Saturday, April 20, 2002
Sunday, December 30, 2001
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.
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.
Tuesday, December 30, 1997
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.
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.
Tuesday, September 30, 1997
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
Monday, June 30, 1997
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
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
Sunday, June 29, 1997
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.
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.
Friday, December 30, 1994
DRH in ATL Journal-Constitution, 1994
CONCERT PREVIEW: David Ryan Harris
Breakup, breaking rules easy for Harris
By Sonia Murray STAFF WRITER
David Ryan Harris veered from the usual rap/R&B route to form the Atlanta rock band Follow for Now, even though the number of current, visible black rock acts was less than the fingers on his hand. ("There was Living Colour, Fishbone and uhhh . . .") He is happy being rid of his big-label record contract. And he's ecstatic about being part of a new band he doubts will be well-received.
Harris is a rarity in the music biz "and it's a good thing," he says in his hotel room in Los Angeles. "Because the music business, man, I don't know. What's being accepted by the masses, what's being played on the radio, what's coming out now. . . . Let's just say I'm happy not being part of the norm."
On this day, Harris and fellow Atlantan Dionne Farris are spending time on the other coast completing a track called "People" for the Japan-only release of Farris' touted debut, "Wild Seed-Wild Flower." And they're also reworking Nina Simone's "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free" for the soundtrack of the upcoming TV movie, "Promise Land."
Harris, an accomplished vocalist, guitarist and songwriter in his own right, worked alongside former Arrested Development vocalist Farris in creating the "Wild Seed" songs "Don't Ever Touch Me (Again)" and "Food for Thought." The 28-year-old had time to spare as his local band of eight years, Follow for Now, had just played its last gig.
"What happened with Follow for Now, hmmm," ponders Harris, referring to the breakup seven months ago. "I've heard different things. Even people that were there have different stories. But for me, we just got to be too restricted. We got into a rut of what a Follow for Now song should be. People came to expect us to do certain things. I didn't want people to expect. I felt like a novelty. And it got to the point where we played into that whole thing, so I quit. We quit."
Harris is back in his breaking-the-rules mode as a part of Farris' band. Her music doesn't easily fall into one category, which could spell problems in an industry hinging on labels. Blues, R&B, folk and rock could all claim it as its own. "If what's on radio now is any indication [of how we'll be received], than we are going to have a hard time," says Harris. "But we won't let that deter us. Dionne's going to do her thing. I'm going to do my solo thing. If I wanted to, I [could] turn out some Babyface [for radio]. It's not bad necessarily. But it's not what I'm about.
"Playing now is like when Follow for Now first started," he adds. "We're just getting in a room and playing music that tickles us."
***Thanks to Furious Rose for submitting this interview.
Breakup, breaking rules easy for Harris
By Sonia Murray STAFF WRITER
David Ryan Harris veered from the usual rap/R&B route to form the Atlanta rock band Follow for Now, even though the number of current, visible black rock acts was less than the fingers on his hand. ("There was Living Colour, Fishbone and uhhh . . .") He is happy being rid of his big-label record contract. And he's ecstatic about being part of a new band he doubts will be well-received.
Harris is a rarity in the music biz "and it's a good thing," he says in his hotel room in Los Angeles. "Because the music business, man, I don't know. What's being accepted by the masses, what's being played on the radio, what's coming out now. . . . Let's just say I'm happy not being part of the norm."
On this day, Harris and fellow Atlantan Dionne Farris are spending time on the other coast completing a track called "People" for the Japan-only release of Farris' touted debut, "Wild Seed-Wild Flower." And they're also reworking Nina Simone's "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free" for the soundtrack of the upcoming TV movie, "Promise Land."
Harris, an accomplished vocalist, guitarist and songwriter in his own right, worked alongside former Arrested Development vocalist Farris in creating the "Wild Seed" songs "Don't Ever Touch Me (Again)" and "Food for Thought." The 28-year-old had time to spare as his local band of eight years, Follow for Now, had just played its last gig.
"What happened with Follow for Now, hmmm," ponders Harris, referring to the breakup seven months ago. "I've heard different things. Even people that were there have different stories. But for me, we just got to be too restricted. We got into a rut of what a Follow for Now song should be. People came to expect us to do certain things. I didn't want people to expect. I felt like a novelty. And it got to the point where we played into that whole thing, so I quit. We quit."
Harris is back in his breaking-the-rules mode as a part of Farris' band. Her music doesn't easily fall into one category, which could spell problems in an industry hinging on labels. Blues, R&B, folk and rock could all claim it as its own. "If what's on radio now is any indication [of how we'll be received], than we are going to have a hard time," says Harris. "But we won't let that deter us. Dionne's going to do her thing. I'm going to do my solo thing. If I wanted to, I [could] turn out some Babyface [for radio]. It's not bad necessarily. But it's not what I'm about.
"Playing now is like when Follow for Now first started," he adds. "We're just getting in a room and playing music that tickles us."
***Thanks to Furious Rose for submitting this interview.
Wednesday, December 30, 1992
DRH in ATL Journal-Constitution, 1992
Foiled in their fight for acceptance, African-American rock-'n'-rollers
play on
by Russ DeVault STAFF WRITER; STAFF
excerpt from a larger article:
David Ryan-Harris of the Atlanta rock band Follow For Now, which plays The Cotton Club this weekend, agrees. It has "been a long, uphill climb" for the band, which began getting college radio and album-rock station airplay this week for its song "Evil Wheel." "It's a problem, but I don't know who to blame," Mr. Harris says.
...Michael Hughes, program director at WKLS-FM (96rock) in Atlanta, contends that record labels and acts are trying to give black stations "the obligation to play black rock to support their own. We play Living Colour, Follow For Now and other black acts, but I can see why V-103 wouldn't."...
...Living Colour, Follow For Now, Momma Stud, Eye & I, the Family Stand and others have recording deals, but the cycle is a vicious one...
...Follow For Now. Formed in 1988, the Atlanta quintet ranges from metal to rap. Its self-titled debut album includes the anti-drug message of "Temptation" and a swipe at the Ku Klux Klan in "White Hood."
***Thanks to Furious Rose for submitting this interview.
play on
by Russ DeVault STAFF WRITER; STAFF
excerpt from a larger article:
David Ryan-Harris of the Atlanta rock band Follow For Now, which plays The Cotton Club this weekend, agrees. It has "been a long, uphill climb" for the band, which began getting college radio and album-rock station airplay this week for its song "Evil Wheel." "It's a problem, but I don't know who to blame," Mr. Harris says.
...Michael Hughes, program director at WKLS-FM (96rock) in Atlanta, contends that record labels and acts are trying to give black stations "the obligation to play black rock to support their own. We play Living Colour, Follow For Now and other black acts, but I can see why V-103 wouldn't."...
...Living Colour, Follow For Now, Momma Stud, Eye & I, the Family Stand and others have recording deals, but the cycle is a vicious one...
...Follow For Now. Formed in 1988, the Atlanta quintet ranges from metal to rap. Its self-titled debut album includes the anti-drug message of "Temptation" and a swipe at the Ku Klux Klan in "White Hood."
***Thanks to Furious Rose for submitting this interview.
Monday, December 30, 1991
DRH in The Anniston Star (AL), 1991
Follow For Now makes mark
by Mike Stedham
Follow For Now, a five-member band that blends rock, rap, funk,
gospel and swing into its music, will return to Jacksonville on Monday and
Tuesday nights for two shows at Brothers' Bar.
The Atlanta-based group, which is touring in support of its
self-titled debut album, will also make an appearance Tuesday
afternoon at Slip Disc in the Anniston Plaza.
Formed in April 1988, the band quickly made its mark on the
Southern club scene and signed a publishing deal soon after. They
entered Atlanta's Triclops Studio in January of this year and
released ''Follow For Now'' on Chrysalis Records four months later.
Vocalist-guitarist David Ryan-Harris says the band was happy with
the results.
''In making this record, as in our live shows, we want to sound
like a band, to be very organic with no sampling, and to have a
feel more than an actual sound,'' he says.
Most of the songs on the record are original compositions by the
band, reflecting the diversity of their musical backgrounds and
tastes. The only cover is a hard-driving version of Public Enemy's
''She Watch Channel Zero.''
''A lot of people are waiting for something to bridge the gap
between rock and rap,'' Ryan-Harris says. ''That, plus all the
retro-seventies buzzes that are going around make the times ripe
for Follow For Now.''
Many of the band's songs deal with contemporary social issues, and
their attitude is in keeping with the current rap scene. But the
band does include some love songs, and the overall blend of the
sound has a strong dose of straight rock 'n' roll.
''We grew up among a lot of various musical influences and we use
them all,'' Ryan-Harris says. ''It's really diverse because
everything we listen to influences us. This album is almost like
the 'Cliff's Notes' of music.''
***Thanks to Furious Rose for submitting this interview.
by Mike Stedham
Follow For Now, a five-member band that blends rock, rap, funk,
gospel and swing into its music, will return to Jacksonville on Monday and
Tuesday nights for two shows at Brothers' Bar.
The Atlanta-based group, which is touring in support of its
self-titled debut album, will also make an appearance Tuesday
afternoon at Slip Disc in the Anniston Plaza.
Formed in April 1988, the band quickly made its mark on the
Southern club scene and signed a publishing deal soon after. They
entered Atlanta's Triclops Studio in January of this year and
released ''Follow For Now'' on Chrysalis Records four months later.
Vocalist-guitarist David Ryan-Harris says the band was happy with
the results.
''In making this record, as in our live shows, we want to sound
like a band, to be very organic with no sampling, and to have a
feel more than an actual sound,'' he says.
Most of the songs on the record are original compositions by the
band, reflecting the diversity of their musical backgrounds and
tastes. The only cover is a hard-driving version of Public Enemy's
''She Watch Channel Zero.''
''A lot of people are waiting for something to bridge the gap
between rock and rap,'' Ryan-Harris says. ''That, plus all the
retro-seventies buzzes that are going around make the times ripe
for Follow For Now.''
Many of the band's songs deal with contemporary social issues, and
their attitude is in keeping with the current rap scene. But the
band does include some love songs, and the overall blend of the
sound has a strong dose of straight rock 'n' roll.
''We grew up among a lot of various musical influences and we use
them all,'' Ryan-Harris says. ''It's really diverse because
everything we listen to influences us. This album is almost like
the 'Cliff's Notes' of music.''
***Thanks to Furious Rose for submitting this interview.
DRH in Austin-American Statesman, 1991
Sounding like leaders
Follow For Now bridges musical styles to stand out among black rock bands
by Don McLeese
The band's name is Follow For Now, but don't expect it to play follow the leader. Though the Atlanta band's attempt to reclaim rock as a black musical birthright inevitably invites comparison with the likes of Living Colour, its forthcoming debut album shows the ambition and audacity that marks the most determinedly original music. Within its funk grooves and rock dynamics, Follow For Now plays with the urgency of a trailblazer.
Austin can hear a sneak preview Friday, when the band opens for Ian Moore at Liberty Lunch in the midst of making its first trip to Los Angeles. The gig represents a triumphant return for Follow For Now, which created a significant stir when it played South by Southwest in 1990. A few months later, the band signed with Chrysalis, which will release the Follow For Now debut on Sept. 10.
Though the range of the band's music reflects influences such as Sly Stone, Jimi Hendrix and George Clinton, it additionally incorporates more contemporary elements from hardcore metal to rap (the band's name comes from a Public Enemy number). Rather than an assortment of influences and attitudes, however, Follow For Now impresses most through the strength of its songcraft, which fuses these disparate musical elements into a coherent whole.
"We didn't have 10 songs that would have made a single-style album," explained 23-year-old David Ryan Harris, the band's singer, lead guitarist and primary songwriter. "I think it flows very well, but we didn't make a conscious effort to stay in one general area . . .
"Before the band started, I had never been in a band that played out in the music scene before," he continued. "I was just sort of holed up in my room, listening to a really wide range of stuff. When I put the band together, it was like a child really knows no difference between black and white. I like all these different types of music, so what's the big deal?"
Like most of the emerging black rock acts - from Living Colour to Fishbone to Austin's Chris Thomas - Follow For Now finds itself playing music that is steeped in black consciousness and influences for audiences that are overwhelmingly white.
"I think a lot of it has to do with urban contemporary radio (the latest euphemism for what was once known as `R&B' or simply `black' radio), where they make it seem if you're black and play guitar, you're freaky," said Harris. "Radio is just so pigeonholed, and I think that black radio is the worse for that. If it's not drum-machine, new-jack-swing stuff, then it doesn't get played.
"I think that bands like us, Living Colour and Fishbone can kind of turn things in the proper direction, little by little, chip by chip, but we're by no means on a mission to do that. I think the youth can listen to what we do and hear strains of things that are in hip-hop songs. Like hip-hop songs will take things from James Brown or Sly Stone or Parliament-Funkadelic, and it's really popular. Now here's a contemporary band doing those things, but playing their instruments for real."
This week's calendar additionally marks the return of a couple of other bands that made career breakthroughs with South by Southwest showcases. The Cannibal Club could promote its offerings as a class reuniuon of SXSW '89, with Milwaukee's Spanic Boys playing tonight followed by Arkansas' Gunbunnies Friday.
South by Southwest was the start of an extended Cinderella story for the father-and-son team of Tom and Ian Spanic. Midwest bar-circuit regulars since forming a band in the mid-'80s as Those Spanic Boys, the Spanics arrived at SXSW as comparative unknowns, but left as the featured act in MTV's conference coverage and with an offer from Rounder Records in their pockets.
From there, things have continued to snowball for the Spanics. Their Rounder album caught the ear of Saturday Night Live, which booked the Spanics as a last-minute replacement when Sinead O'Connor cancelled her appearance. Making their first trip to New York, they found themselves pursued by both Rolling Stone and Entertainment Tonight, both of whom did features on the band.
While the novelty of a father-and-son band creates an obvious hook, the bedrock traditionalism and yearning harmonies of the Spanics show a staying power beyond novelty fare. They remain one of the world's great bar bands, and the Cannibal's a great bar in which to hear them.
As for the Gunbunnies, their fairy-tale coach turned into a pumpkin when Virgin Records dropped the band after a single album which received little promotion and even less airplay. When the band returned to SXSW this year, it was back in the ranks of the unsigned hopefuls, though the Gunbunnies' quirky brand of Southern soulfulness merits another shot.
Apparently, the days when a band is allowed to develop its music and its audience over the course of a few albums are long gone, at least at Virgin. Syd Straw, appearing at the Cactus tonight and Friday, was also a victim of the label's quick hook, when her terrific solo debut failed to find the audience it deserved.
For those whose love of music extends to more than an overnight return, it's almost criminal when a label that professes enough faith in its artists to sign them doesn't show enough faith to sustain them. An industry that once prided itself on developing careers has become way too focused on the instant sensation, the popular hit as disposable commodity, a quick-fix strategy that threatens severe musical damage over the long haul.
***Thanks to Furious Rose for submitting this interview.
Follow For Now bridges musical styles to stand out among black rock bands
by Don McLeese
The band's name is Follow For Now, but don't expect it to play follow the leader. Though the Atlanta band's attempt to reclaim rock as a black musical birthright inevitably invites comparison with the likes of Living Colour, its forthcoming debut album shows the ambition and audacity that marks the most determinedly original music. Within its funk grooves and rock dynamics, Follow For Now plays with the urgency of a trailblazer.
Austin can hear a sneak preview Friday, when the band opens for Ian Moore at Liberty Lunch in the midst of making its first trip to Los Angeles. The gig represents a triumphant return for Follow For Now, which created a significant stir when it played South by Southwest in 1990. A few months later, the band signed with Chrysalis, which will release the Follow For Now debut on Sept. 10.
Though the range of the band's music reflects influences such as Sly Stone, Jimi Hendrix and George Clinton, it additionally incorporates more contemporary elements from hardcore metal to rap (the band's name comes from a Public Enemy number). Rather than an assortment of influences and attitudes, however, Follow For Now impresses most through the strength of its songcraft, which fuses these disparate musical elements into a coherent whole.
"We didn't have 10 songs that would have made a single-style album," explained 23-year-old David Ryan Harris, the band's singer, lead guitarist and primary songwriter. "I think it flows very well, but we didn't make a conscious effort to stay in one general area . . .
"Before the band started, I had never been in a band that played out in the music scene before," he continued. "I was just sort of holed up in my room, listening to a really wide range of stuff. When I put the band together, it was like a child really knows no difference between black and white. I like all these different types of music, so what's the big deal?"
Like most of the emerging black rock acts - from Living Colour to Fishbone to Austin's Chris Thomas - Follow For Now finds itself playing music that is steeped in black consciousness and influences for audiences that are overwhelmingly white.
"I think a lot of it has to do with urban contemporary radio (the latest euphemism for what was once known as `R&B' or simply `black' radio), where they make it seem if you're black and play guitar, you're freaky," said Harris. "Radio is just so pigeonholed, and I think that black radio is the worse for that. If it's not drum-machine, new-jack-swing stuff, then it doesn't get played.
"I think that bands like us, Living Colour and Fishbone can kind of turn things in the proper direction, little by little, chip by chip, but we're by no means on a mission to do that. I think the youth can listen to what we do and hear strains of things that are in hip-hop songs. Like hip-hop songs will take things from James Brown or Sly Stone or Parliament-Funkadelic, and it's really popular. Now here's a contemporary band doing those things, but playing their instruments for real."
This week's calendar additionally marks the return of a couple of other bands that made career breakthroughs with South by Southwest showcases. The Cannibal Club could promote its offerings as a class reuniuon of SXSW '89, with Milwaukee's Spanic Boys playing tonight followed by Arkansas' Gunbunnies Friday.
South by Southwest was the start of an extended Cinderella story for the father-and-son team of Tom and Ian Spanic. Midwest bar-circuit regulars since forming a band in the mid-'80s as Those Spanic Boys, the Spanics arrived at SXSW as comparative unknowns, but left as the featured act in MTV's conference coverage and with an offer from Rounder Records in their pockets.
From there, things have continued to snowball for the Spanics. Their Rounder album caught the ear of Saturday Night Live, which booked the Spanics as a last-minute replacement when Sinead O'Connor cancelled her appearance. Making their first trip to New York, they found themselves pursued by both Rolling Stone and Entertainment Tonight, both of whom did features on the band.
While the novelty of a father-and-son band creates an obvious hook, the bedrock traditionalism and yearning harmonies of the Spanics show a staying power beyond novelty fare. They remain one of the world's great bar bands, and the Cannibal's a great bar in which to hear them.
As for the Gunbunnies, their fairy-tale coach turned into a pumpkin when Virgin Records dropped the band after a single album which received little promotion and even less airplay. When the band returned to SXSW this year, it was back in the ranks of the unsigned hopefuls, though the Gunbunnies' quirky brand of Southern soulfulness merits another shot.
Apparently, the days when a band is allowed to develop its music and its audience over the course of a few albums are long gone, at least at Virgin. Syd Straw, appearing at the Cactus tonight and Friday, was also a victim of the label's quick hook, when her terrific solo debut failed to find the audience it deserved.
For those whose love of music extends to more than an overnight return, it's almost criminal when a label that professes enough faith in its artists to sign them doesn't show enough faith to sustain them. An industry that once prided itself on developing careers has become way too focused on the instant sensation, the popular hit as disposable commodity, a quick-fix strategy that threatens severe musical damage over the long haul.
***Thanks to Furious Rose for submitting this interview.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
