CLICK for info/reservations...

Starting Thursday, May 3rd and continuing the 1st Thursday of every month at 9:30pm at the Metropolitan Room I will host my new show called “Duos”.  I’ll have two guests, each of whom will do a few songs with me.  This month I have Nina Hennessey and Brian Camelio.  Other confirmed guests so far: Will Ackerman, Tuck Andress  & Patti Cathcart, Karen Akers, Jim Brickman, Robert Cucciolo, Carole Demas, KJ Denhert, Will Galison, Yaron Gerchovsky, Shem Guibbory, Barbara Higbie, Liz Larsen, Rhonda Larson, Mark Rapp, Paula Robison, Liz Story, Samite, Wendy Starland, Gordon Stone, Craig Taubman

Thursday, May 3 at 9:30pm – $20 / 2 bev. min.   212.206.0440 – 34 West 22nd Street, NYC

CLICK for info/reservations...

Then next Tuesday the 8th at 8:00pm at Iridium Jazz Club, Ian Herman and I do our show 110 Strings.  All original music by Ian and me.  Words can’t describe it – you gotta’ come see it.  We’re having so much fun putting it together…

Tuesday, May 8 at 9:00pm – $25  212.582.2121 -  1650 Broadway at 51st, NYC

*  *  *

Once again I skipped the steady weekly postings and now have to catch up.  For a LOT.  I’ll keep it to kind of a list format and use pictures wherever possible.  (My camera broke so I’m at the mercy of others for their kindness)  Here goes…

Bass Immersion day on January 8 with Will Lee [David Letterman Band, etc], Gerald Veasley

photo: William DiCecca

[Grover Washington,Jr., etc.], Michael Visceglia [Susanne Vega, etc], and Patrick Pfeiffer [PHX, For Dummies, Hal Leaonard, Schirmer, etc]; the rhythm section was David Meade [dr], Mitch Schechter [p], Brian Sears [sax], and me.

Karen Oberlin and I had a nice run of events from the Nitelife Awards at Town Hall; the National Arts Club; Feinstein’s; 3 nights at the Metropolitan Room; and Ronny Whyte’s Midtown Jazz at Midday series at St. Peter’s.

Craig Taubman and I gave concerts in West Palm Beach Island and Beverly Hills.  We did some video too, I’ll keep you posted.  He remains the best I’ve ever seen at How To Connect With An Audience.  A blessing, he is.

Mark Miller took his septet in to Systems Two recording studio in Brooklyn to immortalize his absolutely gorgeous contribution to the world of music.  I’m humbled to be in the cast with Mark, Nicki Denner, Anton Denner, Cliff Lyons, William ‘Beaver’ Bausch, and Gary Wang.  We’re doing a show Tuesday, May 1 at 9p at Somethin’ Jazz Club on East 52 by 3rd ave.

KJ Denhert and I have been getting together a lot at the 55 Bar and Saturday brunches at Smoke.  She reminds me why I do this.

Bob Stillman put together a beautiful show at the Winter Garden Atrium with the combined talents of Bryce Ryness, Martha Redbone, Rachel Bay Jones, and Bria Skonberg.

Carole Demas, Ian Herman, and I finished our run of shows at the Laurie Beechman Theatre.  We’ll break ground on a new project soon…  In addition to becoming a dear friend, she is to me an inspiring phenomenon.

And don’t miss Ian and I together at the Iridium on May 8!

Dawn Derow and I did a whole run of kickin’ shows as a duo.  Randie Shane [video link!] also put the faith in me as sole accompanist to wonderful results.  Tamela D’Amico made a record with a 10 piece band, Jeff Franzel at the helm.  Tom Vaughan had such a good turnout and response to his birthday show at the Metropolitan Room that he did an encore performance.  Nina Siegel stole my heart at her shows at the Beechman.  Keep an eye out for Nina…

Mark Goodman called me in last minute to fill out the very large band supporting Lucio Fernandez for Less Cuban Than Ever.  What a riot!  Stacy Sullivan and Jon Weber entrusted me to the guitar chair in her Peggy Lee tribute at the Iridium.  What an honor!  The Salon with Mark Janas had me as a host with a full dance card of my ladies in attendance.  A night to remember, for sure.  What I remember of it…

After a beautiful show at Feinstein’s, Annie Kozuch put the magic band together again for a show at Union City PAC – Samuel Torres, Frank Ponzio and me.

Natalie Douglas put me onstage at Birdland Jazz Club for two shows – a tribute to Nina Simone and the powerfully moving Freedom Songs show.

Bria Skonberg had me onstage at the Metropolitan Room for her show Brass & Belles.  She was then kind enough to join me for my show at the Players Club, along with Ian Herman.

Music At The Mansion invited me back for a lovely Sunday afternoon show; Anders Holst has been growing a wonderful trio presentation with Bennett Paster and I; Monique Varsames debuted at the Metropolitan Room with Sparkie Sandler on drums, Skip Ward bassing one night and Mimi Jones another; powerhouse talent Collen McHugh dazzled ‘em twice more at the Duplex with Tedd Firth, Steve Doyle, and I; and Pamela Luss blessed me by putting me on stage with Houston Person, Brandon McCune, Cook Broadnax, Jaimeo Brown, and John Burr.  Gabrielle Stravelli invited me to trio with her and bassist deluxe Patrick O’Leary at Le Pescadeaux in the Village.  Joshua Stedman graced the Bitter End once again with his soulful songs – along with Donna Kelly and bassist deluxe Andy Galore !

The MAC Awards this year threw me a curve ball when our H2 CD “Home For The Holidays” got Best Recording of 2012.  A wonderful surprise, that.  It’s such an honor to be a part of this thriving community in New York that a little holiday music was the least I could offer.  A MAC Award was way more than I ever expected.

The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey celebrated its 50th anniversary this year at their annual Gala – my fourth time at the post.  Luminaries this year included Baby Jane Dexter, Robert Cuccioli, Donna Bullock, Tamara Tunie, Gregory Generet, Joe Discher, Tom Galantich, Jay Liebowitz, Peri Gilpin, and Jim Reilly.  All were fortunate to enjoy the musical red-carpet of music director Doug Oberhamer.

Terese Genecco celebrated her third year of monthly shows at Iridium Jazz Club with a new live CD, and even got a partially accurate review by the New York Times [syntax Stephen, syntax... someone ELSE called her the love child of... oh, never mind].

Tycoon Dog has started the outdoor Sunday afternoon concert series!

As if nothing else were going on – Karen Kohler and I have taken to illuminating the underworld of The City with renegade Art and Beauty by doing random sets in the Subway…

I have come to truly love New York City.  Coming as I did from the natural splendor of Vermont I resisted that for years, but now it’s unavoidable.  This town is amazing.  Every week I meet new people of dizzying ability who know all the same people I know and we just met somehow.  Where else?

May your days be blessed,

SH

Joined by Mark Miller on trombone, here is Mike Herriott on flugel horn and your humble narrator on a Fender Subsonic baritone electric:

02. Harkness Herriott – Flights Vol 1 – Leap Year

[very lo-res mono mp3 that fits here - for the real deal click one of these 3]

(August 12, 1937 – November 8, 2011)

I wrote this when Jimmy died on November 8, 2011:

Every day I have the opportunity to go out into the world and do something special, to touch people’s hearts.  To take them for a ride, in the moment, the Now.  You were a huge teacher for me in how to do this.  In each moment that I share with an audience, you are there with me with that gracious smile of yours.  Reminding me of that elusive ‘it’ that you managed to embody.  I will take that with me wherever I go, for the rest of my days.  It is a goal of my own now that someday there will be a someone who feels as I do now, so thankful.  You were a blessing.  I will miss you.

* * *

Back when Mike Kissel was still alive, we had a jam session at his KMA Studio every Monday.  It started out on the ninth floor of 1650 Broadway and moved with him to the Brill Building.  We recorded everything and jammed in headphones.  We never knew who would come by: Sun Ra Arkestra, George Clinton, Carlos Alomar, Miki Howard, Bernard Purdie, Oli Rockberger, Scott Sherrard…  All sorts of young up and coming cats, singers, songwriters…  It was called the Songwriters Studio.  We’d work on tunes, that was the whole thing.  Mike had a few standards he liked to do for fun, but most of it was stop and start, develop parts, build songs… For fun!  We’d work towards getting one good take then move on.  Sometimes it got stupid when some vain chick singer came by and it was just all about her, but we’d politely find our way back to the music, the magic, to the craft of building songs sooner or later.

The magic night when Jimmy Norman came in was one I’ll never forget.  I knew nothing about him at all but was instantly electrified.  He sang, we jammed, he went with us wherever we went and had something for us at every turn!  He wasn’t about pulling focus, he improved it.  We all knew we were in the presence of someone special without even hearing a story.  That came later – something about the Coasters, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, some old hit song the Stones did, whatever.  Those things were secondary.  He was just It.  We were all jazzed.  Everyone had a plan to do something special with him, and many did.  He hit jackpot for himself that day, looking to get back into it as he was.  I just sat back and watched; continuing my job of making sure everyone had a chart.

This went on for a year or more.  Periodically we’d do a show in public with our core rhythm section and some of Mike’s favorite singers and do Mike’s original tunes with our arrangements.  The Cutting Room, a chartered boat, the Triad, even a karaoke joint in Times Square.  Jimmy would become the headliner.  It seemed to be a thrill for him too.  Once in a while we’d go by and cheer him on when he would sit in with Jonny Rosch’s band with Kerryn Tollhurst downstairs at Penang.

Then one day Jimmy pulled me aside and asked if I would put a band together for him to do shows at Penang and another place uptown called Roth’s Steakhouse.  I was honored.  Then I started working on it…  I put together a list of the hottest players I had access to, went though all his CDs and made charts of the tunes that I thought would work with a trio, booked rehearsals, and away we went.

Penang closed after a spell, but we carried on at Roth’s for the better part of four years every Saturday might.  After some natural selection of schedules and personalities we ended up with the core group of Freddie Simpson on bass and Steve Loecher on drums.  Every so often we’d have Paully Tillotsen on piano when he was on town.  Sometimes the piano player from the first set would stay and play with us.  Other musicians and singers would come by to sit in.

Freddie and Steve put their entire heart and soul into the gig.  We developed our own signature arrangements of Jimmy’s tunes.  We had a show.  It was good.  There was a lot of laughter on the bandstand, strong and wrong backing vocals, volume complaints…  But always respect and love.  All the way around.

Jimmy’s health was getting slowly but steadily worse.  He would sit on a stool every time, and after a while, he would only sing three or four tunes and take a break.  But let me tell you, even when he had no energy and could barely lift his head he still had more charisma and connectivity with an audience than anyone else I know.

The management and the JFA people would express concern for Jimmy’s health and suggest he take it easy, maybe not sing…  It was the singing that kept him alive!  Stop it and stop him!  He would look at me pleading as if to say don’t let them do it!  I gotta’ sing!  So we played.

We also did a whole bunch of daytime shows at schools and nursing homes and libraries and community centers for the JFA.  He got ‘em every time.  People always appreciated what was happening as it was happening.  Young and old.  Rich and poor.  They all got it.

We went to Florida once, to Sanibel Island.  Did a few shows at Ellington’s Jazz Club with some great players down there.  I gotta say it’s great to fly with an old black man in a wheelchair.  TSA treats you like royalty.  Anyway, this is where my favorite Jimmy Norman memory happened.  Mark Roth, Jimmy, and I sat around on the beach for a couple hours having a smoke and just talking.  We each shared a bit, but Jimmy got to telling stories and Mark and I go to listening and asking…  I could have sat there forever.  Early on, I saw what was happening and I went upstairs to grab my little recorder.  I just put it on record, threw it under my chair, and let him keep going, unaware.  He kept going when we got back up to the room to prepare for the show.

He said he wanted to write a book.  I put those recordings, indexed, onto a CD for him and gave it to him one night at Roth’s.  Here, write it!  Don’t know if he ever started.  It would be well worth reading.

The Jazz Foundation of America was a very important element in his later years and his gratitude was palpable.  At one point Jimmy co-wrote a song with guitarist Joel Fass called “Foundation” to express his thanks to the JFA.  To start the production I brought in my A Team with Freddie and Steve, Ron Allaire engineering at Kampo studio.  We had Georgia Brown, Valerie Capes, Anette St. John, Danny Mixon singing on it, Davell Crawford on keys, and Mark Roth as executive producer.  It played at a big JFA event with video and all.

He came to visit Taka and I a few times, we would go with him to Harlem for soul food or visit Showman’s, or Sylvias, or St Nick’s.  He loved the night life.  We did try to encourage him to not smoke, drink, etc…  He’d say “why stop now?”  He knew my father and his wife.  He knew Taka’s mother and father and friends that would come visit from Japan.  Anyone that came to visit from out of town got a Jimmy Norman experience, if they were lucky.

He had a funny way of saying things sometimes.  Whenever he’d hang up the phone he’d say, “me and you”.  Instead of saying “thank you for doing that thoughtful thing”, he’d say “good lookin’ out”.  Whenever he’d ask about my wife he’d say “how’s my girl?”…  When something wonderful happened, musically or otherwise, he would exclaim, “that’s what I’m talkin’ about!”.  I would summon my whitest speaking voice and reply, “I’m glad you say that Mr. Norman, because I hadn’t the slightest idea what the %@#& you were talking about”.

He was quite comfortable with asking for help.  He’d ask anyone for whatever he needed, and somehow whoever he asked felt it was an honor to be doing something for him.  He’d call about charts or a song to add to the show and he’d start with “now look here…”  I was always waiting for the “boy” to follow, but never did.  Meanwhile I could hear in the background that someone was there in his house helping with his computer or something.

Ah, Jimmy’s minions.  We were all Jimmy’s minions.  Happily.

I loved the man.  I miss him already.  But the time I spent with him is a treasure I get to keep.

SH

H² (SEAN HARKNESS & MIKE HERRIOTT)
HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS
Opening Day Entertainment Group

iTunes

AmazonMP3

-review by Rob Lester for TalkinBroadway.com

Highly visible Sean Harkness is the guitarist of choice for a staggering number of NYC cabaret singers, his Bistro Award as outstanding instrumentalist and the MAC Award for his own debut as a solo artist in clubs and nominated for his prior CD with flugelhorn-playing colleague Mike Herriott nominated, too, I am happy to find they have just issued a Christmas album. When working together, they call themselves H² (H-squared). Their Christmas collaboration is especially satisfying. It’s not just that both play with taste and distinction, but they are respectful of the 10 traditional and sacred songs included without ever seeming creatively intimidated. And their snuggled-into renditions of “Christmas Time Is Here” and the melody that gives the CD its title (appealingly given a chill pill from its usual pep rally-ing cry) work quite well, too.

It’s quite the accomplishment that they can approach one melody conservatively and take another, like “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear,” and loosen its formal, reverent architecture to seduce it into loose jazz sensibilities and make it feel just as at home for the holidays. They play with overlapping lines and phrases, answering each other or staying in a unison approach, to make it all feel right in the same number (“O Tanenbaum”) and then branch out with new growth but not losing the thread. “Carol of the Bells,” not what one might expect a duo of this sort to tackle, is aced as a showpiece that builds without the approximating of the dizzying ding-dong that would be cheap frenzy.

While the interactive work is compelling, solo times never “time out” on the interest scale. Striking and haunting is the special studio mixing of the dreamlike brass sounds for “Meditation on ‘Lo, How E’er Rose Blooming’” and it stays in the mind. On the Harkness “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” the guitar does seem to sing and rejoice.

Home for the Holidays brings so much to the table beyond holiday evocation that I daresay it could find a home in CD players, iPods, etc. during non-holiday time. The mind may say “December,” but appreciative ears know no season.

Mid-May to mid-November of 2011 contained a great deal of musical activity for me.  To get caught up to the present and not make a freekin’ book out of it I’ll make a list of things with short descriptions, using pictures where possible.

*  *  *

Walden Guitars – we’ve done some fun things together this year.  First, they were nice enough to put my picture on the cover of their 2011 product catalog.  Then we built a custom [soon to be signature] 12-string guitar based on our previous collaboration, the Supra Natura G1017ce.  Then we went to the NAMM show in Nashville to show it off, both on the floor and in a concert with Majestic vibraphone player Jason Marsalis.  Then Jonathan Lee and I did a short clinic tour around the Northeast, introducing Walden to stores and their public.  Complete blast.  We’ll be developing some [LONG overdue] video content early next year, so stay tuned!

Stylus Pick – speaking of video content, this little device is an amazing practice tool for anyone who uses a pick.  We started the process of documenting how I use it and will have content available soon.

Sweet Days – I produced and arranged an extremely satisfying CD for Monique Varsames called Sweet Days.  Recorded by Ron Allaire, we had Valerie Ghent on keys/back vox, Skip Ward on bass, Sparky Sandler on drums, and Mauro Refosco on percussion.  We’ll be doing promo for it coming soon, but do take a listen, start to finish.  There’s love in it.

Croon – This show’s got legs!  So far we’ve done Los Angeles, Palm Desert, and San Francisco, CA; Feinstein’s and the Metropolitan Room in New York; New Orleans, Baton Rouge, LA; Lewisburg, PA; and next week we go off to Omaha and Brownsville, NE, and Liberty, MO for more shows.  Then Mexico.  Steve Doyle, Alex Rybeck and I sing a lot and otherwise completely enjoy the delicious arrangements.

Duo shows – It doesn’t always have to be piano!  More and more I’m being asked to be the sole accompanist for some fabulous singers.  The first was Deb Berman with her show “All In Good Time”.  She’s hilarious on stage, with a good through line, and more to the point she’s got chops.  Vocalese for days.  We had a great time creating completely original arrangements of some classic tunes.  She also somehow has an encyclopedic knowledge of songs.  And a gift for matching people with them – keep it in mind…  Randie Shane also put me to the task and created a beautiful warm show, with another on the way for February.  Dawn Derow and I had a rockin run of shows at Don’t Tell Mama’s, as well as the Core Club.  Then Kathleen France and I celebrated the release of her first Miranda Music CD called The Book Of Love with a duo show called the Book Of Love Part 2.  The girls all have me singing now too, which I enjoy greatly.  I have finally shed my stage jitters around that.

H2 – My first visit to St. John’s, Newfoundland with Mike Herriot was a blast.  The Jazz & Blues festival treated us nicely, we did a clinic and a show, then went for a visit to Dildo By The Sea.  A great time was had by all.  Keep an eye out for our Christmas CD “Home For The Holidays”.  I’ll do a special page for that next…

The summer shows with Tycoon Dog satisfied my inner rocker.  All outdoors [Central Park, Washington Square Park, Battery Park, Tomkins Square Park, Memorial Park in Maplewood, etc], these shows feature all original music in the style of Dire Straits,  Grateful Dead, The Meters, Santana, Steely Dan, etc.  Well arranged, rockin tunes.  I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it.

KJ Denhert rocked my world.  We met through a couple mutual friends, I sat in, ended up as a regular guest on her shows at the 55 bar.  If you haven’t heard her yet – check it out!  She’s a rippin’ guitarist, soul –stealin’ vocalist, and a first rate songwriter.  She packs them in at the 55 so come early…

Patrick Pfeiffer, John Pattitucci, Anthony Wellington, Mike Visceglia – these guys put on an event called ‘Bass Immersion Day’ with clinics in the daytime and a concert at night.  I go to play in the ‘house band’ that backed them all up.  What a treat!

Will Lee – on the subject of bassists, Will hosted a beautiful evening at S.I.R studios to benefit Japan’s earthquake/tsunami/radiation victims.  Great roster, great vibe, great hang.  Taka and I loved it!

I’m running out of time for writing as I must pack for tomorrow’s early morning flight to Omaha.  So, I’ll do this in magazine fashion…

Performances since May include:  East coast shows with Craig Taubman, including an upcoming URJ Biennial in D.C. [with President Obama as a guest!]; Songwriter’s Beat and concert appearances with Val Ghent; solo performances at Madison Avenue Baptist Church and Community Church of Wurtsboro; a few ‘socials’ with Doug Acosta; recordings with Lina Koutrakos and Dan Gross’ Southern Rain; Terese Genecco keeps me busy with shows at Iridium, Out Music Awards, Queens Public TV, and Fresh Fruit Festivals; award winning Tudor City Greens concerts with Raissa Katona Bennett; an outdoor concert with Jonny Rosch, Sue Williams, and Sammy Merendino In Westtown, NY; the Mark Miller Septet hit it at Mile’s Café and the Zinc Bar; more shows with Mimi Jones; the Beechman and Metropolitan Room with Jillian Lauraine’s ‘Hello Gorgeous’; Miranda Music: Tracy Stark’s new CD; Marcus Simeone’s new CD; Kathleen France’s new CD; SUPER fun shows at the Duplex with Colleen McHugh; a solo slot on Jamie DeRoy’s televised show from the MetRoom; a run at Feinsteins w/Croon, Annie Kozuch and Frank Ponzio, and Elizabeth Tryon; house concerts in Dallas; one night in Scranton with Sam Glaser; Tamela D’Amico put together a big band for a couple shows; Peggy Herman made a CD; Broadway Sings For Pride [on the big weeked!]; Natalie Douglas shook the rafters at Birdland again; Melissa Heche rocked Triad; so happy to have befriended Anders Holst, and work with him at the Empire Room; Carole Demas reprised her stunning show at the Beechman, and delighted the folks at Music At The Mansion; dancer Mark Stuart brought meto Town Hall; Susan Winter gave a beautiful program at LeFrak Hall at Queens College; Christine Riley hired me to play my 12 string for a reading of Stewart F. Lane’s new show A Moment In Time which features the music of John Denver, featuring Drake Bell, Robert Cuccioli, Liz Larsen, and Lindsay Pearce; and finally, I feel privileged to share the stage with Mark Goodman for Lucio Fernandez’ show Less Cuban Than Ever.

In other news:

• My Dad got married!  Welcome VERY warmly the lovely Melanie Fredericks to the Harkness clan…
• Taka’s photography is growing fast – catch her now while you can still afford her.
• I’ve become a member of The Players Club, and am very much enjoying meeting new people there.  I’ll be giving a concert on the 7^th of December…
• My good friend Rob Kohler [husband of Chantuese Karen Kohler] launched his new business Hammersmith Copper Cookware
• The world lost a great one last week with the death of singer songwriter Jimmy Norman.  He will be remembered with so much love and respect.
• The earthquake in Japan this past march continues to be a real problem, particularly the way the Japanese government is handling the distribution of aid.  Red Cross is NOT the way to go.  This one is better: http://www.japansociety.org/page/earthquake

Coming up: Omaha, Mexico, San Diego, D.C., New Orleans, solo shows at The Players, Urban Stages, moreMusic at the Mansion, Somethin’ Café, then Christmas!  Thanks for reading.  Please comment, share, rate, review, tweet, and generally keep it moving along.

SH

[aside from misspelling Mike's family name in their original post, we're very pleased to be appreciated with such clarity!  (Bold print added here on sh.com)]

_______________________________________________________________

Flights Volume One by Sean Harkness and Mike Herriott

Written by  Aaron Craven

Our itinerary:

Monday, October 3
4:00 pm @ Hangover Stringed Instruments
34 S. Main Street
Hanover, NH  03755
603-643-3143

Tuesday, October 4
4:00 pm @ Barnstorm Music
98 Main Street
Medway, MA  02053
508-847-5579

Wednesday, October 5
7:00 PM @ Metropolis Music
143 Columbus Ave.
Jersey City, NJ  07302
201-222-8441

Thursday, October 6
6:00 PM @ Norm’s Music
922 King Highway
Brooklyn, NY  11223
718-376-0910

SH

sean@seanharkness.com

1(212) 582-2121

And here’s a link to the live internet streaming for those in faraway places [anywhere not within a two hour drive of New York City...]:

http://www.livestream.com/iridium

You can go there at 9:00pm EDT on Tuesday and somewhere right around that time they’ll start a live broadcast of the show.  You can comment with a live moderator in the room, ask us questions, have us say something to your friend’s cousin’s neighbor’s old college roommate in Auckland, New Zealand, go crazy!

Our last show as a duo was in St. John’s, Newfoundland as part of their Wreckhouse Jazz & Blues Festival.  We gave a clinic in the afternoon, a concert in the evening, and a couple days later I was ‘Screeched In’ as an honourary Newfoundlander (an honour I don’t take at all lightly.  It was an inexplicable ritual, but completely entertaining.  And yes, I spelled honour with a ‘u’ on purpose.  Part of the title….).  All in all it was a wonderful journey to the Far Northeast of the continent.  Great people up there, and the music was well received.  More about that in another post…

* * *

H2 now has a new home in the Music Industry with the prestigious Opening Day Entertainment Group label.  [We'll call them ODEG from now on.  That's a lot of letters to type.  Honourary Newfie or not, I'm still a lazy American.  And a guitarist.  Apologies....]

Anyhow, ODEG has grand designs for us, including the release of ‘Home For The Holidays’ this coming October 12th.  H4TH [more lazy anagrams, sorry.  It's the tendonitis, really...] is twelve holiday favourites you will all recognize, just presented the only way we know how: not quite what you’d expect…  We hope you love it.  We had a complete blast making it.  In the summer.  How do you think I felt about walking around in the scalding sun and humidity quietly humming ‘It Came Upon A Midnight Clear’ to myself all day?  Sheesh.  It better be good…

They have a new page up for us here:

And of course HERE:

Be the first to write a customer review HERE:

And if you like the samples you hear in the breakaway music player on my home page, you can download the CD or individual tunes HERE:

* * *

Here’s a wonderful review we just found of our first CD ‘Flights Volume One’:

They misspelled Mike’s last name, but the reviewer seemed to understand what it is we do.  He describes it well.  Favorably, which we like, but accurately.

Here’s a video we did while making the last recording: Flights Volume 1:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hcBP2N9tEc

And here’s a page we assembled last fall of some of our favorite pull quotes and factoids so far:

H2 selected press 112010

and the press release:

Press Release – H2 FLIGHTS VOL I

And for those that may need them, here’s a ZIP file with our stock photos:

H2pix4melissa

Thanks for reading along!  Please comment, connect, message us, email, call, come to the show and buy us a drink, share on FB, Tweet…; and we will look forward to making more music for you very soon!

Best,

SH

Sean Harkness, Allen Gary Palmer

When I moved to the remote outpost of Newtown, Connecticut back in 1977, one of my first friends was Allen Gary Palmer.  Allen’s younger sister Barbara and I were in the 6th grade.  One of the more popular girls, she had very graciously invited me, the new kid, to a party at her family’s home.  Four years my elder, brother Allen sensed the need to rescue me.  Of course when Allen tells the story, he generally uses an expletive which decorum does not allow here.

We’ve been friends ever since, have shared some pretty outrageous experiences together in countless states, and on three different continents.  In fact, Allen and [ex-wife] Sylvia were the only ones to make the trip to Japan when Taka and I got married.

Fast-forward to Friday, April 22, 2011.  All at once Good Friday, Earth Day, Shabbis, and ‘BarnStorm 2011’.  From the perspective of a teenager, the concept of our evening might have seemed dull, but to us it was perfection:  a great hike through the woods to the top of the hill behind his lovely West Redding, CT home, followed by a poetry/guitar jam, punctuated by some pretty fabulous cooking.

Allen is one of the most renowned Family Practice Attorneys in the country at this point.  I won’t bore you with all the abbreviations after his name or the average income of his client base.  What’s important to this narrative is how after so many years with the Written Word as his Instrument, he indulged a creative urge to explore poetry.  Turns out he’s got a gift.  (His artistic adventure began at the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts summer session in Deer Isle, Maine.)

Allen Gary Palmer, poet.

The guitar of choice for this occasion was the new, yet unreleased Walden Signature 12-string.  I’m a musician, not a wordsmith, so I’ll let Allen take over from here.  Below is a short sample of our efforts.  Enjoy…

The Great Escape [mp3]

Sean tuning up in the barn.

The Great Escape [pdf]

Heaven [mp3]

A Run-On Sentence [mp3]

A Run-On Sentence [pdf]