Since bursting onto the music scene in 2018 with his band Hugo Stranger and The Rattlers, Tom Harrison has been making all kinds of noise ever since. After building a home studio, Harrison finally got round to revisiting a long shelved concept album about a road trip he took with his wife in 2017 across North America. Living in a Chevy van they travelled through Canada and down the west coast of America for a year, while Tom put inspiration to paper.
The first taste of the upcoming EP titled ‘Old Growth’ was the single How Long was released mid 2023 and since then Tom Harrison has gone from strength to strength and people are taking notice. Recent single Start Again has received frequent national airplay on ABC and the accompanying music video has featured heavily on the CMT (Country Music Television) channel.
Now, his newest release Buffalo sees him truly spread his wings as a songwriter, painting a haunting tale of a girl gone missing. “We were taking a bus ride to New York and had to make a border stop at 3am. Bleary eyed we sat in this waiting room filled with these posters of missing people. Some of the descriptions were so vague and haunting, like ‘Last seen getting in her car leaving for work. Haven’t been seen in 20 years.’ These descriptions really stuck with me and I started to imagine what might have happened to these lost souls.”
Whilst accompanied by an evocative violin performed by Gareth Mewes and stirring piano by Angela Harrison, Buffalo really focuses on the story telling, which is something Tom Harrison wanted to tap into. “I love storytelling like Paul Kelly’s ‘From Little Things’ or ‘Deeper Water’ but wanted to combine it with my love for Neil Finn’s song writing” says Tom. Buffalo is the EP’s most stripped back song featuring just guitar, strings, keys and bass. The song was mixed by Nell Forster at the Brisbane studio The Moon Room with Mikey Young mastering the track.
Loaded with a brand new EP of folk-blues songs, Tom Harrison has a huge year ahead of him. With multiple shows and festivals already lined up, Tom Harrison has plenty more to come in 2024.
