Charles Harvey

A lot of songwriters get started in Minneapolis, a city with an array of sounds ranging from Prince, to The Replacements to Bob Dylan (who began his career there).

None sound quite like Charles Harvey, who left that music mecca to crash the music scenes of Kansas City, Boston, Austin, London, and now Paris via Florence, Italy. His songs capture the essence of these places and sounds effortlessly, a cross-Atlantic hybrid of influences.

In fact, the artist's focus has always been to create something entirely new. Inventive collaboration with Stephen Seltzer approached song writing from different angles. "...these are perhaps sketches rather than songs...", wrote Allan Jones of Melody Maker Magazine (now editor of Uncut Magazine), who compared their group Harvard WingTip Collection to Wall Of Voodoo, pre-Eno Talking Heads, Jonathan Richman and Harlan Ellison short stories.

There is a spontaneity, too, which caught the attention of a music reviewer in Florence, Italy, just a few days after Charles' arrival in the city. "Four musicians played their instruments and with the audience, in a jam session. The four - one of them an American who doesn't speak Italian - did not know each other and had never played together. They gave a demonstration of how, music can knock down every barrier and be an instrument of communication: the result was a piece of the highest quality." (translated from Italian) - La Nazione

In London, Charles worked with director Thomas Barnes to make a video of the song Luxury Suite, which had been recorded in Austin, Texas with Charles' group Men of Letters.

In Florence, Charles formed a new group which performed around Tuscany, as well as doing solo concerts in a return to his acoustic roots. He also improvised live soundtracks for poetry readings and played lead guitar for other Tuscan groups.

In Paris, he continued writing and performing with bassists and percussionists, as can be heard on the CD, "Listen for a change." The group performed in England and France when the CD was released in those countries.

Now the CD is available in the USA.

"Listen for a change"

Charles Harvey - guitar and vocals
John Silverman - acoustic bass
Jean-Marie Gerintes - percussion
Christopher Burns - backing vocals on Listen for a change

All acoustic instruments. The title track features lyrics in four languages.
Words and music by Charles Harvey (BMI). Recorded in Paris, mastered in England.

Played live in:
London, Paris, Florence, New York, , Boston, Austin, Houston, Minneapolis, Chicago, Madison, Milwaukee, Kansas City...