By Ljubinko Zivkovic, Rock At Night The Netherlands
Review: Eric Harrison’s EP – Dear John-Release date April 7, 2022
New Jersey singer-songwriter Eric Harrison’s story began way back in 1988, when he was a student at King’s College in London, England. Although he didn’t start out as a crowd pleaser, Harrison kept on, formed a band upon his return to the U.S., culminating in a solo album in 2005 that got some great reviews.
Still, he took a ten-year hiatus and started coming up releases, with his latest being ‘Dear John’, this 5-song EP.
If you are wandering who is dear John, Harrison tells it himself:
“This EP is a five-song homage to the late, great John Prine. The idea was birthed about a week after COVID-19 took John from us on April 7, 2020.
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.”
Now, tribute releases usually tend to be covers, but Harrison definitely takes the harder route, coming up with self-penned material that is supposed to be a tribute that will reflect the musical and lyrical spirit of great Mr. Prine.
“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,” says Harrison.
While on first thought this might be quite a lofty goal, Harrison, along with Kevin Salem and his other collaborators here is able to do exactly what he sets out to do, showing that John Prine’s spirit still lives on in other artists.
SPOTIFY
SOCIAL MEDIA
- Review: Yenkee’s album ‘Night Golf’ - October 28, 2024
- Review: Hilken Mancini Band’s self-titled album - October 28, 2024
- Review: Miami band Seafoam Walls’ album ‘Standing Too Close to the Elephant in the Room’ - October 23, 2024