Uncommon Ground ^ Jason Harrod

Jason Harrod
Jason Harrod draws from the best traditions of American music to create a sound all his own. As part of the Boston-based duo Harrod and Funck, he released three albums to critical acclaim, one of which, the pair's eponymous sophomore CD, reached number 38 on the CMJ AAA top 40 chart. Harrod and Funck toured across the country and sold a combined total of over 30,000 CDs before parting ways in 1998.
Back in his native North Carolina, Jason launched a solo career that allowed him to indulge his Southern and traditional folk influences more freely without abandoning the contemporary folk sound and excellent songwriting that characterized the music of Harrod and Funck. Sung in a rich, brooding tenor and underscored by inventive guitarwork, his songs about lost love, found joys, and spiritual longing have garnered him a loyal following across the country.

In 2000, Jason won first place in the bluegrass category of the Chris Austin Songwriting competition at the annual MerleFest, an honor held by Grammy Nominees Tift Merrit and Gillian Welch. He followed that up with a first place win in 2001 in the fourth annual songwriting contest sponsored by The North Carolina Songwriters Co-op, and in 2002 appeared on the Lengendary Arthur Smith's "Carolina Calling" television show along with Alison Krauss and Union Station.

Living in Skin, Jason Harrod's acoustic-based first album, contains the timeless Southern strains, alluring melodies, and incisive lyrics which have become Harrod's hallmarks. It features the award-winning songs "When I Get Home," and "Carolina," the latter of which which got heavy airpay on WUNC's "Back Porch Music," and was included on the compilation CD, Best of Back Porch Music.

Jason Harrod's new release, Bright As You, is a blues-infused foot-stomping affair, finding Harrod backed by a crack group of musicians featuring Phil Madeira (Emmylou Harris, Buddy Miller, Al Green, Mavis Staples), Kenny Meeks (Sixpence None the Richer), and the bedrock rhythm section of Dennis Holt (Kerry Livgren, Richie Furay) and Chris Donahue (Vigilantes of Love, Fleming and John). The songs, drenched in sunlight and dogged by shadow, range from the straight ahead blues-rock of "Kickin Mule" to the Beatlesque pop of "Bright As You," to the ambient psychedelic folk of "Goodnight Sunshine," and are, as one critic put it, "The kinds of songs that stay with you long after listening."