| Once in a long while, there comes someone from out of the wilderness with something to say. Someone in from the cold providing a backdrop to live your life against. Someone from out of nowhere with a clear vision of the wrongs of the world and, more importantly, the rights of the human soul.
From high atop a the windswept Canadian prairies came Jack Harlan. Jack was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, but it would be just as believable if he were born in an echoing back alley of the Bowery or a forgotten corner of a dusty mission somewhere in Durango, Mexico. “I have never really fit in to any place,” he says. “My writing is always here and now – I always write for the season I am in. I’m not one to write about the good old days, hometowns, Johnny and Jenny, etc.” And his folk-noir-styled songs are all about the here and now, though seen darkly through the mirror of a fading past. But this past comes from a world the rest of us have only glimpsed. You can hear it in the songs. It’s a world of freight train whistles and wandering strangers; of still-noble little guys in a messed-up world and dangerous women with eyes like the smoke of the night’s last cigarette. It’s a world where candles burn in windows for lost loves and roads just wind around, leading nowhere but the next journey; where the voice in the wilderness is the rule, not the exception. Most of all, it’s a world of truth. Jack’s songs take this greying, dog-eared world you and I live in and hold it up to the light without the fringed window treatments or celebrity spokesmodels. But if you’re looking to be coddled – if you want someone to pat your head while hand-feeding you mocha swirl cupcakes – you’d better stop now. Go. There’s a cute panda drawing here. Jack can comfort and celebrate that rawness, giving you an insider’s guide to the loneliness that creeps up unbidden on all of us (in songs like ‘Be Not Your Failures’); he could expose the perfect and universal essence of that taken-for-granted lover beside you on the couch (‘She’); he might launch you into a celestial-sized personal transformation with the power of several supernovae (‘Burning Star’), but he won’t lie to you. “I initially ask the questions, wander the hallways, cut up the disguises, visit the bonfires, looking for the bones of truth,” he says, making a cup of horsetail and milk thistle tea while Magnum P.I. reruns zip through the background. “When I go to paper I know the answer, like one who has come down from a mountain.” These songs are like roadmaps for a dark night of the soul. Jack will sell them to you, but there’s a price – you need to be completely honest with yourself when his songs enter you. There’s no skirting the limits of Truthville, here. “My songs have always been the means to work it all out,” he says. “To make sense of the world inside and around me as reality therapy.” Jack Harlan consoles and celebrates the rawness every one of us keeps under careful lock and key, like a secret you’ve been keeping for as long as you can remember, but you forgot who you’re keeping it from. Let it out. Be not your failures. After the confected pop and dried-up, mummified mall music we don’t even realize we’re consuming anymore, we need this. We deserve it. Jim Jackson – novelist, columnist and long-time Jack Harlan fan. Click here for a downloadable picture of Jack Press “His boldness as a writer demands attention.” Vancouver Province “Fans
of moody Americana would do well to seek out any and all” “Harlan is a new
talent to be reckoned with, and he's a Canuck to boot. A heady mix
of harmony and melody comes close to Australian Paul Kelly; sharing
the gift of birthing songs that appear innocent at first, but contain
a wallop of passion when given the chance.” “The man does everything
in his craft to keep from being seen as a one-trick-crony” “…crafts visceral,
sweeping tunes that poke and prod the great mysteries: morality,
death, redemption, love, guilt and loneliness all figure in his
brooding, occasionally tender and always compelling folk vision.” “It’s a beautiful
recording.” “…truly impressive
songs…it will hook you” “…the kind
of lyrics that reminds you of your last painful break-up. Worth
a beer and an hour of your time, no question” "...Harlan plays just
about every musical style in contemporary popular music.” “Numerous artists
have been tagged as “The Next Dylan”, and almost have
many been tapped as heirs to U2. They rarely amount to much. Fortunately,
Scintilla suggests that Harlan not only has the talent to wear such
a mantle well, but the potential to exceed the labels.”
“His Nettwerk debut,
Carnival of Mystery proves he can probe the dark side with scalpel-like
precision.” “…the entire
album is wonderful” “A strong songwriter
with a gift for poetic imagery.” “One of top ten Vancouver
men to watch this year” “Part Dylan, part
Nick Drake. A self-contained artist who needs just his guitar and
voice to assist considerable vision.” “The opening track
Breath of Heaven is as beautiful as an opening you’ll get
with a Cd. One of the best songs this year by any artist.” ‘One of Vancouver’s
most commanding songwriters.’ Interesting Facts About Jack - Has shared the stage with John Mann (Spirit of the West), Ron Sexsmith, Fred Eaglesmith, Tom Wilson, Colin James and Dido. - Latest release Love Come Around (2008) is Jack’s most political themed album to date . - Has lived in the western part of Canada most of his life, but has recently moved eastward, strangely where most of his musical influences are from. - Favorite creative writing place is a basement filled with thrifty furniture - Jack is a licensed Embalmer and Funeral Director. - At 14 years-old a vast collection of records was given to Jack from a missionary friend. This opened up his world to the old folk sounds of chain gangs, traveling folkies and howling blues singers. A big contrast to the heavy metal stadium rock and synthesized music of the Eighties. - Believes that the popular TV show American Idol is the death as to how we consume and find out about musicians. - First live music experience was listening to his Father, Uncles and Aunts play country music for people at barn dances in central Alberta. - Favorite band of all time is U2. Though he does wish Bono didn't feel the need to wear sunglasses for the last 20 years. - Does not pay attention to any other sport other than Hockey. Favorite team is the Calgary Flames. - Has toured the USA six times and Canada four times. - Used to play concerts on old steam engine trains. “I think it was an experiment for the organizers...it was a sad, awful and funny at that time in my life. I was shoved in the tiny back corner of a cart. All they had for sound was a cheap 12-inch transistor speaker that I played through. Drowned out by the noise of the train rocking and rolling, swinging back and forth with my guitar in hand trying to keep my balance, I would hold myself up with the microphone stand. I remember playing This Train is bound for Glory, by Woody Guthrie. - Currently lives in Niagara Falls, ON. - Is a huge fan of 80’s TV. His favorite is Magnum P.I. - First song he learned to play was Shake, Rattle & Roll by Bill Haley and the Comets. - Has released four independent albums; Hymns of Sorrow 1999, Scintilla 2001, Resolutions 2006 and Love Come Around 2008. - First job was a movie theatre attendant. “There was only one theatre and I saw Dances with Wolves 26 times. One day, while cleaning the theatre, I found blue silk panties on the floor…I remember thinking to myself, Dances with Wolves? When did you get turned on lady, during the buffalo hunt?” - First band was called The Trainmen formed at puberty and disbanded one year later. - One of his greatest musical inspirations is Bruce Springsteen - Has had two different documentaries filmed about his life by students at the Vancouver film school. The Director who spent countless days following Jack’s every move is currently nowhere to be found. - Greatest inspiration for writing songs is to find commonality among people. - Use to write most of his material with a rye and diet coke in hand, a bag of potato chips with dip, watching ice hockey on TV. - If able to work with any producer, it would be Daniel Lanois. - First concert was Iron Maiden when he was twelve. - Born in Calgary, Canada, March 28th 1974. - First learned he was a sap and had a knack for writing depressing songs at ten years old when he would catch himself crying to the opening and closing music of the popular television soap opera Young and the Restless. “I was ten would sit looking out my bedroom window on a rainy day just thinking.” - Some favorite recordings: |
“Numerous artists have been tagged as “The Next Dylan”, and almost have many been tapped as heirs to U2. They rarely amount to much. Fortunately, Scintilla suggests that Harlan not only has the talent to wear such a mantle well, but the potential to exceed the labels.”
Splendid/Chicago