Made with a lineup from all over the US, (Daniel Schuck - Keyboards and Organ, John McGaraghan - Rhythm Guitar and Vocals, Damon Lee San Felipo - Bass, Sterling Snow on Drums and Lee Simpson on Guitar and Lead Vocals), King Harvest became a band of nation wide appeal. In this configuration the genius of John McGaraghan had a chance to really shine - creating some truly memorable collaborations. "When the lineup is good it's easy to write great songs because you can just picture or hear who is going to be backing it up." The rhythm section coupled with McGaraghan's song writing input created what I still consider to be "one of the best bands ever formed. The intent here was a Crazy Horse or even Little Feat kind of thing." Old classics like Big City River and Rocket Transfer Warehouse found new life while even more amazing was simultaneously being written. The band a home off of Ashby Avenue in Berkeley in a old industrial park where the only thing on the menu was music, music, music and more music. As the acoustics came out and the ADAT set up - John and I discovered that we had many mutual loves in common - adding Break Down - Tom Petty and Several Gram Parson's tunes into the set. Thousand dollar wedding and Sin City just to name a few. That weird little warehouse off of one of the nastier alleys in Berkeley was where John and I really bonded over the real core love of it all. In the end we found that we were even able to be a songwriting team/duo - made even better with the Keyboard and harmonica work from Daniel Schuck. There were a lot of different ideas in the band at that time so we steal away and meet up to have these outstanding writing sessions - generally late into the night. Some bands work in tension and while KH was together there was more than enough to go around. As is often the case the by-product of that tension, was a taught fusion among the song team, resulting in some truly amazing songs. December's Ghost, 20/20, Say one thing and Numb, to name a few. The recording is roughly produced but the content is incredible. As a group there were many challenges for KH because we all cared so much - too much at times - leading to some serious gridlock. But more importantly lifelong friendships developed and collaboration continues to this day. John and I write often and keep in touch as much as we can. The Internet has really made it possible to collaborate and write with people all over the country. John has just sent me another awesome song today called "Steam Engine" and I think it is going to go right in to his set. There is a unifying thing about finding another person who is willing to be that vulnerable, spilling blood and guts along the way. Similar to the friendships you see when people go through heavy trauma together. I think it is safe to say that no matter how you slice it - band life is in fact "Heavy Trauma". On a side note keep an ear out for John McG's ballad "My kind of Girl". We recorded it in the Oakland Hills at the tail end of King Harvest. The song is so pretty and so razor sharp that you find yourself bleeding all over with a big "shit-eating" grin on your face. You can check John McGaraghan's work out on www.johnmcg.com or at www.mp3.com/johnmcgaraghan. You can also click through the link on this website.
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