Roger Harvey knows that you can leave a place, but it won’t ever truly leave you. Growing up in the small Western Pennsylvania snow-belt town of Girard, where Elk Creek empties into Lake Erie, Harvey never quite fit in. Opportunity struck at the age of ten, when he discovered punk rock and began touring with a local band. Traveling across America at such a young age was life-changing. It awoke in him a deep love of music, the community it builds, and the bonds it nurtures. Roger’s been on the road ever since, performing solo and fronting a number of hard-working bands while living in Brooklyn, NY; Portland, OR; Pittsburgh, PA; and Philadelphia, PA before putting down roots in Nashville, TN.
As comfortable in small desert towns as he is beneath big city lights, Roger has continued to grow a dedicated following while performing his brand of introspective country music all across the United States, United Kingdom, Europe, and Canada. His work ethic and songcraft hasn’t gone unnoticed, resulting in extensive touring with The Menzingers, Against Me!, Tim Barry, Bouncing Souls, Frank Iero, and many others. As steady in the studio as he is on the road, Harvey has released two full-length albums and a consistent stream of singles over the past twelve years while honing his own genre-bending style of songwriting.
His acknowledgement of music’s ability to create change has led Roger to perform at multiple rallies with Bernie Sanders, President Obama, and community organizers throughout the country. Roger’s dedication to craft has landed him comparisons to songwriting giants: "Harvey drops the hammer at the song’s midpoint — a zinger of a line that would likely make Prine himself smirk," said Rolling Stone, while his identification as a Willie Nelson fan resulted in a collaboration with Mickey Raphael in support of the Last Prisoner Project.
Roger Harvey built a career as a world-traveling independent artist, but home never left the rearview. Harvey’s new song, Blue Mountain, brings him back to rural Pennsylvania. Equal parts country, folk, and rock, the record focuses Roger’s story through a voice and sound hard-won between the highway lines. Blue Mountain is an ambitious next step for a songwriter whose love of music never wavered over the years. The song was produced by Grammy-winner Justin Francis and features John R. Miller.
You can find Roger on the road performing solo, alongside steel guitarist Mike “Slo-Mo” Brenner (Magnolia Electric Co.), or with his new outfit Roger Harvey & the Blue Mtn Band.
