as singer, songwriter, and musician. While he plays most of the instruments, the album also features Matt McCord (Cake, The Arlenes, Team Sleep) and Chase Pagan (militia group) as well as a collection of songs that combine the fingerprints of Will's musical influences (James Taylor, Shawn Mullins, Johnny Cash), his gift for humble storytelling, and the soft echoes of a rural Arkansas upbringing.



A Place Called Home reaffirms that Americana-folk artists continue to achieve honesty and simple beauty in an age where video kills the radio star. It's comforting to know that artists like Will still care about the true bottom line, and that's how the listener connects to the music. “ I don't know if my music will ever affect change, but I hope it affects someone. That's what music is - finding your own personal truth within the lyrics. Some people write 100 songs in a year. I'm just the opposite. I'd rather wait for that perfect moment of inspiration that you can't MAKE happen. it just does. That's when the song's really going to have something to say."



Will Harrisonpress.



"Will has this deep, resonant voice that wouldn't be at all out of place in front of a big rock band. It's that kind of powerful. And he fronted a big rock band for a while. But now he's harnessing his power in more sparse, intimate settings and to astounding affect. The sound and imagery are rustic and rootsy, echoing the way of life from Will's Arkansas homestead." Circle Back Music



"Mellow, regretful love songs and forlorn ballads make up the mostly DIY album by Will Harrison, marking his debut as a solo artist. Playing most of the instruments (guitar, banjo, piano, percussion, accordion, harmonica, Owl call, etc.), writing all of the songs, and recording and mixing the disc in his apartment studio, Harrison has taken his sound into his own hands. In this sense, A Place Called Home is as personal as an album gets. Harrison's time spent busking surely helped hone his music identity and personality. With an Americana flavor, this singer/songwriter's album fuses soft piano with textured harmonica and accordion. Delicate banjo tones color the depth and darkness of the selections (e.g., "Borderline"), making the impact of his sentiments that much more effective.



Harrison conveys a sense of lonely emptiness in several tracks, particularly "A Farewell to Autumn." With lines like "these country roads keep they keep on windin' just like the places in my mind," the introspective nature is quite apparent. Harrison takes the listener to "Seven Hollows," away from the city's downfalls, as the track empties itself into the sound of nighttime bugs and other rural buzzing, ending the disc. The main downfalls are that the album has little variation between songs (causing a slight bit of boredom towards the disc's end) and the printed lyrics inside the liner notes have no punctuation, continuing across two pages without reference points. Beyond the reading difficulty and album's super-consistency, A Place Called Home wraps itself with warm tones over its chilly mood, succeeding as an artist's initial release."

-Sarah Moore / The Owl Mag