Drew Harrison

A soul that is part poet, part gypsy and part performer, Drew Harrison is a genuine troubadour. Born in New York City, naturally drawn to music, his childhood nursery rhyme was Dear Prudence; his adolescent superheroes: Stevie Wonder, Elton John and John Lennon.

His plans of becoming a brain surgeon were usurped by dreams of being a rock star and making a difference, in the footsteps of Lennon. His first serious group was New Religion. “I got turned on to the likes of the Cocteau Twins and Peter Murphy, and had access to all the greats like U2, Sting, The Police and Peter Gabriel. Later on, I got into Tom Waits, Martin Sexton, Sarah MacLachlan, and Ben Harper.” It was a time of tremendous inspiration.

New Religion broke up and Drew divided his time between travel and taking care of his terminally ill mother. “With that came a bunch of BS emotions. I couldn’t do the 9-5 thing, didn’t want marriage, and I had no musical outlet. I woke up one morning and had to get the hell away from wherever I was heading. I ended up in a house on Rosarita Beach in Mexico. I don’t even recall how I’d got there; I was drunk for the most part. I wrote “One” at this time. If life was gonna be different, I had to make the moves”.

His next original group was TED302, a local San Francisco band that put out the CD “The Honesty Convention”. “It was a great group and we worked our asses off, trying to make it.” Along with music he took an interest in acting, becoming involved in theatre and film in the 1990s.

Drew eventually went solo, took a job bartending while performing in the Bay Area, and later in 1997 headed on trips to Central America and Europe. He arrived in Ireland, with guitar on back, proceeded to busk and pick-up club dates around the country. Ireland was warm, welcoming his performances. He then made for the Czech Republic, and, like Ireland, found that “music exists for music’s sake”, which seemed to fit entirely with his philosophy. In the Czech Republic, a loyal group of fans greets his performances enthusiastically. To date he returns every summer to perform at various pubs and festivals around the country, and sits in with a few local bands.

He currently performs solo in the Bay Area, and also with a group called The Sun Kings, a Beatles musical tribute (and wouldn’t you know it – singing Lennon) while finishing up a degree at UC Berkeley. His CD “Go It Alone” is a result of an intense period, filled with rawness and emotion. It’s just his voice and acoustic guitar, baring his soul lyrically and vocally.

It has been said that when Drew is singing it’s as if he is “singing for his life”. This is obvious when he performs.