24
NEIGHBORS
SCOTTSDALE PROGRESS | WWW.SCOTTSDALE.ORG | OCTOBER 17, 2021
Neighbors
Scottsdale.org l
@ScottsdaleProgress
/ScottsdaleProgress
Local musician delivers as solo artist
BY JORDAN HOUSTON Progress Staff Writer
M
usic was always an escape for Scottsdale resident Ivan Harshman. The full-time musician describes it as a therapeutic outlet throughout his childhood – and still stands by that statement. “Music for me at an early age was important,” explained Harshman, a former member of The Elliots. “I would hide in my room and listen to records and play army men. It was a big deal because there was always a lot going on in the house. It was an escape for me.” Now, the vocalist, writer and instrumentalist is making a name for himself throughout the North Valley as a mustsee — or hear — talent. Harshman has shared the stage with a multitude of renowned musicians and acts, including Derek Trucks, Keb Mo, Ian Moore, Gin Blossoms, David Crosby, Charlie Musselwhite, Carl Palmer, Cake, Sugar Ray, The Samples, Lisa Loeb, The Verve Pipe, Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers, Mark Mikel, Mudjaw’s Cantankerous Jubilee and The Zombies. With his schedule listed on his website, he can satisfy a variety of requests, including classics like his Beatles medley as well as perform his own original pieces, like “Avalon” and “The Dailies.” “It doesn’t really matter what songs you play, as long as you play well,” Harshman says. “If you destroy someone’s favorite song, you’re not doing them or yourself any favors.” Harshman, whose sound ranges from a blend of bluegrass to “pop-Beatlesesque songs,” says he prefers not to limit himself to any particular category. Harshman attributes his inspiration
Scottsdale resident Ivan Harshman attributes his inspiration to his uncle, a singer and bass player. (Special to the Progress)
to dabble in the music industry to his uncle, a singer and bass player. At 14, he taught himself how to play the guitar. Harshman then began writing lyrical pieces shortly after. “I started writing songs immediately,” Harshman said. “I had a lot going on inside of me. There’s two kinds of performers, there’s the ones that are using it as a catharsis and then there’s people that want attention.” Harshman organized his first threepiece band about a year later, playing bass guitar with several classmates. At 16, Harshman played for his uncle’s band at local bars while helping with stage management. “I would run lights and they would pay me to be a light-man,” he says. “And then I would come up and would sing, at first, two or three songs, and then four or five.” After graduating from high school, Harshman earned his own open stage
night at a local bar called Shari’s Place Upstairs. The stage was furnished with microphones and a drum set, Harshman explains. “It was a musician’s bar. That’s who hung out there, musicians,” he says. “I would host the night and people would come up and want to play and they could. All of a sudden, drums would kick in behind me. If you started playing a song somebody liked, they’d just walk up and start playing with you. “It’s really how I learned. All of those guys were older, seasoned and ridiculously good musicians.” Harshman arrived in Tempe around the late ’90s. The aspiring musician, who was in his early 20s at the time, initially planned to pursue music in Los Angeles, but his hopes were curtailed following the demise of the record label industry in the early 2000s.
He then joined what would become the Arizona-based “supergroup” The Elliots shortly after. The trio contained fellow singer-songwriters Blake Thompson on the vocals and guitar and Kate Russo on vocals, the electric violin and keyboards. “We were three lead singer-songwriters, we called ourselves the unofficial super group,” Harshman recounts. “Everybody was a lead singer-songwriter from another band. Basically, we started writing and playing and had a great following.” Harshman left the group around 2004 to pursue his next chapter as primarily a solo artist, he says. In 2009, he joined the classic rock outfit The Rig with Valley musicians Ronnie Winter, a vocalist and guitarist, and Gary Bruzzese, a vocalist and drummer. To this day, the group performs once a month at local hangouts like Cave Creek’s The Hideaway Grill. Performing is one of the few times that Harshman feels in the moment, he says. “When I’m performing, it’s the only time where I’m really concentrating on one thing and I feel relaxed,” Harshman explains. “I feel like I’m where I’m supposed to be. I don’t feel anxious, I don’t feel nervous. I don’t feel like I’m missing something.” Harshman adds it is an important time to support live and local musicians. He encourages music- overs to continue to buy records or pay musicians in any capacity that they can. “Live music is alive and well, as long as people keep showing up,” he shares. “People love live music. After COVID, people would come from different states and would come and cry. Grown men and women would cry, it’s very important to people.” Information: ivanharshman.com
