Mark Harvey is the owner/operator of Nobody Records, Pumpkinland Studios and 13thTrack.com Halloween Radio.
In my world it tends to be Halloween much of the time. Strange most of the time. Busy all of the time. Join in on the fun, leave a comment and enjoy your stay...
Hey there friends of the Mark Harvey's World Blog,
I've been posting a lot of mopehead and Rain Station tracks so I thought I'd post some of my AC music (that's Adult Contemporary). I could actually use some AC (air conditioning) about now. Alright, moving right along...I've blogged about the band I had with my sister - Month of Sundays - well, we WERE called Month of Sundays, but we were served a cease and desist by a hair band from back East so we added her name, Beth Eyre, and moved on. Yeah, that's me in the picture on the left...my hair a little bigger and my face sans hair. I didn't always have facial hair. Whenever I listen to our music I think, wow, that was some well done stuff (even if I do say so myself).
"Let It Go By" is a track that seems perfect for these warm Summer nights.
Check it out...dance a little...c'mon, you know you want to.
I was recently asked how many CD do I have out. My answer was that I'd blog about it since I need to sit back and count the releases. I've not thought about it and the question got me thinking. It is amazing to think about releasing music. There are a bunch of steps to it and because I've been doing it for so long I don't focus on numbers, just that I enjoy doing it. So...here we go... (click an album title or the play button...have a listen...)
It has been awhile since I've posted any of the music I recorded with my sister Beth so I thought I'd go ahead and blog about it. My sister has a beautiful gift - both singing and songwriting. For years she lived in L.A. working primarily in cover bands around Orange County (although they did gig around the Southland). She managed to make a very nice living doing it and she was excellent at it. I recall as a teenager (as I was playing in bands) thinking that it was a shame she was singing other people's music and that true artists only work on their own music. How wrong I was. Playing (or singing) other people's music gives you the opportunity to craft your own skills - your own sound - and in the end makes for a better artist. During her time in L.A. she was working with a guitarist named Vinnie and recorded a large number of tracks (five that can be heard on the Beth Eyre and Month of Sundays CD). We selected our favorites of these sessions to put onto the CD.
After living in Southern California for well over a decade Beth decided to move back to NorCal and soon after she did we started playing music together. Three of the tracks on this CD we wrote together - Beth wrote the lyrics and I wrote the music. The first song we wrote together was "All This Time". "One Man" and "Let It Go By" followed and we recorded a three song demo to shop our wares and to get gigs with. We wrote many other songs, but they were never recorded. Working with my sister was great and our band was INCREDIBLE. We had studio caliber jazz musicians backing us up and our gigs were nothing short of amazing. One of them (pictured with Beth and I) was Frank Buchanan whose Mother was in a singing group (The Diamond 'Lils) with our Mother - a sort of Andrew's Sisters act. We had (sort of) grown up together watching our Mothers so it was funny that all those years later we were playing music together. Frank brought our songs to a new level as he is an amazing guitar player and songwriter. This act was definitely the best I have ever been in. We opened for a number of national acts. We were becoming a sort of "Brand New Heavies" type of act.
One day I received a cease and desist from a band out of Boston (I think it was Boston - can't find a trace of them now) so we just adjusted our name and added Beth's name. Eventually it became too difficult to corral the drummer and bass player as they had better paying gigs (Beth and I would give 100% of our pay from gigs to the backing band - they deserved it!) and we disbanded. The dream of the sister/brother duo died. "All This Time" is a real heart breaker of a track and one that I am really fond of. Beth and I recently "performed" this song while entertaining our cousin Tom and his family when they came to visit us from Austin, TX. Have a listen to the studio version...
Beth can be heard on some Rain Station tracks as well as some of my solo work. I imagine at some point I'll ask her to come back into the studio with me and lay down more vocal tracks.
Greetings friends and readers of the blog I call Mark Harvey's World.
I always run the risk of reposts, but in the case of "To Heaven" I felt the need to expand on what I've written in the past. More on that in a minute. (Illustration on left: "Stairway to Heaven" byJim Warren)
"To Heaven" comes from Rain Station's Stonedozer CD (as some or many of you may know). I still think Stonedozer is some of the best music Jay and I have ever recorded and although I really like our new project, Underground (and DARK RIDE is a hoot), I think Stonedozer really captures everything that Rain Station is. The disc just sounds so good to me. It has a good mix of both Jay's and my vocals, musical influences and it really feels connected in so many ways (mentally, physically, spiritually). That may be why I love this one so much.
"To Heaven" always wells me up when I listen to it. This song was written with so much love and at a time when I had just become a Father for the first time. Being a stay-at-home Dad was a real blessing, one that at times I wish I had with my other two kids (although I love my job and believe working outside the home is best for me and my family). The involvement I had during the first few years of my daughter's life is irreplaceable. As the nearly 12 years have past since this song was recorded "To Heaven" takes on new meaning with my nearly five year old son and one year old youngest daughter. My wife and I were talking last night about how much we love the kids and even when things are crazy and not going well these kids we feel so blessed to have them in our lives. They truly take me to heaven when I look into their eyes - they are my angels here on Earth.
There is a certain spiritual bend to the tune (obviously) which I don't apologize for. I was raised to believe in God and learned to allow others their own belief system without judgement or criticism.
I wrote, produced and performed this song with backing vocal help from my sister Beth and Idia Huntley. I need to see where Idia is these days - her voice adds such magic to the track.
"Children will not remember you for the material things you provided but for the feeling that you cherished them" - Richard L. Evans