Since the mid-1990’s Fletcher Harrington has done an excellent job of carving out some of the best alternative roots music in Southern California. After working with the country-rock band Cowboy Buddha, Harrington released his first solo album in 2001, Eyes on Fire and Knuckles Sore. This record solidified his status as one of California’s leading singer-songwriters. His music draws primarily from such country-rock icons as Neil Young, Johnny Cash, and Uncle Tupelo. Yet the singer-songwriter also has roots in DIY garage/punk bands such as the Replacements and pop/rock bands such as REM. As a result, Harrington’s music doesn’t fall within a specific category but rather spans the axis from country to rock. He has often been compared to Gram Parsons, and in fact there is much of Parsons' legendary alt-country spirit in Harrington’s music. In 2004 Harrington teamed with vocalist Tanya Livingstone and multi-instrumentalist Brit Collins to form the band Topeka. The band’s 2005 album Land Rush succeeded in blending Americana roots music with shadings of electronica and techno.
Harrington’s latest effort, Under The Shadow Of The San Gabriel, teams him once again with Brit Collins to create an album of clever, introspective lyrics and emotive music. With this album he again fuses the creative boundaries of alternative rock with the rich roots of folk and country music. The lyrics are based on a mix of personal experience intertwined with the common thematic threads of Americana music: loneliness and longing, love and betrayal. Musically, acoustic guitar drives most of the songs, which are made more interesting by multi-instrumentalist Collins’ lead guitar work and his use of various keyboards, including Hammond organ, Wurlitzer, and Rhodes. Harrington adds to the diversity of the album’s sound by playing banjo and mandolin on several tracks. The sincerity and craftsmanship of the Under The Shadow Of The San Gabriel album proves once again that Fletcher Harrington isn’t merely a musician but an artist in the true sense of the word.
Read more...