Music
Press
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.
- Frederick News Post
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).
Photos
Bio
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.
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