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Thirsty Thursday Featuring Eric Harrison

  • Writer: Mary Ann
    Mary Ann
  • 3 days ago
  • 5 min read
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Thank you for chatting with us! For newer fans, how did your passion for music and career come about? I was a late bloomer as a songwriter and musician. In my teens I was just a passionate fan and critic - the kind of obnoxious music obsessive who had strong opinions about everything. One day some friends and I were debating passionately about “The Joshua Tree” by U2 and I expressed that Daniel Lanois’ production was great for some of the songs, but for others I would have preferred Steve Lillywhite’s approach from the prior records. Somebody responded “Oh come on, that’s a &*$%^^=+  classic album. If you think you know better why don’t you do it yourself?!”


Since then I certainly do not claim to have surpassed the quality of “The Joshua Tree” with my recorded output. But I have pretty consistently accomplished my goal of making the kind of music I want to listen to.


What song that you have recorded means the most to you and why? I think that “Astor Place,” from my last album “No Defenses,” is my most ambitious recording to date. Thanks to the brilliance of my producer Kevin Salem, we achieved the kind of lush orchestral accompaniment that I never imagined I could achieve. And the song is the most poignant declaration of love, loss and gratitude I’ve accomplished to date. It’s my best ballad singing in a range that I may not have in five years. Plus there’s English horn, castanets and timpani. As David St. Hubbins tells Derek Smalls on the roof of Polymer Records, “I’ve always wanted to work with the London Philharmonic,” and on “Astor Place” I nearly did.


You recently released your new album, "Bittersweet," which you wrote. Tell us about the writing process and where the idea came from.“My bittersweet, you made the lies all true” is a line from “Bleecker Street,” one of my favorites on the record, and as the songs spilled out and achieved their final forms, they all seemed to have some combination of sweetness and bitterness. I’m pretty lucky in my middle age to be able to look back on my life without many regrets, but of course we all experience loss that we need to address in a way that hopefully leads to progress. Songwriting is my preferred therapy for dealing with loss.


The writing process was in line with what I’ve been doing for a decade, typing lyrics as they occur to me into the notes on my phone, singing melodic ideas into voice memos, then at some point writing down the best ideas on paper, strumming the guitar until I find chords that fit the melody - or changing the melody to fit chords that sound better. Then I record it crudely on the iPhone and ship it off to my producer Kevin Salem; we get together and either honor my original idea, revise it or jettison it completely. Kevin is a big proponent of letting the song go where it wants to go; we follow and serve it. That sounds like mystic BS . . . but having recorded more than 40 songs with Kevin, I’ve become a believer.


Who have been some of your biggest musical influences growing up and do the same artists currently continue to influence you now? Elvis Costello and Bob Dylan are my two most obvious influences, both to me and to most people who listen to my music and who know the work of either artist. John Hiatt, Loudon Wainwright, the Replacements, the Ramones, Leonard Cohen, Tom Petty . . . most of my influences over time have a through line with Elvis, Bob and the Beatles. But I think that with the passage of time, artists whose music I loved but who were not directly influential have become influences. Thanks to technology and the skills of my producer Kevin Salem, for example, I can say with a straight face that echoes of Echo & The Bunnymen, Elton John, and the Rolling Stones also can be heard on my new album.


Which song off of your album is the most dear to you and why?“Diner” - and not just because you are “Grubs & Grooves.” The song is an homage to the epicurean center of soul convalescence of this Jersey boy’s existence: 24 hour diners. And it’s semi-autobiographical, covering my teens when the band landed at the Colonial Diner in East Brunswick after nearly every gig, my 20s when I landed at the Broadway Diner in Red Bank as a young divorcee, my 30s when I fled to the Westfield Diner from my colicky daughter wailing down the road in our small apartment, and my 40s and 50s at the Chit Chat in Hackensack and the Original Pancake House in Metuchen, where I’ve broken bread at all hours with some of the most important people in my life. Plus the song name-checks Spandau Ballet and *NSync and sends a shout-out to Walt Whitman.


What is one thing you can tell us that most people don’t know about you and might surprise us? My day job: I am a trial attorney. But I’m a really nice guy. I swear!



Was there ever music playing in the kitchen growing up? My mom was a HUGE Elton John fan - “Tumbleweed Connection,” “Honky Chateau” and “Don’t Shoot Me, I’m the Piano Player” come to mind. Also “Some Girls” by the Rolling Stones, which was the first cassette my mom bought for me. That lasted until she listened to the lyrics on the title track. Mick was a naughty boy, which of course made me want to dig deeper into the debauchery of the Stones. Henceforth I explored the Rolling Stones oeuvre on my own time.


Favorite music to listen to while you cook?“The Moog Cookbook: Ye Olde Space Bande Plays the Classic Rock Hits.” This is both a comic and cosmic masterpiece from the 90s. If you’ve never imagined “Born to be Wild” or “More Than A Feeling” played entirely on a moog synthesizer, you’re in for a treat. And if you’ve never imagined pistachio encrusted salmon from the pan of a New Jersey singer-songwriter, you’re probably better off than my wife and kids.


What is one food that most people seem to like, but you cannot stand to eat. Mushrooms and tequila. I was scarred for life by a BTE (Bad Tequila Experience) at age 20, and I happened to consume a dish with mushrooms that evening, so the former ruined the latter for me: just as the scent of Tequila makes me wretch 36 years later, so does the thought of ‘shrooms.


Best food that comes in can? “Tuna - no bones!” - Nigel Tufnel


Most memorable meal while touring. Where were you and what did it involve? Does New Brunswick, New Jersey count for “touring?” I mean, we lived in East Brunswick at the time. That was at least 35 minutes away. So let’s call it our 1995 tour of Middlesex County NJ!


Ahmed’s Gyros across from the Melody at 2 a.m., after the gear was packed and loaded and the drummer was semi-detoxified with a Gatorade from a 7-11 around the corner. I like to perform hungry, so by the time the show is over and we’re cleaned up I’m starved. A greasy fresh gyro with sour cream on the streets of New Brunswick - pre-gentrification - was the Jerseyist one could get in the 1990s. Snooki and J-Wow hadn’t even received their first restraining orders!


Finally, if you could be sponsored by one food/drink brand who would it be and why? Bombay Sapphire gin, which singlehandedly got me through October and November after the Yankees’ calamitous meltdown in the 5th inning of Game 5 of the World Series.



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