Hello everyone!

I am so excited to share the news that my son Jamie M. Harrison’s new single, a cover of the timeless classic, Poor Wayfaring Stranger, was just released. Recorded during the pandemic lockdown, this track showcases Jamie’s rich and deep throated vocal, accompanied by his acoustic guitar and mandolin playing.

If you want to listen, here is the song and its lyric video: 

The song is now available via all digital music outlets, including Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, You Tube, etc.

Jamie’s vocal performance on this song is currently nominated in the “Best Vocal” category for the 2021 New Mexico Music Awards.

Here are the track credits:

Produced, Performed, Arranged and Recorded by Jamie M. Harrison

Mixed by Chuck Lucero

Mastered by Trevor Sadler

Cover art and Graphics by View Maniac. Original cover picture by Shannon Keapuka 

Lyric Video by View Maniac

Executive Producers: Skafish and Glinda Harrison

Record Label: 829 Records

Please spread the word on social media and share the lyric video. It really does help out.

As always, thanks so much for your support!! 

Skafish

Hello everyone,

A lot of people have been excited about the news that I am reissuing the Conversation album and including the tracks that no one was originally allowed to hear due to the censorship of I.R.S. Records back in the day.

I am hard at work on the project, with remastering first on the list. I wanted to let everyone here know that I have already received the first reference of the Conversation album remastered.

I’m going through this meticulously and paying attention to every detail. As you know, getting the project to its highest possible standards is extremely important to me.

The reason we started the remastering/mastering process with the Conversation album is because sonically, that will be our foundation.

As you may already know, there are several other tracks that will be included in this expanded reissue, those that I.R.S. Records vehemently rejected for being too controversial to release. Plus, there will be a few surprise live bonus tracks for inclusion in the package.

Since all of the studio recordings were done by the same musicians in the same studio (Pumpkin Studios, Oak Lawn, Illinois) with the same engineer, (Gary Loizzo), getting the Conversation album remastered properly lays the foundation. Then, the other studio tracks will sonically be able to be brought to the same standard. That way, all of the studio recordings will be sonically cohesive.

Of course, the live tracks will have a different sound, simply because they were recorded live.

Because there is so much material to be mastered, this project can’t be rushed and will take some time to get through everything. As it all progresses, I will keep you posted every step of the way with new developments regarding the project.

I can’t wait to share it all with you. I am so excited!

As always, thank you so much for your support. It really makes such a difference.

Skafish

Hello everyone,

Following up on his stunning version of the traditional classic, Poor Wayfaring Stranger, we are releasing a new single, one of my son Jamie’s own original compositions, titled Novocaine.

Check out the lyric video here:

This track is nominated in 2 categories of The New Mexico Music Awards: “Best Engineering” and “Best Mastering Engineer.” The engineering team consisted of Grammy Award Winner Jerry Douglas Geist, Chicagoland Engineer and owner of Thunderclap Recording Studio, John Carpenter, and the song was mixed by Chuck Lucero. Mastering duties were handled by Trevor Sadler of Mastermind Productions

The song is now available for purchase/streaming via all major digital media outlets such as Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube, and Amazon, etc.

All of us at 829 Records are hard at work to get new music out there. There is a lot more to come, both from Jamie and from me!

Here are the additional credits:

Produced, Written, and Arranged by Jamie M. Harrison

Jamie M. Harrison: Vocals, Guitars, Keyboards

Guy Lagerway: Bass Guitar

Richard Reed: Drums

Cover art by View Maniac.

Lyric Video by View Maniac

Executive Producers: Skafish and Glinda Harrison

Record Label: 829 Records

There is so much power and heart in this track — and I hope that it connects with you.

Thanks for your support and please spread the word.
Skafish

I am so excited to share the news with you that I dropped a single from the vault. The track, Nothing I Can Do, recorded in 1992, is now digitally available everywhere to stream and download, including on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, and You Tube.

Click here to get it on Bandcamp 

THE BACKSTORY
Looking back, 1983 to 1994 was a multifaceted, busy time. I refer to this aspect of my career, in part, as the Solo Show Era. Among other things, I performed a one person show and made recordings mostly on my own from start to finish. Some of you may already be familiar with the Solo Show Era and attended the shows, while some younger fans may be hearing about it now for the first time. During that time, I also performed with the Life band, the Skafish band on a 1985 West Coast tour, and for the Barbie Goodrich cancer benefit in 1992. I also briefly formed two other bands, one in 1987 and the other in 1994.

Nothing I Can Do was a distinctive part of the Solo Show Era. I wrote, produced, arranged, engineered, and performed all the music for the song. Like many Skafish pieces, Nothing I Can Do is not only one-of-a-kind in the marketplace, but singularly unique in relation to other Skafish tracks.

Here are some features of this piece: The track is a combination of alternative rock, punk, hard rock and blues, whose dominant components are voice and guitar.

And, in many ways, Nothing I Can Do is quite special to me. In part, that’s because it was the first track I recorded where I took a different approach to singing, where I tried to sing in my low, mid and high range in one song. The piece also showcases my guitar playing throughout, where I did my best to make it both biting and unique.

Historically, Nothing I Can Do never had a full and proper release before. It was briefly a part of a compilation called The Best Of The Region – Rock – ‘94, which showcased artists from the area I was born and raised in, known as “The Region.” This rough and tough area of Northwest Indiana which borders Chicago has some great artistic talent. I was happy to have Nothing I Can Do included in this purposefully limited compilation release.

VIDEO
Since the expanded Conversation album reissue is such an involved project, I thought it would be a great idea to offer something to everyone in the meantime. Since I had the recording and a video, it seemed like a great pick-me-up to share with the fans.

Also, there is an extra surprise I am thrilled to share with you. Click here to check out the video for Nothing I Can Do. 

The video features live performance footage candidly shot from 1992 to 1994 throughout Chicagoland by John Anderson, a Grammy-nominated video director for his work on the Brian Wilson presents: SMiLE DVD. The video is raw and real, and I love the grit John Anderson and his partner Colin Carter were able to capture on film.

An early version of the video was shown on JB-TV in Chicago in the mid 90s. When Billy Corgan was a guest on the show, he made the request for a Skafish video to be aired. The station played the early version of Nothing I Can Do.

For a while, the early video was also aired on the now defunct Launch TV channel. That early clip only contained half of the 3rd verse, but the current video, (just released today), has the entire 3rd verse of the song, along with complete credits listed at the end.

The early video edit was recorded during a solo show performance and featured live vocal and guitar over the backing tracks that I had created. However, since the third verse was cut in half by the video’s director, I felt it necessary to change it to use the complete song. So, the new video has the entire third verse, full credits at the end, and contains the studio track to Nothing I Can Do, matching the digital release.

You may notice a very few scenes in the video that have a band onstage with me. Named Jim Skafish & Aliennation, that band was only together for several months in 1994.

AUDIO REMASTERING
As it has been with all of my music releases since 2005, the track was remastered by Trevor Sadler (Madonna, Nine Inch Nails, Ramsey Lewis, David Byrne, Steely Dan, and others).

COVER IMAGE
The cover photo was taken by artist Jeff Mathews at Club Dimensions in Highland Indiana, circa 1990s. The cover design & graphics were done by View Maniac.

Currently, Nothing I Can Do is the only piece available from my Solo Show Era (with many more to come). I hope you connect with it and if you do, please support it, share it, and spread the word in any way you feel inspired to do.

CONVERSATION
FYI: I also wanted to briefly mention that I am still busy working on the expanded Conversation album reissue. There will be exciting news on that front coming and I will keep you posted as the project develops.

Thanks much for everything, and please stay safe, especially during this time.
Skafish

Hello to everyone,

For some time now, I have been working behind the scenes on the goal of being able to eventually reissue my 2nd album, Conversation.

A few months after my debut album was successfully released on vinyl for its 40th anniversary on May 7, 2020, I clearly decided that my next album reissue was indeed going to be an expanded version of the Conversation album. That decision was first announced to the fans on August 15th, 2020.

Since then, I’ve been immersed in the reissue (there’s been so many details to pay attention to). Now, I am so excited to share this video update with you here regarding the status of the project.

Here are some key things I discuss in the video:

*The mastering and remastering process
*The three musical elements that comprise this reissue
*The controversy that happened in November 1982
*The number of tracks featured in the expanded reissue
*How fans can directly support Skafish projects

After you watch the video, please let me know your thoughts regarding the project – they are always appreciated! As always, I truly thank you for your support!

Stay safe out there,
Skafish

Hello everyone!

I’m always so happy to release a new song by my son, Jamie M. Harrison, and I wanted to share his new track with you. All of the Love Songs just dropped Friday, April 22, 2022 at midnight Eastern Time on all streaming platforms. The track was released on my label, 829 Records, and it is nominated for 2 New Mexico Music Awards: Adult Contemporary/Adult Pop, and Best Vocal Performance.

Here is the track’s lyric video.

The piece captures the tradition of expressive, beautiful summer songs. It’s perfect for the coming season when romance is often in the air.

Jamie wrote, arranged, and sang lead vocals on the track. He also played the guitars, keyboards as well as produced and mixed the track.

Drummer Richard Reed and Bassist Guy Lagerway created a phenomenal groove that has just enough kick to give the piece the right feel..

Recording engineers Jerry Douglas Geist, John Carpenter, and Chuck Lucero brought great fidelity and ambience to the track.

As always, Trevor Sadler killed it with the mastering process.

Jamie’s mom, Glinda Harrison, and I were the executive producers. We tried to help guide and oversee the project to help the song and the process be the best both could be.

And, View Maniac did a terrific job for the lyric video and the cover art.

For me, here’s the fun part: I was able to sing backup vocals with Jamie in the studio for this track. I know the backing vocals don’t sound like the way you’ve heard my voice before, but I am a being of many voices, LOL.

I hope you enjoy the track. Please spread the word and stay safe out there.
Skafish

Hello and best wishes to everyone here,

Today I wanted to offer some news that I think you’re really going to enjoy.

In this new video, here’s some highlights of what I share:

*Reissue Title (which is different from the original title of my second album released back in 1983)

*Track Listings (I share the titles of all 21 tracks)

*The One You Want (this is the track that all Skafish fans have been waiting for, the one I have been repeatedly asked about for decades)

*First Audio Snippet, (Enjoy a first listen to a snippet of a remastered track included in the coming reissue. Hint: Can I borrow a cup of sugar…?)

As I’ve mentioned before, this is an extremely complex project and that takes time to be able to get it right. I truly want this reissue to be the best it can be for the fans, my band, everyone who worked on it, and myself. 

Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section of this post regarding any aspect of the reissue. I really want to hear from you.

Keep in mind that if you want exclusive content, all the news first and to contribute to getting all  past, present, and future Skafish music out there for everyone, please support me on Patreon. It’s easy, simple, and buy-in starts at just $1 per month. Click here to support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/skafish

Again, my greatest gratitude goes out to you for your support and our connection!

Please take care of you, be kind to others and stay safe out there.
Skafish

To everyone here on the blog, I appreciate you joining me and checking out the content posted!

Today, I have a video to share with you that has not yet been posted on social media – and it has some really exciting news.

In the video, I am thrilled to be able to share the cover reveal to the expanded reissue of my second album, Conversation & The Rejects.

Please let me know what you think of the cover; I’d love to hear your thoughts and your feedback.

Also, in the video, I briefly discuss the coming Kickstarter campaign. But, this campaign is going to be a little bit different, so check out the video for details.

I’m really excited about being able to share the 21 tracks from Conversation & The Rejects with you, nine of which have been previously unreleased, along with fan favorite Sign Of The Cross (Bonus Track) (Live From URGH).

 If you want to see more Skafish music out there, both the old and the new, please support me on Patreon. Never forget that buy-in starts at just $1 a month. Visit patreon.com/skafish to sign up now!

I will be keeping in touch and I hope you’re doing really well!

Skafish

Hello!

I’m grateful that my blog has served the purpose of me being able to reach out to people in a direct and clear way for so many years.

I’m thrilled to announce that the Kickstarter campaign to support the expanded reissue of my controversial 2nd LP, Conversation & The Rejects, is now live. Click here to check out the campaign and its video.

To celebrate the 21 tracks on the reissue, the Kickstarter is running for 21 days, starting today, November 13-2023. The Kickstarter is designed to help fund the expanded reissue.

For ONLY this Kickstarter campaign, all physical items will be sold at a lower price. Once the reissue is released worldwide, all items will be sold at a higher price.

I’ve been working on this project for almost 20 years. From getting the rights back to monitoring the remastering of the project and all the steps in between, this has been a very complex project. It has been meticulously mastered and remastered, and it features these 3 elements:

1-The original Conversation album.

2-The Rejects. These are the 8 never-before-released master recordings I.R.S. Records considered too offensive and shocking to release. They are among the most controversial tracks my band has ever recorded.

3-Live Bonus Tracks. The reissue concludes with 2 live bonus tracks, including one of my most well-known recordings to date. It is Sign Of The Cross, from Urgh! A Music War. This is the original live recording from Frejus, France that was featured in the concert film Urgh! A Music War and on its soundtrack album.

Both Sign Of The Cross and its companion live bonus track, Beefcake Touch, were recorded when my band and I were on tour in Europe and the UK with such artists as The Police, XTC, UB-40, English Beat, Squeeze, U2 and others.

Visually, the reissue features a stunning new cover design and artwork, which incorporates elements of the original Conversation album.

Check out the Kickstarter video on the campaign page to see the great rewards that are being offered. Your financial support will really help to get this record out there and that means a lot!

Please help me spread the word. Thank you!
Skafish

Pic: Guy Rhodes