Harper Blynn-Pop Goes With Harmonies

I walk through the backstage door and climb the 3 flights of stairs to the band's dressing rooms. I am excited to see and work merch for the band Harper Blynn again. I have worked for them two other times when they were known as Pete & J. I am greeted warmly and with excitement of old friends catching up again. Pete and Jason have always been very personable towards me and have always treated me like a band member. I get to catch up with one of my favorite people and a truly amazing drummer, Sarab Singh. I then meet their new bass player, Whynot (yes it is his name). My first question to them is why the name change? They said that the original name conjured up a couple of folk singers who traveled as a duo rather than as a full band and this makes sense to me. They show their humor and originality in that their new name is taken from Pete and J.'s last names, rather than their first names. It does give them a sense of a full band. However, I was most excited to hear their new music from the new CD The Loneliest Generation.


The band performed a month ago at the legendary Baltimore club The 8x10. This is my favorite club to see music in Baltimore. It is small (around 350), has a great sound system and visual sightlines, and a sprung floor so you are not standing on concrete all evening. I work a lot of shows here and enjoy the people I meet at this celebrated venue. While tonight's show features three bands, all of the music will be performed by Harper Blynn. They will perform a set of their own music and then will be the back up bands for both Cary Brothers and Greg Laswell. Cary is an indie rock singer-songwriter and Greg is more of a singer-songwriter. Both have had songs featured in both movies and TV shows. Playing these diverse styles should tell you a lot about Harper Blynn's amazing musicianship. They are chameleons when it comes to music and fit both of these other styles like a glove. Adding their incredible harmonies is a reason these bands all toured together. So I got to listen to Harper Blynn in all these different incarnations and they were successful at all three.

I like them best when they perform their own music. Pete and J. met on the first day of college and began performing officially in 2006. They were and continue to be based out of New York City. I am struck first by their amazing hooks and beautiful harmonies. Their harmonies remind me of Simon and Garfunkel and to be honest they look a bit like that duo. Their songs are more pop and rock oriented and when you add in the harmonies of the rest of the band, it can send chills up your spine. They write a lot of upbeat songs that are very catchy. Enjoy this live version of the title song "Loneliest Generation".


While I love this live video I encourage you to also check out their official video at this link "Loneliest Generation". It is sweet, strange, and shows their great sense of humor. You have got to love the dancing!!! I hope you love and appreciate their songwriting and tight melodic harmonies as much as I do.