By Kandia Crazy Horse

Aw rooty, now! This here biased and concise guide to some of the masterpieces of black rock should serve as a suitable entree to the aesthetics and titans of the genre. There are more black rockers on the planet than blackglama playa Lenny Kravitz and the on-again socio-shred quartet Living Colour, y'know? Blackfolks' history in the rock & roll arena has been likened to an "electric purgatory," but out of the madness comes magnificence.

Ike Turner

Before he beat (ex-wife) Tina, the Father of Rock & Roll, Ike Turner, transformed boogie-woogie into rock music with a driving back beat, fuzzy electric guitar and wailing saxophone at Memphis' Sun Studios in 1951, via legendary Oldsmobile ode "Rocket 88" (mistakenly credited to Turner's vocalist Jackie Brenston). From the highs of that No. 1 hit with his band the Kings of Rhythm through the lows of Turner's coke-fueled LA studio paradise, rock's first likely guitar god perfected a mix of blues, country and western, R&B, jazz and everything after. The Ikon has certainly been lauded by greats: Turner was referred to by Little Richard as "The Man" and B.B. King dubbed Tina's Bane "[The] best band leader I've ever seen." Check out Rhythm Rockin' Blues (Ace) to see if the Blues Boy was right.

Little Richard

Hailing from Macon, "Little" Richard Wayne Penniman is more than the Georgia Peach and a minister, honey -- he's the self-proclaimed "Architect of Rock & Roll." You can practice your piano bang with the Great Emancipator's debut, Here's Little Richard (Specialty), as accompaniment. Bow down before such rockin,' gender-bending, electrifying classics as "Tutti Frutti," "Long Tall Sally," and "Keep A Knockin'" -- or shuut up!

Ray Charles

Recently deceased and eulogized on celluloid via Jamie Foxx' Oscar-winning performance, Brother Ray will forever remain an American treasure due to his revolutionary erosion of the boundaries between Saturday night devil music and sanctified Sunday morning sounds. Furthermore, remember him not just for his keys mastery but his innovations in country music. Charles' Anthology (Rhino/WEA) collects several of his standards: "Hit the Road Jack," "I Got A Woman," "Georgia On My Mind." What'd I Say? Go git it!

Love

This high 60s psych-rock band was led by black Crenshaw-Adams native (by way of Memphis) Arthur Lee, a brilliant, mercurial musician who not only inspired and mentored the world's most famous (black) rock star, Jimi Hendrix, but Lee influenced Jim Morrison as well. Forever Changes, the Love group's string-laden classic full of dark visions of the American Way and baroque prefaces to suicide notes, regained its pride of place as a perennial cult favorite during Lee's recent tours (now sadly ended) with the young LA band Baby Lemonade.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience

This ubiquitous guitar mag posterboy needs no introduction. If your record collection lacks eternal ax spirit and "Voodoo Chile" Jimi's finest hours on tape, Electric Ladyland (Experience Hendrix), then get hip.

Sly & the Family Stone

The artist and funk king formerly known as Sylvester Stewart almost single-handedly revolutionized many forms of pop music at the turn of the 70s, with the release of his desperate, downer symphony There's A Riot Goin' On (Sony). Few musicians dared plumb the depths of such Sly songs as "Luv 'N' Haight" and "Spaced Cowboy" but many, from Madonna to Janet Jackson to Human League to World Party's Karl Wallinger, have made a mint aping the Family Stone's churchy harmonies, elastic beats, and multiracial/multi-gendered communion. Of interesting note: Sly produced the Jefferson Airplane classic, Surrealistic Pillow.

Betty Davis

This Betty Davis was born Miss Mabry. However, her eponymous debut (a rare groove Grail recently reissued in the UK -- where else?) places Miles Davis' ex-wife in badass league with the late Hollywood actress of the same name. These superstar ladies share not only factory-town heritage (Mabry hails from Pittsburgh, the actress from Lowell, MA), but inimitable voices and womanist strength. Corraling a slew of former Janis Joplin and Sly Stone sidemen, along with rocker-turned-disco divo Sylvester and the Pointer Sisters, the hot bitch who introduced her good friend Jimi to Miles fearlessly sings such lyrics as, "If I'm in luck I just might get picked up" in a pre-punk snarl Johnny Rotten could never top.

Prince

This many-handed, multiple-monikered one-man band from Minneapolis was almost the sole reservoir of rock in the 80s for "the Youth" and other folks of discerning taste. As an earlier generation of rockers descended into self-parody and desperate bids for relevance (ahem, world music, ahem), Prince's sexy electro and funkdafied psych provided a breath of fresh air in the Reagan Era, as the bouncy street track "Lady Cab Driver," Chuck Berry-esque road song "Little Red Corvette" and premillennial anthem "1999" attest.

David Ryan Harris

Former Follow For Now leader Harris, from down the road in Hot'lanta, delivered some of his finest tunes on 2001's unjustly overlooked Tragic Kingdom (Elektra/WEA), recorded as part of power trio Brand New Immortals. Even if you're not charmed by this disc's rave-ups ("Blacksun") and funky Wonderlove ("High Time"), the transcendent, soulful elegance of Harris' greatest song, "If I Had A Dime," will melt your Philistine heart.

Glen Scott

Scott may be the most unsung player amongst the last decade's crop of progressive black musicians. His first release, Without Vertigo (Sony), barely registers even with the crate-digger crowd, yet it's one of the best-crafted exhibits of the awesome might of black rock. Purveying a lush, Beatlesque soundtrack fit for archetypal black boho Denise Huxtable's wet dreams, Brer Scott's album deserves recognition amongst such 90s alternative fusion touchstones as Beck's Odelay and The Jayhawks' Sound Of Lies instead of being consigned to the dustbin of sonic history. He croons Sly's lyric "Shadrach, Meshach, Abendego" in the coda of "Way I Feel," self-consciously measuring the distance between Sly and himself. Both were maverick artists compromised by the major-label shortsightedness that still plagues black genius today.

***Thanks to Furious Rose for submitting this info.

Source: http://charlotte.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=125511

DRH Dreamsawake.com Interview, '04

Interview with David Ryan Harris

by Stephanie Shum

After enduring a couple of somewhat awkward and downright weird moments during our interview (unfortunately, said moments did not make the editorial cut), I can safely conclude that not only is David Ryan Harris an extremely talented vocalist and all-around fabulous musician, he is also able to laugh his way through tough situations -- a trait that is undoubtedly beneficial to have as a performer. Read on as Dreams Awake catches up with David after another solid performance.

Dreams Awake: Just a few random questions to start off with. If you could be on any reality TV show, which would it be?

David Ryan Harris: It would be Paradise Island, uh, Paradise Hotel. It is a good show. They're also young and stupid and it's very high school, so I would like to be on it to be the one that's not young and stupid.

DA: Besides your guitar and other musical instruments, what is something you have to have with you when you're out on tour?

DRH: Cell phone. Must have cell phone. It's an appendage. And I know that I should have it removed -- lanced -- but I'm addicted.

DA: You play many different instruments, guitar, drums, piano, among others. Out of those you currently aren't familiar with, which do you want to learn the most?

DRH: I would like to really be able to play piano. I play piano well enough to record songs but I'd like to be able to just ... I'd like to be the guy who walks past the baby grand in the lobby of a hotel and sit down and play Schubert or someone. That's not me; I can't even play Chopsticks really.

DA: What is in your CD player right now?

DRH: What is in my CD player? I don't have a CD player. See if you asked me what's in my iPod ...

DA: What is on your iPod right now?



DRH: In my iPod in heavy rotation: I've been listening to this guy Gavin DeGraw and this other guy Teitur, who I like a lot. He's probably my favourite new find.

DA: So I guess that answers my next question which is: name someone, an up and comer, you think everyone should listen to.

DRH: Teitur. T-E-I-T-U-R. I think his record's called "Poetry & Aeroplanes." Terrific.

DA: For those who still have not yet heard your music, how would you describe it to them?

DRH: It is everything except country music and at this point, hard rock. I mean, actually, I think it probably has more elements of country than hard rock. It's real ... it's very organic, I think, without being granola. It's based on my voice which really is kinda like a classic soul kind of voice and you know, written on guitar -- in that a lot of the songs are based around guitar, I guess it's got sort of a ... not really folk ... I guess it's just solo and acoustic guitar.

DA: Which of your songs do you think is the best "intro to David Ryan Harris" song and why?

DRH: Wow. Um, I would say "If I Had a Dime" because it's just really strong lyrically without being too ... you know, it doesn't have a lot of crazy metaphors necessarily. And musically and melodically, I just think it's really strong -- it's one of the better things I've written.

DA: Your first break into the music scene was with your band Follow For Now. When your experience with the group was over, what kind of lessons did you walk away with?

DRH: I don't know if there's enough space on that minidisc. Just that if I was going to succeed or fail, I didn't want to do it based on someone else's mistakes or someone else's ... I didn't want to ride on someone else's coattails. I just want to be a bit more responsible for my own ... destiny. I felt like I did a lot of, I guess at the time, I felt like I did a lot of work, but got more grief within the structure of the band than was necessary. I got more grief than I felt like I deserved and I really like the idea of being in a democratic situation. I haven't found anything that musically, as far as a group is concerned, I haven't found anything that was anywhere near a gratifying, you know, we had a great time -- actually, I had a dream that I was playing a Follow For Now show like two nights ago -- I listen back to the music and it's great. I have people come up and they tell me about their memories of shows and how frenetic they were. It was a really wonderful, wonderful time in my life and I wouldn't trade those days for anything.

DA: And now, the same question but after Brand New Immortals dis-banded.

DRH: Probably more of the same; just to be a little bit more reliant on myself musically. I like the idea of collaboration but sometimes just because I just don't want to be the only guy up there. So it's really kind of a lonely thing. When John was first going out, it was him and Dela. So just musically and also at the end of the night, you have somebody to kind of hang out with. All the fans come up and they're very appreciative, and I'm appreciative of them being appreciative, but at the end of the day, I'm not hooking up with chicks, I'm going to my room. So sometimes, that's kind of lonely so I guess the lesson was I just have to be okay with that. I have a lot of confidence now in doing what I do in front of whoever. I don't know how many people were out there tonight, but I think it's kind of ballsy for a guy to go and stand on the stage in front of people who don't know him with just an acoustic guitar. I was afraid of doing that before but not anymore.

DA: Obviously, you have experience as both a solo artist as well as a band member. Which do you prefer and why?

DRH: I would love to be in a band if I found at least 2, you know, maybe 3 other guys, I felt were bringing something really creative to the table. If I had a bass player, I don't want to have to tell the bass player what to play but at the same time, I don't want him to play something that I don't want to hear. So you multiply that by 4 musicians ... I mean, the Beatles were probably, in my estimation, the best example of 4 distinct personalities who all brought something incredible to create something that was much larger than any of them which, people talk about it all the time, them individually didn't come close to the musical impact that they had when they were all together. I would love to be a Beatle. I would love to be George, Ringo … I don't know if I'd want to be John or Paul.

DA: What do you think sets you apart from the all the other young male singer-songwriters out there?

DRH: I'm just better than them. No, uh, really, it's probably my voice. I mean, a lot of the singer-songwriters that I hear, the vocals aren't necessarily bad, but I'm a singer first -- at least that's the way I look at it. I think that's what people gravitate towards first, and then hopefully, they listen to the lyrics next. And then if that picture's nice enough to make them want to pay attention to the guitar, then we're done. It's a done deal.



DA: Tell us about your latest EP, Atlanta, which you recorded on your computer. How did you come about deciding to record and mix it on your own?

DRH: That is where I feel the most, um, it's just where I feel the most creative because I don't have the time constraints of being in a big studio. There is something to be said for being able to just roll out of bed and record in your underwear. Whatever, you just have a different head space, a completely different space. And I wasn't really sure how I wanted to go about doing it, like I had a sound in my head but it certainly wasn't an option for me to go fishing around for that sound in my head in a big studio and part of the reason why the EP was even necessary was that I didn't have anything recorded that was representative of the acoustic shows. So although the CD's not totally acoustic, I think ... it isn't a bait and switch that an acoustic show and the Brand New Immortals CD would be. Like if people see me play acoustic and then they buy the Brand New Immortals CD and they're like "okay, I guess it's the same thing" and just smile and nod.

DA: How long did the whole process take?

DRH: I don't know, maybe 3 months, off and on. A lot of give and take, trial and error. Basically, my thing was I wanted to start with maybe a metronome at least, a drum beat at best, and acoustic guitar and then I would put the vocals on. And if the song could exist without more stuff, then I wouldn't put more stuff on. Some of the songs, like "Strong Enough" for instance, had drums on it, but I took 'em out and it still worked. A lot of songs had bass on them. Whatever I could take out to get close enough to the acoustic and vocal, I took out. So that was like the process and some things were more successful than other things. I mean, it's a good representation of that time in my life and me being in Atlanta and living where I live.

DA: You have a new album coming out soon. What can we expect from it?

DRH: I don't really know. I have some live stuff that I recorded that I think is really good and really kind of captures the experience of being at a David Ryan Harris show but there isn't enough material to fill out an entire record. And then I also have some new songs that have been recorded more for a band but there's not enough of it to make an entire record and to be perfectly honest, I feel that I have had a fair amount of growth as a songwriter and it just needed to be represented in the songs and the package and the recordings and all that so I'll just keep plugging that up until I get it done.

DA: Let's talk about your songwriting process. Who would you say are some of your influences?

DRH: Songwriting-wise, certainly Stevie Wonder. Um, you know, although I really love the energy and the aggression and sort of a "working man, blue collar" thing of Lennon, I would probably rather be McCartney just from a melodic perspective. I do find myself saying sometimes "what would Paul McCartney do here?" So, there's Stevie, there's Paul McCartney, there's um, Prince ... lots of people. I guess it depends on what I'm working on at the time. Some songs, lyrics are really their focal point and then I have a different set of influences and then if it's more of a groove thing, like Sly and the Family Stone or ... Prince or something.

DA: Where do you like to write?

DRH: I don't really have any real place. I thoroughly enjoy singing into my little Dictaphone thing ... for ideas. The guitar sounds really good coming out of it. So, anywhere. I mean, I feel like you don't really write the songs, they're already out there. You just have to be quiet long enough to pick them up.



DA: What comes to you first, the lyrics or the music?

DRH: Probably the melody. It takes a long time sometimes because I adhere to the actual rhythm of the melody and sometimes it's really hard to put words over the rhythm. I guess that's any songwriter's problem.

DA: Have you written a song that just came flowing right out?

DRH: "If I Had a Dime." I almost feel bad or guilty taking praise for it because it came so quickly and from somewhere else that I don't really feel like I wrote it. Like I sat down and was like "where the hell did that come from?"

DA: What is the song you're most proud of lyrically?

DRH: Hmm, I don't know, I guess it changes from time to time. I mean, when I wrote "Turn Around," I really liked some of the lyrical phrases and that. I like "Pretty Girl" now just because it's really simple and I have a tendency to run myself in circles lyrically and have to try to have everything said a certain sort of way and "Pretty Girl" kind of does away with that in a really simple way that's very reflective.

DA: At what point do you feel confident enough in a song that you can perform it in front of an audience?

DRH: Soon as I can do a verse, chorus, verse, chorus -- I don't mind screwing up. I guess it just depends on the audience but it doesn't have to be all done up for me. Most of these people, they never heard any of my songs so they don't know if I'm screwing it up or not.

DA: The list of people you have collaborated with is impressive: DMB, Dionne Farris, Mariah Carey, Santana, just to name a few. Which artist or artists would you like to collaborate with next?

DRH: I would like to do a record with The Roots. Just because it's a band first and foremost but they have a grasp of a lot of different elements that I think ... just the ability to be able to communicate your ideas to someone that can quickly go from genre to genre or sound to sound -- a luxury that a lot of people don't have. So yah, I'd like to work with them. I like what they've got going on. I think they would appreciate where I'm coming from.

DA: And finally, think 3 years down the road. Where would you like to see yourself?

DRH: 3 years down the road? I don't know, hopefully, I would still be making music CDs, for myself. I like the fact that at this point, I don't have to do them on any real sort of schedule. I don't really want that to change. I don't want to have to go on the road. I enjoy it but I don't want to have to do it. I really would like to be able to continue doing what I do yet still maintain control of my life. I think that's what anybody wants to do. Nobody wants to have to work. Nobody wants to have to practice piano or do things they don't want to do. And I've been fortunate enough where now, I don't necessarily have to go on the road. And I think my shows are better for it, my attitude is better for it and hopefully, the music is better for it. So hopefully there will just be more opportunities for me to do that.


Source: http://www.dreamsawake.com/interviews/drh/index.htm

DRH in ATL Journal-Constitution, 2003

IN THE DRESSING ROOM

WITH DAVID RYAN HARRIS at Smith's Olde Bar. Talk about low maintenance.

by Sonia Murray

All the man required for his amazing set was bottled water ("Gotta stay hydrated!"), Sweetwater 420 ("Had to have it because I can't find it in Los Angeles") and a bottle of Camelot merlot (well, just because).

Privacy wasn't even a must. Opener Teitur shared the sole seat in the room -- actually a bench -- with Harris, who didn't seem to mind as the burgeoning singer-songwriter did a Catwomanlike growl to warm up. People just casually floated past the opened door as Harris tuned his new Martin acoustic guitar. That kind of thing.

"This is home," sighed Harris, who after stints as a member of Atlanta rock band Follow for Now, Dionne Farris's guitarist, a solo moment and more time as a member of Brand New Immortals, decided to leave Atlanta last year for California.

Since then, a busy Web site (www.davidryanharris.com), a song on the "Biker Boys" soundtrack -- plus more songs in the movie -- and some studio work with John Mayer have kept the bills paid. "But what's been priceless is the freedom to move at my pace," he says. "Not to knock major label deals, because I've had three -- and they have given some people a great platform for their work -- but this kind of creative space and time has been amazing."

Oh, and before he left to play, it was hard not to notice the "window advisory" behind his bald head, which read: "If your band sticker ends up on our window, you will be asked to pay for a new window along with jeopardizing any chance to ever again grace the stage here at Smith's Olde Bar.

"Thank you in advance for your professionalism and courtesy."


***Thanks to Furious Rose for submitting this interview.

DRH in Marist College paper, 2003

CD REVIEW: David Ryan Harris breaks onto pop-rock scene

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. -- In the last year-and-a-half, the sonic landscape has been overrun by fresh-faced American Eagle ad's armed, like an of army of pop-rock terminators, with acoustic guitars and sly, "trust me" smiles. The likes of John Mayer, Jason Mraz, Jack Johnson, and a host of others whose names don't necessarily begin with the letter "J" have made it nearly impossible to turn on MTV or pick up a copy of Rolling Stone without being force-fed a sticky-sweet brand of Dylan-esque bubble-gum wads that don't even muster enough conviction or talent to pass for Stealers Wheel, let alone Mr. Freewheelin'.

Enter David Ryan Harris, a college drop-out from Atlanta who, on paper, appears to be just another [expletive] with a guitar. The biggest difference (and there are many) between Harris and his contemporaries is a genuine gift for singing. Harris employs a soul-stirring mix of Lenny Kravitz grit and Stevie Wonder grace, a credit to both his own vocal ability and his sophisticated sonic palate (Harris paid homage to both Radiohead and Prince during the course of his performance at the Nelly Goletti Theater Sept. 6).

Lyrically, Harris finds himself mulling over the lessons learned from past relationships, rather than pining for the girl lost in the process ("Strong Enough", "Do What You Want", "Turn Around"). When not contemplating the fairer sex, Harris takes care to maintain a social awareness, if only for a song or two. With "Dickin' Around", a Stevie Ray Vaughn-influenced ramble denoting society's tendency to ignore its problems rather than confront them, Harris brandished his guitar like a seasoned pro, going as far to pay homage to the Voodoo Child himself with a behind-the-head solo.

Though not exactly a rarity in today's pop community, Harris separates himself from the pack in a number of ways, not the least of which is a distinct R&B approach to a genre of music that, until now, has been rooted almost entirely in alt-country and mainstream rock n' roll. Only time time will tell if his unique approach will pay off.


***Thanks to Furious Rose for submitting this interview.

DRH Apache Cafe

DRH in ATL Journal-Constitution, 2001

ARTS ONLINE

BIGWIG BOOKMARKS: David Ryan Harris

David Ryan Harris has been a a fixture on the local music scene for many years. He spent eight years fronting Atlanta rockers Follow for Now, then launched a solo career. Now he's embarked on another high-profile gig. Harris' latest band, Brand New Immortals, will release its major-label debut, "Tragic Show," June 26 on Elektra Records.

As you might expect, Harris has a few music sites on his favorites list, and his home page shouldn't be too surprising either. "My home page is set up to be brandnewimmortals.com," he says.

Other places Harris visits:

www.sonicfoundry.com -- Creating music in the new millennium often involves a computer, with sound files such as wavs and programs that manipulate them. This site "has an amazing program called Acid that is available for download," Harris says. "It's a loop creation tool. It's a really cool Web site, and they have lots of links to other places where you can find wav files."

www.handspring.com -- With his busy travel schedule, it's not surprising that Harris has a hand-held computer, and this is where he gets the software for it. "They make Visors. Basically, it's a Palm-type thing. Sometimes I'll download a couple of games that keep me from doing work." But those games have the advantage of making him look busy. "People see me in the airport and say, 'Boy, that guy looks like he's working hard.' "

-- Shane Harrison


***Thanks to Furious Rose for submitting this interview.

DRH in ATL Journal-Constitution, 1997

Pop Music
PREVIEW
David Ryan Harris.

Ex-Follow for Now vocalist Harris steers his soul to solo waters

Expectations have hung over David Ryan Harris' head since he and four other black guys ---some with dreads ---stepped on the stage. And didn't sing reggae. Or R&B.

No. His band, Follow for Now, was a rock band, folks. A few years later, more expectations when Harris served as the musical director on the tour of local vocalist Dionne Farris, whose critically r received debut, "I Know," generated all the attention that goes along with being the New Big Thing.

This week, more expectations for Harris. The 29-year-old Atlantan's eponymous solo debut hits the Billboard charts with a record mixed by Grammy-nominated producer Brendan O'Brien, on O'Brien's new Atlanta label.

Expectations. Expectations. And more.

"Yeah, and I tend to stay really separate from it," says Harris, sipping a "Shot in the Dark" espresso at the Little Five Points Aurora Coffee, just a few doors down from where he'll have his CD release show tonight. "Especially now that I'm married and have kids, I don't really get out. Which could be a good thing or a bad thing. But it allows me the time to figure out who I am and just try to really please the spirits that are giving me my gift.

"The thing that's strange but different is that for as long as I've been at this it's still like my debut," adds Harris, who gets so many enthusiastic "Hey mans" from the people in this area ---papered with his fliers ---that you would think he was passing out money. "No matter how big (Follow for Now was) here, we didn't sell any records in Wichita. So I'm just focusing and trying to make sure that my first step is the step that I want and need to take."

His footing has to be secure. He's headed out of the gate with the kind of record that radio hasn't embraced and even the artist has trouble neatly summing up.

"My record is different in that it's guitar-based," Harris begins to explain. "People are making the D'Angelo and Maxwell and Seal and Terence Trent D'Arby comparisons. And although all those artists are good artists, and make good music, none of that stuff is based in guitar. Which makes i it difficult. Because black folks in particular ain't really trying to hear no guitar.

"At times I don't think my record is really that R&B. I guess because I think R&B has, recently, . . . stopped being about songs and live instruments and substance. But, then again, I don't want to say it's a rock record. It's hard to say what it is."

Such is the result when you're a kid like Harris growing up in a town with no distinctive musical sound.

"There's no mecca for Atlanta, there's no central anything," says Harris, who was born in Evanston, Ill., but moved here when he was 6. "People are in their own pockets doing their own thing. Which is a good thing.

"For myself, when I was growing up, I was all about being in my bedroom and listening to my records. I wasn't really into the music mags, I had never seen Creative Loafing. And it seemed perfectly normal to me to listen to Prince, Gino Vannelli, Bad Brains and Steely Dan. That was just my experience."

Harris' experience, coupled with O'Brien's obvious gifts, makes him confident about whatever happens to him come Labor Day, when he officially hits the road and meets his public. "I've got what I've learned since we put out that Follow for Now record six years ago," Harris says. "I've got the benefit of Brendan's experience. The benefit of his ear. And more than anything, the benefit of the doors that have been opened for him.

"Now it's just a matter of getting out there and making sure we give this record its best shot. It's like being a door-to-door salesman. If you know you went to all the houses in the neighborhood then that's all you c can do. And a lot of that's out of my hands. As far as the music is concerned, I've done my thing."

WILLIAM BERRY / Staff


***Thanks to Furious Rose for submitting this interview.

DRH in Guitar Player, Sept. 97

Copyright Miller Freeman Inc. Sep 1997

THROUGH FOLLOWING

David Ryan-Harris, the 29-year-old former leader of Follow for Now, knows what he wants to be doing when he gets older. "I saw Pops Staples on television, and he was still singing Staples Singers songs from back in the old days," he says. "Those are the kind of songs I want to be performing when I'm 60. I don't feel the need to be as visceral as I was with Follow for Now." This helps explain the more nuanced soul-rock stylings of his self-titled debut album, mixed by Brendan O'Brien.

Whereas Follow for Now went for the groovadelic jugular vein, RyanHarris is now happier exploring the smoother side of the R&B spectrum, with a sound that echoes Seal, Prince, Joni Mitchell and Stevie Wonder. "If I Had a Dime," "Sleep" and "Change" unwind slowly, fleshed out by floating vocals and understated electric and acoustic woven into dreamy, funky textures that, he says, separate him from the "urban alternative" crowd. "None of the artists in the popular arena are approaching their material from a guitar point of view," he says. "Prince was the last artist from that style that people identified as being a guitarist."

After Follow for Now ended its five-year run in 1992, Ryan-Harris, a transplanted Georgian from Evanston, Illinois, backed up singer Dionne Farris for a year. He started work on his album last summer, continuing the exploration of acoustic guitar he'd begun in the final days of Follow for Now. He tuned his 1966 Gibson Country and Western four different ways for the album, including open D and the C, A, ES, C, F, high F heard on "Genie." "What I like about alternate tunings," David says, "is how you can broaden your palette by just hitting a tuning peg."

He ran his PRS McCarty solidbody through a Roland VG-8 guitar synth into a Fender Pro Junior, a Fender Vibroverb and Matchless DC-30s, using the combos' internal speakers or a '70s Marshall 4x12. A self-confessed "pedal whore," Ryan-Harris also hauled out an Electro-Harmonix Micro Synth and a Prescription Electronics Experience Pedal, as well as an E-Bow. "There are a million boxes you can plug into that make you sound like a beer commercial, but I like things that make you sound like you don't know how to play. They give you personality."


***Thanks to Furious Rose for submitting this interview

DRH in Billboard June 97

HARRIS SHOWS OFF A SOUND ALL HIS OWN ON 57 RECORDS DEBUT


David Ryan Harris' name may not ring a familiar bell, but his music probably does. The Atlanta-based singer/songwriter/guitarist was the secret ingredient in Dionne Farris' 1994 Columbia debut, "Wild Seed-Wild Flower." He co-wrote two songs, co-produced six, played guitar, and served as musical director on that set. Or, some may remember Harris from his acclaimed eclectic funk rock band Follow For Now, whose self-titled 1991 Chrysalis album was overshadowed by the success of the similar-sounding Living Colour.

Now, Harris is striking out on his own with his self-titled, self-produced debut album on Brendan O'Brien's Sony imprint, 57 Records, due July 22 via Columbia. He hooked up with 57 Records through his longtime association with O'Brien, who produced the first demo tapes of "Follow For Now." O'Brien also mixed "David Ryan Harris." The enhanced CD (ECD) features footage from Harris' four-minute electronic press kit, interview clips, and an acoustic version of the album track "Nothing More To Say." The ECD also includes a World Wide Web browser to connect listeners to his site on the Internet, which is at www.davidryanharris.com.

"This album is a logical progression, but then a logical progression gives a connotation of being thought-out, but it's not. It's just where I am now," says the 29-year-old artist of his debut, which ranges from pure pop to soulful singer/songwriter-type songs to gentle rockers with hints of R&B and jazz. "I wanted to show my range. This record is all about the fact that I needed to put these songs out with these different styles and approaches so that the second record, if it's only one of these styles, will make sense."

The diversity on the album stems from Harris' upbringing--his mother spoon-fed him the blues of John Lee Hooker, while his father got him into bebop and jazz. The result is an artist who cites Bad Brains' "I Against I" and Stevie Wonder's "Songs In The Key Of Life" as two of his favorite albums and '70s popster Gino Vanelli, classic rockers Steely Dan, and is as a few of his favorite artists.

What do these artists have in common? "The element of surprisewithin the structure of the songs," says Harris. "That's what Ilike to do. I don't want people to already know what key I'm goingto do the chorus in. Surprise within structure, and certainlysurprise from song to song. The only thing that is somewhat centralto everything I do is blues. It's all blues-based stuff. Soul andblues, which is where I really come from.

"Not everyone is allowed artistic freedom like Stevie Wonder was," he continues. "He had something that was definitely his sound, but he was still allowed to dress it up in different clothes. He was probably the last artist to be allowed to do that. There aren't a lot of artists that the music critics allow to make those grand shifting artistic statements, and I know that that is something I want to do."

It wasn't exactly Harris' choice to wait so long between projects. "After the breakup of Follow For Now, I couldn't sign a record deal or do anything because of a legal entanglement with my ex-managers, who managed Follow For Now," explains Harris. He is now managed by Pete Angelus of Angelus Entertainment, who also managed the Black Crowes. "It was hard, no one would touch me for fear of being brought in on this suit [by his former managers], so I just sat tight and worked with other people."

Some of the people he has worked with in the past few years are Michelle Malone, Edwin McCain, and Seedy Arkhestra (helmed by fromer Fishbone member Chris Dowd).

The legal setback may have been a blessing in disguise, since Harris has learned, albeit the hard way, more about the business side of the music industry. "First, I don't know if I was ready to have a record of my own out four years ago," he admits. "I've just learned so much from a producing standpoint finding out who I am and paying my dues. I still have a lot to learn, but I'm not green anymore."

While the label doesn't service radio until late July, modern rock WNNX Atlanta's "Locals Only" show, which airs Sundays 6-8 p.m., is already playing "Change" from the album and in May had Harris perform on the "Locals Only" stage at the Atlanta Music Midtown Festival.

"There's been a big anticipation buzz about David because of the success of Follow For Now on a local level. They were a big 'Oh, I remember them' reaction band," says Steve Craig, midday personality at WNNX and host of "Locals Only." "He played the last night of the festival to a sea of people who were just mesmerized and grooving to him and his band. It was a phenomenal performance. He gave me his CD, and I've been leaning on 'Change' a lot."

Craig says the reaction to "Change" was equally "phenomenal" and that Atlanta listeners were calling to find out if David Ryan Harris is the same David Harris who was in Follow For Now. "His style does a lot to bridge the gap between urban and pop and rock," adds Craig. "It's real good mass-appeal, and everyone here is asking for it."

"Change" will be one of the songs on a four-song sampler that Columbia will issue to college, triple-A, mainstream rock, and modern rock radio stations. The sampler will also include "If I Had A Dime," "Sympathy For The Crow," and "Six Feet Off The Ground." The label's initial plan is to forgo the first single and introduce Harris to various radio formats as an "artist," according to Greg Linn, marketing manager at Columbia.

The label is looking for feedback from the various formats to help guide it on which way to go with the album, says Linn.

Already, Harris has been well received by a wide range of national publications. There will be features on Harris in the September issues of Vibe, Musician, and Guitar Player, while reviews are running in Request and Mademoiselle.

"We don't think of David formatically here," says Linn. "We just want to put him in front of a lot of people. His music crosses a lot of boundaries; he's an African-American man who listens to everything from Stevie Wonder to the Allman Brothers. His audience can come from all walks of life; we just want to get him in front of the right audience."

Troy Blakely at Agency for the Performing Arts is in the midst of scheduling a summer tour for Harris, which will include a June 25 showcase in Atlanta.

~~~~~~~~

BY CARRIE BORZILLO


***Thanks to Furious Rose for submitting this interview

DRH in Billboard, June 97

Five Atlantan Acts To Follow

By Jeff Clark

DAVID RYAN HARRIS

For David Ryan Harris, the most important thing he's learned since his former band Follow For Now disintegrated four years ago is patience. "I guess right after we broke up, what I wanted to do was kinda parlay whatever name I'd made for myself with that band into a deal and keep moving immediately. Of course, that didn't happen."

Instead, after Chrysalis rejected the Atlanta funk-rock quintet's demos for their second album, there was talk of a Harris solo deal with Columbia Records, which never materialized. "But ultimately, I wasn't really ready, even if it had happened," Harris now says.

He spent much of '94 and '95 playing guitar with fellow Atlantan Dionne Farris, on her "Wild Seed-Wild Flower" album (on which he also co-wrote and co-produced several tracks) and subsequent tour. It was on several of those dates that Harris opened Farris' show with a solo set, getting comfortable with his new songs and the idea of being the sole focal point.

"At that point, [solo gigs] were really the most petrifying experiences you could imagine," Harris claims. "Now it's the easiest. It's really gratifying, because I know I'm in full control."

Now Harris is gearing up with a new band and preparing to tour in support of his long-awaited solo debut, due in July on Brendan O'Brien's 57 Records, through Columbia. With a more soulful, introspective bent than the rambunctious Follow For Now was known for (the band took its name from a line in a Public Enemy song), the "David Ryan Harris" album reflects the down-to-earth concerns of a 29-year-old father of three who has finally outgrown impatience. "I admire people who are slow and deliberate," Harris says. "So I'm just trying to chill out."


***Thanks to Furious Rose for submitting this interview.