Harry Pritchett

Artist Information

Biography

Harry Pritchett is an award-winning singer songwriter who writes and performs a mix of melodic folk pop and acoustic Americana that rocks! Employing a deceptively simple, conversational approach to lyrics, his songs are filled with images that invite the listener in to experience the story. Musically, he combines elements of pop, folk, and rock, with strong melodies and song structures that flow naturally to memorable choruses. His song "Night Bird" won Silver in the 26th Mid Atlantic Song Contest (MASC). Previously, he was awarded a MASC Honorable Mention for his song “Little White Lies,” co-written with Rocky Guttmann. Harry has played at venues across the Washington DC area including Jamie’s General Bean (Centreville, VA), The Coffee Table (Frederick, MD), Mark’s Pub (Falls Church, VA), The Frederick Coffee Company (Frederick, MD), and St. Elmo’s Coffee Pub (Alexandria, VA). He has performed as the feature act at the Brewer’s Alley Songwriter's Showcase in Frederick, MD, and the Caribou Coffee Showcase in Olney, MD. He has also performed as a guest at various songwriter showcases including Bangkok Blues in Falls Church, VA, Red Rocks Café and Tequila Bar in Centreville, VA, and Jammin Java in Vienna, VA. His influences include Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen, James Taylor, R.E.M., Indigo Girls, The Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, The Eagles, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, John Prine, Sheryl Crow.

Instrumentation

Plays solo (acoustic guitar and vocals) and occasionally with Bass Player (Jon Nazdin) and perscussion/harmony (Ron Goad). Also have network of more than a dozen musicians able to join me for larger venues.

Discography

Harry's latest CD, “Strange Journey,“ produced by multi-WAMMIE award winner Marco Delmar, was released in July 2009 and is now available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/HarryPritchett. The album features Harry on acoustic guitar and vocals supported by excellent musicians including Jon Nazdin (bass), Robbie Magruder (drums), Brian Simms (keyboard and piano), Jack Bond (guitar), Rocky Guttmann (guitar and harmony), Marco Delmar (guitar), Ron Goad (percussion), Cletus Kennelly (harmony), and Pete Brown (harmony).

Audio

• Night Bird
  Listen   Download
• Wishing Moon
  Listen   Download
• Strange Journey
  Listen   Download
• A Matter of Time
  Listen   Download

Lyrics

• Night Bird
• Wishing Moon
• Strange Journey
• Picking up the Pieces
• A Matter of Time

Video

Photo Gallery

Press

• Musician builds songwriting collection over 25 years, releases first album [+ Show ]
  

  By Lauren LaRocca News-Post Staff “Wishing Moon” might start as song No. 17, a hummed melody ...By Lauren LaRocca
  News-Post Staff
  
  “Wishing Moon” might start as song No. 17, a hummed melody in Harry Pritchett’s voice recorder, probably on the highway somewhere, most likely in traffic, and no doubt during a commute to or from work.
  
  Then it’s just a matter of having the discipline to go through each song idea, form a draft, try it at home on guitar and see what’s left. Because, after 20-odd years, what was left for Pritchett was his first solo album, “Strange Journey,” acclaimed by such musicians as Ron Goad of the Songwriter’s Association of Washington.
  
  Pritchett, a lefty, started playing guitar in elementary school and eventually taught himself to play right-handed. He played at open mics and small gigs throughout his 20s with The Pedestrians, a duo with Rocky Guttmann. But the musicians eventually moved to different cities and started families, and Guttmann began performing full time while Pritchett earned a master’s degree in communications and pursued a career in technical writing.
  
  Pritchett has slowly stockpiled a collection of original material and occasionally recorded at Recording Arts in Fairfax, Va. He isn’t a full-time musician but gets gigs every month or two at the Coffee Table, Beans in the Belfry, Frederick Coffee Company and Brewer’s Alley, as well as a few venues in Northern Virginia. On Sunday, he’ll perform with other local musicians at the Frederick Coffee Company for his CD release party, and he’ll play downtown again Monday, Aug. 24, at Brewer’s Alley.
  
  “Strange Journey,” a collection of nine songs, was released in July and is available at www.cdbaby.com/cd/HarryPritchett and at shows.
  
  Three of the songs are versions of older, more serious material, some more than a decade in the dust.
  
  After breaking from music briefly to raise his son, Pritchett had a musical rebirth and began approaching his material, new and old, from a new perspective.
  He joined songwriting circles and gave more thought to revision, chord structure and internal rhyme, which led to his rewriting several of his songs.
  
  “There aren’t rules or formulas for writing a song,” he said, “but I tried to approach songwriting like a student.”
  
  The result was a collection of new and revamped songs that Pritchett, slowly but surely, is ready to share.
  

Setlist

I know at least 200 cover songs and have about 25 originals that I play out regularly. Below is a sample of a night's set list I use to choose from when I perform 2 hour Coffee House gigs:

Homeward Bound, Tequila Sunrise, Night Bird, Norwegian Wood, Exception to the Rule, Sandman, Those Party Girls, Peaceful Easy Feeling, Picking Up the Pieces, Sweet Baby James, Runnin’ Out of Patience, Wishing Moon, You’re So Bad, Angel Go Home, The Boxer. Lost in the Waves, You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away. Long Long Way,
Layla, Slow Down, Nobody Knows You, Strange Journey, I shoulda known better, Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door, Folsom Prison Blue, Fire and Rain, A Matter of Time, Sea of Love,
Leaving on a Jet Plane, Stray Cat Strut, Bye Bye Love, All My Lovin’, Little White Lies, I’ll Be Back, Take My Hand, I’ll Follow the Sun, Genuinne Thrills, I need you, Give Me Love, Losing My Religion, I’ll have to say I love in a song, San Francisco Bay Blues, Angie, House of the Rising Sun, Landslide, Ventura Highway, 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover, Year of the Cat

Basic Requirements

Calendar