Music
Press
"Part of the propaganda of the group is embracing the very thing we're against in a way that is almost absurd...We carved this land out of revolution and violence. Let's look without fear at who we really are." - Community Free Press. Springfield MO. Bill Glahn 2003
Post-modern troubador, gritty storyteller, rock-and-roll songwriter, and unflinching poet, Jessel Harry is a musician and writer that blends Bukowski and the bible with his personal experiences and social observations into moving, gutsy commentary." - Present Magazine KC MO, Pete Dulin. 2006
Moody, Intense and Immediate, the five songs on 'Industry' weaves together harry's vision of the American West as desolate and at times threatening...the macho loner cowboy mindset once viewed as the archetype for the American male is now alone and grasping for meaning in the 21st century
- Go Magazine. Springfield MO. Chris DeRosier. 2006
A fixture on the local music scene in... the mid 90's and as a solo songwriter after that, Harry moved to NY in May 2002 seeking greater exposure...and caught the attention of producers of "off By heart," a public television program in NY... back up musicians supported him on the stages of East Village coffehouses and and even legendary rock club CBGB's - The Springfield News Leader/ Michael Brothers. 2003
Discography
Industry-EP 2005
Guns, Loans and Layaway-EP 2004
We Shall Be Fragile-CD 2003
Death Poems To The gods Of America-EP 2002
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
The WP is primarily the work of singer songwriter Jessel Harry.
Jessel was born in St. Vincent West Indies and was raised in Canada, NY and NJ. Most of his depression and melancholy can be attributed to the moment in the fifth grade when he proudly presented his mother with new and improved lyrics for "the Sound of Silence." The poor lady rushed to her bedroom and pulled the sheets over her head realizing that she was raising a child more depressed than both Simon and Garfunkel combined. Many years later while attending various colleges for various reasons he published his first poem while releasing his first CD with the rock band Monkey Engine. He decided to quit college because thats what all the cool artists did. Monkey Engine released the CD Squared Away and opened for many national acts but split up after reaching the regional level. This led to a deep "national depression" for the artist. (National depression is when you wander around the nation in a deep depression) In the mid nineties, the new resurgence of country rock began to take root. Bands like Uncle tupelo and The Jayhawks had a passionate audience in Springfield long before their popularity grew nationally. These "new" influences combined with the folk and classic rock influences of his delinquent adolescence began to take root. He quickly drew a passionate following in Springfield and decided it was time to take things to the big Apple with his new EP 'Death poems for the living gods of America'. That year and a half was spent playing in the subway, gigging in various East village jaunts and subsisting on 211 malt liquor and pork fried rice. At the tail end of the NYC stint he parlayed a deal with producer Eric Ambel (Joan Jett, Ryan Adams, Steve Earle). The songs from those sessions, along with his solo material, move effortlessly roots rock, folk, garage and classic rock. Disjointed characters living on the fringe form the lyrical characters for songs that are the obvious result of reading way too much Raymond Carver, Thom Jones, Larry Brown, Charles Bukowski and Thomas Hardy. In 2003 he moved back to MO and enthusiastically upgraded his diet to PBR and Beef Lo Mein while releasing two Cd's locally. While the prospect of wordly success appears to be drawing nigh from The herculean efforts of The Western Paradise, the artist has become increasingly obsessed with pondering if he will remain a quasi blue collar plebeian or become a hackneyed elitist trafficker.
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