Country, Rock with the best of Americana and a shot of Honky-Tonk

10 MP3 Songs
COUNTRY: Country Rock, ROCK: Roots Rock



Details:
Mic Harrison and the High Score know what heaven is like. Itâs a place where âevery day is Saturday and hangovers donât exist.â Itâs also probably a place where a touring rock band doesnât have to play on make shift stages that collapse in the middle of shows. A place where the band doesnât accidentally hit a deer while driving from a gig in rural Delaware and have to deal with the damage (to both deer and van) at 3 a.m. Itâs a place where the heater on the van always works so that the band members donât have to defrost the windshield and themselves by passing around a handheld hairdryer on a tour during the dead of winterâ¦

Then again, whoâs splitting hairs? Amid these trials is the earthly knowledge that many fans at the 2006 Mucklewain music festival listed Harrison and the bandâs impromptu campground performance the night before the festival as the weekendâs highlight. And itâs seeing the crowd at Bonnaroo turn on and tune in to the bandâs hardcore honkytonk rock amid the more mellow vibes. And, maybe every bar or music club isnât paradise, but itâs by hell or high water that itâs going to be a good time. As one club owner said to the group: âWhen you unloaded your gear and put your beer cooler on stage first I knew you meant business.â

Thatâs exactly the attitude behind Harrisonâs new album Push Me On Home. Harrison has always had one foot in the honkytonk and the other holding the door open for honest rock ânâ roll. His music is damp from spilled beer and hard-earned sweat after a two-hour show under hot lights in a club with no air-conditioning. His third solo disc is as bracing as a shot of good moonshine stored in your freezer and as warm as the feeling that comes immediately afterwards.

A native of the tiny town of Bradford in West Tennessee, Harrison learned his chops working in a high school band with Carl Bell and Jeff Abercrombie (future members of the band Fuel) and Jeff Bills (later a founding member of Americana music greats the V-Roys). He left his job working in a sawmill and moved to Knoxville to join Bills in the V-Roys â the first band signed to Steve Earleâs E-Squared Records. Harrison, who shared lead singing and songwriting responsibilities with Scott Miller, arrived in town with a guitar case full of songs â some of which found their way into the V-Roys repertoire and others of which made up his first solo album, Donât Bail (released in 1999). The V-Roys won acclaim with the debut album Just Add Ice and fans across the United and Europe. After the groupâs tumultuous run with Earle and E-Squared (and the bandâs second album All About Town finding release on Warner Bros. Records), the V-Roys called it quits at a performance at Knoxvilleâs Tennessee Theatre on New Yearâs Eve, 1999. Harrison teamed with the band the Faults and then with power pop masters Superdrag. While Harrison contributed to Superdragâs acclaimed swansong Last Call for Vitriol the band went on permanent hiatus in 2003 before Harrisonâs songs with the group were recorded.

After the band's split, Harrison began working on the songs that would become his second solo album, Pallbearer's Shoes. Recorded with the creative input of former Superdrag drummer and producer Don Coffey Jr., the disc was released in 2004 on Valley Entertainment to excellent reviews.

While Pallbearerâs Shoes boasted a number of musical guests (including Guided By Voices guitarist Doug Gillard and Harrisonâs former V-Roys band mates Scott Miller and Paxton Sellars, and Superdrag partners John Davis and Don Coffey Jr.), Push Me On Home was recorded nearly entirely with guitarist Robby Trosper, drummer Brad Henderson and bassist Vance Hillard, all members of the the High Score, who act as Harrisonâs touring band when not working on their own gigs. The new music is as friendly and unavoidable as an inebriated hug from an old buddy. And if the new songs âWiser the Whiskey,â âMighty Good Wineâ and âTomorrowâs Bloodshot Eyesâ sound like they are the voice of experience, well, you were warned. When a band member awoke after the Mucklewain campground performance and complained about feeling bad a woman whoâd witnessed the night before commented: âYou drank so much beer Iâm surprised youâre alive!â

Forget heaven. This music is worth the hangover

Wayne Bledsoe Host of WDVX-FMâs âAll Over the Road,â
Knoxville News Sentinel music critic

For high-resolution press photos, tour dates, song samples and other information visit www.micharrison.com

Mic Harrison and the High Score are also on MySpace

www.myspace.com/micharrison

www.myspace.com/thehighscore