Bells - Jack Harris
Our next LCM featured artist London based singer-songwriter Jack Harris truly knows the value of good up-lighting. A super craftsman of song, Jack is one person you need to get to know, if you haven't already. Our #LCM #SongOfTheDay is a live version of 'Bells' taken from his recently released new EP '6 Songs'. It was filmed at The Watermill Sessions, Great Ayton. The new EP was recorded with the very talented Ben Walker, over a couple of weekends in February, It's a stripped down, one-man-and-a-guitar affair, albeit with a little mandolin and volume-swelled Strat thrown in here and there.
Jack Harris’ songs take a compassionate look at things both common and uncommon, and see them differently. They are literate, curious songs, often in character, always intriguing. His last album, ‘The Wide Afternoon’, assembles 11 new songs, rooted in Folk and Blues traditions, telling real and imagined stories.
The result is a bigger, darker record than Jack’s previous, critically acclaimed offering, 2012’s The Flame and the Pelican (***** Maverick, The Telegraph top 10 Roots/Folk albums of the year). ‘The Wide Afternoon’ is an album of mystery and melody, set against the expansive sound-palette and intricate arrangements of Gerry Diver (Sam Lee, Lisa Knapp, Tom Robinson). Gerry’s swooping violins and eerie percussion are at the record’s sonic heart, perfectly offsetting songs of dangerous men, literary women, stolen horses and vanished birds. All are delivered in husky, intimate vocals and fluid guitar picking.
Jack was a SXSW showcasing artist at 17, as well as the youngest ever winner of the Kerrville Folk Festival’s New Folk Award in 2005 (previous winners include Gillian Welch, Devon Sproule and Anais Mitchell). He has been the recipient of the PRS ATOM award for new music creation, as well as an EFDSS creative bursary for songwriting.
Those days are gone, along with most of Jack’s youth and vigour, but he’s still happy to find himself touring extensively, bringing his riveting live show to appreciative audiences, and making as much music as he can.