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The Ghost in the Choir - Fletcher Harrington (2003)

Big Takeover Magazine - Issue No. 53, 2003

If quiet is the new loud, and folk is the new punk, then alt-country is the new revolution. So many are suddenly discovering the pleasure of country music, 30 years after Nashville abandoned any taste! Harrington is not one of the new bandwagon purveyors, however. He is better known for his Orange County band, Cowboy Buddha, which has been combining his love for punk and roots music for years on LPs and EPs like the enjoyable Cement Pond. One, however, begins to think his OC coffeehouse work and his solo LPs are his true love., judging from Eye on Fire & Knuckles Sore and now The Ghost in the Choir, both for Lopie. It brings us back to the old "country punk" (mis-named, actually) of the early '80's, like Rank and File and Dwight Yokum. He makes the old west sound new, with songs that remind as much of Richard Buckner or Muswell Hilbillies Ray Davies as the new Gram Parsons school. Too indie rock to be country, and too Americana to be indi college radio fodder. Harrington writes sleeve-tugging tunes like "And It Strikes Me Like" and "Big Dumb Luck" that show heart even in this suddenly crowded field. Betcha he's got more, too, and will still be doing this when it gets less fashionable.

OC Weekly - November 2003, by John Roos

Working in the rootsy Johnny Cash/Flying Burrito Brothers/Wilco vein, Fletcher Harrington has previously crafted some nifty, cinematic tales of the Old West, replete with gunslingers; whores; and other prickly, unsavory characters. His splendid Eyes On Fire & Knuckles Sore disc of 2001 was a prime example of what he does best. But one of OC's Americana/alt-country heroes turns dour with his new album. That's not necessarily a bad thing, as Harrington looks inward with a dozen somber, more personal tracks, the common thematic threads of which are loneliness, longing and betrayal. Although the album opens with the twang-riddled "At the Train Wreck" and the early-Neil Young-like "One More Lesson", these two catchy, up-tempo numbers quickly give way to slower-moving, emotionally painful ballads. In "Too Close," the reedy-voiced Harrington lashed out with the line "every pose that you put me in felt so contrived"; in the title track-another love-gone-bad number-our protagonist seems resolved to a kind of sad indifference ("Maybe it's you, maybe it's me, maybe it's just mixed up"). Sonically, Harrington, multi-instrumentalist Brit Collins, trumpeter Sarah Kramer, assorted member of Cowboy Buddha and particularly guest vocalists Patti Pannell and Tanya Gallardo add color to an otherwise darkly textured palette. Private Joke," for instance, offers an unexpected-and welcome-dip into jazz and blues that's remarkably right-on. Thought this collection may lack the character0driven imagination of Harrington's earlier material, its bittersweet undercurrent would surely do Gram Parsons proud.

Freight Train Boogie - Santa Rosa, CA., April 2004, by Clint Weathers

The more I listen to this CD the more I thought of Neil Young and Bob Dylan's less commercial work. Fletcher Harrington isn't just a musician - he's an artist in the true sense of the word. He shamelessly puts his soul into his work and shows the kind of courage some will find disconcertingly authentic and sincere. Some may find his vocal style jarring, but the same was said of Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan. It's the songcraft that makes this a CD worth buying and listening to. I suspect that in 10 years when a new crop of bands choose great songs to cover, you'll see Fletcher Harrington's name getting songwriter credit on a lot of them.

Evolving Artist - Southbridge, MA., October 2003

I was immediately struck by the purity of "The Ghost in the Choir". No pretenses, no unnecessary "ran over my dog with my wife's truck" lyrics...No, this record has the essential life-sustaining roots that makes Americana music the thriving industry of today. Fletcher Harrington has the knack for pulling off the cowboy look and sustaining the mysterious charm of a rock star.

Any fan of Neil Young and Wilco would be transfixed on Harrington's honest to goodness country-boy voice. It's almost thread bare lost in the guitars, but still manages to be the most intriguing instrument on "Ghost". The trumpet solo by Sarah Kramer on "Too Close" is complete brilliance in it's simplicity, and Fletcher's acoustic guitar work should be studied by NASA. It's out of this world good.

The best part of this talented star is his pace. Never hurried, never rushed. He's a man at ease with himself and in no conspiracy to hide his true persona. On "Texas Sized Mistake", my personal favorite, Harrington contemplates how his friend slid away from life without a fight: "dropped my eyes and taken vows, then given up when you left town". It's true that this offering should sit well with the future greats of  alternative-country rock, not just for Harrington's performance but for the high quality recording indebted to Lemon Hill Studios in Santa Ana, CA.

SOUTHBOUND BEAT MAGAZINE - by Dave Howell 

This is a solo release by the founder of the band Cowboy Buddha. Cowboy Buddha is on this record, too, so it can be assumed that Fletcher Harrington uses his own name here because of the difference in style. It is less rock, more quiet and personal, and most of all, often strange. This is the type of CD where the lyrics are on the cover sleeve. In this case, though, you will actually want to read them. Harrington presents a world here of Country Gothic, with weird thoughts and happenings. The songs start like Country songs, anchored by acoustic guitar, but the melodies take unusual minor key turns away from the three chord standard of Country music. Sarah Kramer comes in on trumpet on a few tracks. The most striking element, though, is Harrington's voice. It is unusually high, thin, and reedy. It works well here, since his strange voice goes with his often strange tales. In "One More Lesson," Harrington sings "Junior took a spin around the race track one more time before they let it burn." He never explains what race track or why it is burning, instead using the unfilled image to create an air of mystery. "Take Me When You Get Your Car" has the narrator pleading to get "out from the basement and try to connect again." The more conventional love song "Jennie" has Harrington begging her to "spend just one night in your pale sighs," as if she is almost too ethereal to exist. This is an alt.country CD with the emphasis on the "alt," with fine songwriting that shows an imagination that you do not often find in this genre.