Tantalizing Prospects

The James Harvey Band brings original pop to Café Classics in Doylestown, Pa.

By: Daniel Shearer

Staff photo by Daniel Shearer

The James Harvey Band, from left, lead singer, sonwriter and guitarist James Harvey, pianist John Velez and drummer Jonathan Britt, will perform at Café Classics in Doylestown Thursday nights through April.

   Naked voices can stop people in their tracks. Such was the case
when Dan Fein, a weekend DJ with Y100 in Philadelphia and host of the radio station’s
weekly program devoted to local musicians, heard the James Harvey Band.
   Performing at the Grape Street Pub in Manayunk, Pa., the group
opened a Tuesday-night original-music showcase in December, ending its set with
a song that left Mr. Harvey hanging on a dramatic note at the upper end of his
formidable range. As the crowd howled, Mr. Fein took the stage to introduce the
next band.
   "James, you have an amazing voice," he said. "Are you classically
trained?"
   Mr. Harvey, an energetic 22-year-old from Doylestown, Pa., smiled
and nodded vigorously.
   "Yeah? Alright," Mr. Fein replied, "’cause man, you are blessed."
   Finding venues and fans that support original music can be tough,
but the James Harvey Band, less than a year old with its current lineup, seems
well on its way toward building a fan base.
   "That’s my favorite part of a show," says Mr. Harvey, "being
able to stand there for that 30 seconds and just really get lost." Mr. Harvey
is referring to "High Tide," a tune that harnesses the angst of a situation gone
wrong without wallowing in depression.

Staff photo by Daniel Shearer

Mr. Velez and bassist Josh Smith.

   "I try to get all my different emotions out," he says. "At the
same time, I don’t want to go overboard with it."
   Last month, Café Classics owner Eileen Schembri booked
the James Harvey Band for a series of Thursday-night gigs at her club in Doylestown,
replacing a weekly blues jam. The group will continue its run at Café Classics
with weekly shows through April.
   Stylistically, the four-man band cranks out melodic pop, delivered
with top-notch vocal harmony and a hint of jazz, courtesy of pianist John Velez,
who hails from Bayonne. Jonathan Britt, a Princeton native, keeps busy on drums,
with Upper Moreland, Pa., resident Josh Smith on bass.
   Mr. Harvey also works at Café Classics, but his job as
a server and bartender came about after he performed there.
    "I asked them if they needed help after a gig one day," he
says. "It looked like a fun place to work because I’d be around music all the
time, and it’s cool to be around music that you don’t usually listen to because
it kind of seeps into your brain. The first week I started working there, I wrote
my bluesiest song ever."
   Mr. Britt and Mr. Velez are students at Westminster Choir College
of Rider University. Mr. Harvey also attended Westminster for a year, then changed
his course on Sept. 11, 2001. He left school, in fact, on Sept. 11.
   "Growing up I was really bred, since I was 11, to do this whole
classical-opera thing," Mr. Harvey says, adding that he studied voice with Westminster
faculty member Marvin Keenze before graduating from Central Bucks East High School.
   "I just wanted to sing well," he says, "and I didn’t realize
how important it is to have full operas under your belt. You have to have a lot
of repertoire, and that was just something I wasn’t interested in studying."
   As it turns out, a high-school graduation present changed his
outlook.
   "I had never played an instrument until just before college,"
he says. "I got the guitar, taught myself to play, and it just took over. But
even more than singing and playing guitar, the songwriting is what I love."
   Mr. Harvey threw himself into the bar circuit, playing solo-acoustic
shows at colleges, along with a well-attended weekly gig last summer at Kelly’s
in Doylestown. He also hooked up with producer David Ivory, based in Gwynedd Valley,
Pa., who helped him refine his songwriting skills and cut his first studio tracks.
Mr. Ivory also urged him to find new band members, which led to the current James
Harvey Band, solidified last September.
   "Without (Mr. Ivory), I wouldn’t have the band I have now,"
Mr. Harvey says. "I’ve had a contract with him since last year, and he’s the guy
who really pushed me along."
   So far, the collaboration has produced a handful of record-industry
contacts, including a tantalizing lead last March from a talent spotter with Columbia
Records. Just last week, the band received positive feedback from Janis Martin-Hughes,
a representative of WXPN 88.5-FM, who said the band was under consideration for
a spot on the station’s show, Philly Local. Aired weekdays at 1 p.m. with
host Helen Leicht, the program features up-and-coming talent. Previously featured
artists include 4 Way Street, Grey Eye Glances, Christine Havrilla and GrooveLily.
   "We’re trying to do it the right way," Mr. Harvey says, "get
radio airplay and play some shows, instead of focusing completely on getting signed.
We were really trying to run before, and we weren’t even crawling yet."
   The group has nearly 30 original songs in its repertoire, which
helped pack the house at John & Peter’s in New Hope last month, even though
the performance took place on a truly frigid weeknight.
   The song "Script" sets up a victorious chorus with a brief development,
toning things down again with a piano interlude from Mr. Velez, which Mr. Harvey
follows up the neck on guitar. The band breaks back into the chorus once more,
then fades. Lyrically, the tune is a stab at superficial friendships: "We shake
the hands and all the words flood out/ We shake the hands and out come the common
exchanges/ We shake each other’s hands with no intention of holding on/ But we’re
always sure to shake the hands." As with much of the group’s material, the tune
is written in 6/8, an influence Mr. Harvey credits to his classical training.
   But pop is at the heart of the James Harvey sound, and no other
tune illustrates this better than "Almost Died Today," which Mr. Harvey penned
after narrowly avoiding a car accident.
   "I was being overly nice to my girlfriend," Mr. Harvey says,
"and she looked at me and said, ‘You’re being so lovely. Did you almost die today?’
And I said, ‘Yeah, actually, I did.’
   "That song took me 10 minutes to write. It all just came pouring
out, ‘These snapshots of you could fill up walls.’ It was pretty cool. As soon
as you finish writing a song, you feel like you could walk on water. It’s like
no other feeling."
   Mr. Harvey is hoping to take a stab at another record contract
in March, when he performs at a showcase hosted by the American Society of Composers,
Authors and Publishers in Manayunk.
   "An ASCAP showcase is a pretty big deal," he says, "because
Vanessa Carlton, I think Michelle Branch, they’ve all been signed out of ASCAP
showcases over the past couple of years. And it’s not like I’m Michelle Branch
or anything, but it’s the same genre. I really think it could be a big thing for
us."
The James Harvey Band performs at Café Classics, Cross Keys Plaza, 816
N. Easton Road, Doylestown, Pa., through April. Shows Thursday at 9 p.m. $5 cover.
For information, call (215) 489-3535. On the Web: www.cafeclassics.org.
James Harvey on the Web: www.ivoryproductions.com/artist/jharvey.asp