Dear John by Eric Harrison published on 2021-11-21T17:48:30Z [Full liner notes available on at EricHarrisonMusic[dot]com or Bandcamp] Dear John - To write like John Prine is to write with a big heart. I don’t sing like JP and his influence on me may not be obvious, but because these five songs are bound by a conscious effort to write like (and about) him, I felt compelled to release them together. COVID-19 took John Prine from us on April 7, 2020. The world had shut down a few weeks earlier. A fog of panic and dread had descended. The news of John’s death felt like a downpour. I have never met a casual John Prine fan. To know him is to love him, and losing a soul who had brought such comfort, humor and joy to our lives while the plague that took him was knocking at our back door - that was a lot to take. I had just started releasing new music and was looking forward to a year of full band shows, which were begrudgingly replaced by solo Facebook sessions from my front porch. Amid the madness it was fun to make new virtual friends while playing music, though the digital divide left me a little suspicious. (Thank you Olivia from Argentina for the heart emojis but no; I’m not single and I won’t send you money.) I was in a creative rut, and I need to be writing well to feel legitimate. Enter my friend and producer Kevin Salem, with whom I traded tips every few days on how to maintain some sense of normalcy in our families’ lives. Mindful of the need to grab the oxygen mask for oneself when the cabin pressure drops, Kevin knew how I loved John so he gave me a simple but daunting assignment: write some John Prine songs. On the surface these recordings do not sound like the music of the man who inspired them: I’m from New Jersey, and unlike another hero of mine from these parts, I do not and will not attempt to sing like a Kentucky ranch hand. But I set out to write like John wrote, and if these five tracks collectively deliver half the heart of a single John Prine song then this little project represents a mission accomplished. Until we meet: I wish you love, I wish you happiness . . . I guess you know the rest. Eric Harrison, 2022 Genre Country Contains tracks Till You Make Me Home by Eric Harrison published on 2021-12-04T15:42:27Z Cougar Jenny (feat. Simi Stone) by Eric Harrison published on 2021-12-04T15:46:20Z Hot Teardrops and Cold Compresses by Eric Harrison published on 2021-12-04T15:48:38Z Hoover Dam by Eric Harrison published on 2021-12-04T15:50:07Z Live Before You Die by Eric Harrison published on 2021-12-04T15:51:24Z
