The Harlan Twins/Harlan Duo
Rex Theater
Friday November 12, 2010
Southside
Bands For Bread Benefit
Gooski's
Saturday November 13, 2010
Polish Hill
I recently made a mix made up of all Pittsburgh bands for a friend of mine to 'turn' him on to the incredible music scene we are lucky enough to have here. Out of about 18 tunes, he said to me that he was really digging the disc but that one
song by the 'Harlans' was just killer. He loved how it just exploded mid-song. Yep, that's pretty much what hooked me to.
The band is opening for
Vetiver this Friday, which I guarantee will turn out to be great night.
The
next night, there will be the debut of The Harlan Duo, James and Carrie acoustic, for a benefit show, which IMO sounds just as awesome. They were both cool enough to participate in this edition of
First/Last.
The first album you ever bought?
James Hart: Was probably either Soul Asylum-Grave
Dancers Union or Boyz II Men-Cooleyhighharmony.
Carrie Battle: Michael Jackson- Dangerous.
Your last album bought?
James: The Goodnight Loving Supper Club? I also
geeked out when I was in Chicago
and bought a copy of My Morning Jacket's Chocolate and Ice EP on vinyl, which
I've had for years on my hard drive...
Carrie: Silver Jews-American Water.
Favorite album of all time?
James: I'm a recalcitrant record nerd, so I had to
provide a list: Van Morrison's Astral Weeks, Belle & Sebastian If
You're Feeling Sinister, Neutral Milk Hotel Airplane Over the Sea, Nina Simone
High Priestess of Soul, The Band Music From Big Pink, Tom Rush Blues and
Ballads, Allman Bros. Fillmore East, Pharoah Sanders Karma, all of the Mick
Taylor era Stones records, any Bob Dylan up to and including Blonde On Blonde,
Wilco Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Fairport Convention What We Did On Our Holidays,
the live Neko Case record...All records that I feel like if I had not buried
myself in at one point or another I would be a significantly different person.
Carrie: Oh geez, I have to give you a few too, sorry.
The Basement Tapes-Bob Dylan and The Band, Brighten the Corners-Pavement,
Loaded--The Velvet Underground, Part 1 Lola vs. Powerman-The Kinks, Cosmo's
Factory-Creedence Clearwater
Revival, and Graceland-Paul Simon.
Least favorite/most disappointing album?
James: The reaction I had the first time I heard
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot was like Pete Seeger at Newport, but I changed my mind after a couple
of dozen pouty listens. Z by My Morning Jacket is still a disappointment to me;
I can understand why Jim James made that record, and in some ways it's pretty
sweet, but I’ll always be pissed that I never got to listen to "It Still
Moves: Part 2".
Carrie: With the exception of Paul Simon, pretty much
anything the great musicians from the 1960's and 70's did in the 80's. Blech.
First concert attended?
James: I saw The Eagles on the Hell Freezes Over tour
when I was 11(?). We were impossibly close to the stage because my folks know
somebody that knows Joe Walsh... (just to either recover - or entirely negate -
my "scene cred", this was closely followed by The Grateful Dead on
Garcia's last tour).
Carrie: Paul McCartney’s world tour 1990, Civic
Arena. I was nine when my parents took me to this. I still have the t shirt.
Last concert?
James: I just saw Tom Rush (the guy that wrote
"No Regrets") with my dad. He’s an effortless performer and amazing
interpreter of songs - he recorded tunes by James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, and
Jackson Browne before anyone else, including them and his melding of the sounds
of folk blues and Child Ballads is still the most thoughtful attempt to do so.
(And so f-ing sad sometimes).
Carrie: PAVEMENT AT THE MANN IN PHILLY IN SEPTEMBER!
Favorite concert ever?
James: I’m forced by false modesty to exclude any
that I was a part of, so: The time I saw Dr. Dog open for My Morning Jacket was
pretty amazing, as was the first time I saw The Drive-By Truckers. Almost any
Centipede E'est show is incredible... maybe the house party in Squirrel Hill
where Jim Lingo faced off with an angry cop in the middle of a Midnight Snake
set?
Carrie: PAVEMENT AT THE MANN IN PHILLY IN SEPTEMBER.
I was also at that Dr. Dog/ My Morning Jacket show and would rate it up there
too. I didn't know James then and probably made fun of the puffy ponytail he
had at the time to the friend I was with.
Least favorite concert?
James: I saw a lot of really bad jam band shows in my
college years, when I "trafficked in that currency". (Ekoostik Hookah
and some bluegrass-carny mash-up bullshit that had a guy painting live both
immediately spring to mind...)
Carrie: Dave Matthews- 8th grade with my dad and
cousin. But 8th grade is a time for forgivable low points, right?
Favorite thoughts, experiences about Pittsburgh?
James: I love it whole-y. It's been my home since I
was born - first by necessity, then by choice. I love it's topography and the
way that the hills and rivers effect the culture and feel of the town; no other
place I’ve lived in has the same close-knit neighborhood feel, mixed with the
"fluidity of scene" that you can find here...
Carrie: The Pittsburgh
music scene is freaking awesome, and I couldn't be more excited to be a part of
it. Besides the amazing and unique sounds that come from all the bands
involved, everyone is so supportive of each other. Some of the best moments of
my life are ones where I have been on a stage with friends from other bands
doing sing-alongs to a room packed with other good friends. People want to have
memorable fun when they go out, and I’m so happy to be a part of a scene that
provides GOOD TIMES. Also besides the music scene Pittsburgh is just an all around amazing
city. Most livable? Sure is.
Thanks a lot guys. FWIW-my first concert was The Eagles as well and I like to think I still have my cred. And to have Sir Paul as your first is definitively worth bragging about.
