– Bass Guitar –
Harrison was born and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas. His earliest musical exposure came from sneaking into his older brothers’ rooms and listening to their albums. Favorites at the time included Grand Funk Railroad, Led Zeppelin, and Black Sabbath but once he heard The James Gang “Rides Again” he was hooked.
“I knew I wanted to be a musician at that point. They just sounded like they were having so much fun.”
When he was 12 his parents got him a classical guitar for Christmas. A month later, he bought his first bass guitar with money from his birthday. Later that year he had found a group of guys and was in his first band. In high school, the band director introduced him to jazz, fusion, classical, and even bluegrass.
“I’m most thankful for that experience. He opened my eyes and ears to so many musical influences.”
After a few years in Silicon Valley starting his engineering career Harrison moved to Dallas and never left. He has been in bands playing everything from classic rock, country, a Blues Brothers tribute, a Tom Petty tribute, yacht rock, and most recently in worship bands at churches.
His first real exposure to Chicago came around 1984 when he saw the video for “Stay The Night”. He got to see the band live at the Oakland Coliseum Arena in 1985.
“I feel that I missed out on quite a lot by having Chicago 17 as my first Chicago experience. I remember seeing the cover to the Chicago IX album at our house when I was young and it probably belonged to one of my brothers or sisters but that’s as close as I got.”
Fast forward to 2022 when a call from one of the earlier CTAT keyboard players finally set things in motion. The plan was to have a backup for every position in the band who would be able to fill in on short notice. After getting the set lists and charts, Harrison started listening to the music closely. “Peter Cetera is an incredibly underrated bass player. His parts are challenging and fun to play. I still find subtle things of his I missed when I listen to Chicago songs. Learning the old catalog has been a blast.”
“I’m really looking forward to playing with these guys and meshing with everyone. Big bands like this are the ultimate example of teamwork when you nail songs that are as challenging as these are. What makes it even better is that the songs resonate so powerfully with the audiences. I think there are a lot of people who have such fond memories associated with the music of Chicago. I really enjoy helping them connect to it and I’m so grateful to be with such a great bunch of guys.”