Seven Harkey profile picture

Seven Harkey

I wear my nice jeans to church

About Me

Channeling influences as diverse as Woody Guthrie, Kurt Cobain, and Raymond Carver, Seven Harkey’s “singable short stories” tell tales of longing, love, drugs, death, and other earthly delights. His music has been called “edgy & compelling”, “infectious” and “delightfully disturbing”, with performances compared to Grant Lee Buffalo, early Wilco, and even Gram Parsons backed by Pageant-era R.E.M.
Growing up in rural North Carolina, Seven swished with country music, gargled with pop, and spit southern rock. On the cusp of the Alt-Country surge of the early nineties, Seven greyhounded to San Francisco, where he explored “garage country” with Farmgirl, and “powerfolk” with the Lomaxes. But after seven years in a seven-by-seven-mile town, his hunger for a change of atmosphere drove him east to Chicago. After a series of musical incarnations, he got back to his country-tinged roots with the Dogwoods, a poppy group of porchrockers that take his unique brand of guitar-playing and word-singing to new levels of strum and bash.
Seven was hand-picked by legendary writer Ben Fong-Torres to perform on his Fog City Radio NPR show. In the studio, Seven has lent his talents to recordings by John Wesley Harding and E (of Eels). Live, he has played with Jeff Buckley, Peter Himmelman, Leon Russell, Southern Culture on the Skids, and Chris Isaak.
Fall 06: Seven is currently in the studio with producer Mike Lapchick recording the followup to his acclaimed record "dirtysomething". To hear samples of "dirtysomething" and pick up your own copy, click here .

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 6/29/2004
Band Website: www.sevenharkey.com"sevenharkey.com
Band Members: Seven Harkey: Lead Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Harmonica, Mountain Dulcimer

sometimes joined by:

Rex Espinosa: Guitars, Mandolin, Banjo, Vocals
Mike Lapchick: Guitar, Harmonies
Michael Israel: Drums, Percussion
James Israel: Bass
Greg Schultz: Pedal Steel

Influences: Woody Guthrie, Paul Westerberg, Hank Williams, The Beatles, Dorothy Parker, Wilco, Velvet Underground, Virginia Woolf, The Kinks, Nirvana, Big Star, Bob Dylan, Leadbelly, William Faulkner, Neil Young, Camper Van Beethoven, The La's, J.D. Salinger, George Jones, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Cat Power, Nancy Botwin, Let's Active/Mitch Easter, Raymond Carver, R.E.M., Johnny Cash, Grant Lee Buffalo, Charlie Rich, Louvin Brothers, The Byrds, Gram Parsons, Loretta Lynn, Tom Waits, Neko Case
Sounds Like: Woody Guthrie and Leonard Cohen kidnap R.E.M.'s rhythm section, drive them acros the southwest in a convertible, and show them how it's done. -- Lewis Buzbee, Author

[Seven's] songs are like brief snippets of americana. -- CMJ Magazine

Pink Floyd & the Heartbreakers -- Adam Keith Warner, Singer/Songwriter

Seven's songs are like singable short stories, embedded in cool, eclectic roots music. -- Bonnie Hayes, Singer/Songwriter (Bonnie Raitt)

His performances stir emotions while comforting the soul. -- Noah Schottenfeld, PhotoShow (featuring 3 of Seven's songs)

Delightfully disturbing. It's haunting, raw edgy. The real deal. -- Silvia Marie, Singer/Songwriter

Americana Power Folk! -- cuttingedgemusic.com

Edgy & compelling...an extremely interesting artist. -- Tonos

Starbucks-ready -- Cowboyz n Poodles Ezine


Record Label: hamgrant musics
Type of Label: None