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Namesake

by Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon

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Kev
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Kev This is one incredible Album. I was expecting a few strong Cuts, but this album kinda floored me on first listen. Forever impressed with how Jeremiah accomplished this recording with Chris and the players. Not allowing the “fame machine” to ruin his natural ability to record timeless songs and a timeless recording. This easily sounds like a long lost classic. A 1970’s Carole King record, if you will? Bravo to everyone involved!

lilliebridgers
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lilliebridgers I'm so happy to finally have it on vinyl!! I first heard these songs when I saw him live in person in MD and his original single which he sang for his audition on American Idol. Hearing the album for the first time, I love it and its so unique! I can tell a lot of love and passion went into making this album and it shows. I really love it and I can't wait for the future of Jeremiah and his music! Awesome job with the instrumentation as well!! <3
Michael Lillard
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Michael Lillard This album spins a world unto itself, reminiscent of the best of 70s album making, yet totally authentic. It makes me miss my childhood bean bag and headphones, lost in some song, finding myself. The arrangements and production are impeccable, never heavy handed or over done, a thing far too rare these days. The songs are beautifully written, some simple and intimate, others complex and expansive. And of course there’s that soft spoken giant-of-a-voice, familiar yet otherworldly. Favorite track: Lake Rita.
mikeortman
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mikeortman It's rare to find an album that could tell a story that perfectly marries both great comfort and extreme vulnerability from start to finish. The amazing production effort put into each song shows; there is a fantastic balance of brilliant instrumentals and flawless vocals that forces you to close your eyes, block out the world, and just... listen. A truly timeless album that should be in any collection.
rhalley1
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rhalley1 I love everything I've heard Jeremiah sing! Favorite track: Almost Heaven.
more...
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1.
Words and Music by Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon I was never one to build a castle in the sand I would rather watch the tide turn and feel it rolling in my hands So I wait for kingdom come but there it goes one by one Waving goodbye and hello again Yesterday we built a house on all the broken glass Oh how the shape it changes before our eyes and can never last So we pray for kingdom come but there it goes one by one Waving goodbye and hello again All my love soon will be gone All will go chasing after the sun Wheel in the sky, when's it my turn? How long must I burn? Say you want to make a home somewhere beyond the shore Up on a hill so high where the wake can keep from our sleep no more 'Til the day our kingdom comes - oh there it goes one by one Waving goodbye, waving goodbye and hello again
2.
Words and music by Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon There’s an angel in the window On a West Virginia church door Swinging open And he’s pointing to the exit sign Said “You’ll never walk on water If you wait until the river’s frozen over In the Shenandoah summer" Well it was almost heaven Choirs singing in robes of white Almost Heaven Lovers laying side by side But when we reach forever Will there be a place where you and I May call home? So I keep a candle burning And I pray to see that saint I knew For certain But it’s just my own reflection now And that silhouette in the window Is the shape of someone I don’t quite Remember Dancing in the fire Well it was almost heaven Choirs singing in robes of white Almost Heaven Lovers laying side by side But when we reach forever Will there be a place where you and I May call home? In heaven I’ll make a room for you If you stay your eyes on me now Lover you can lean on me Love I can lift you higher Said I’m making a room for you Will you keep your eyes on me now Lover lean on me Love I can lift you higher Oh I can lift you higher Well it was almost heaven Choirs singing in robes of white Almost Heaven Lovers laying side by side But when we reach forever Will there be a place where you and I May call home? In heaven May call home? In heaven
3.
Namesake 03:15
Well I guess you thought I might have been in exile The son you last saw leaving the station But tomorrow I'll be coming home to Memphis And will you look your namesake in the eye? I wonder Is there something about my hair you don't remember? Or have I changed beyond all recognition? Well look at what the wind blew into Memphis Now will you look your namesake in the eye This time around? Who can forget a sinner like me? He who will not face his own reflection Unfold your praying hands old man Awake from your sleep Behold the dead are raised in resurrection Words and Music by Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon Well I guess you might have thought I'd be too far gone by now But here I am as close as your own shadow The truth is that I've always stood beside you And I always will Well somebody said today's your celebration And who would I be not to wear a smile So here's to every road that leads to Memphis Now will you look your namesake in the eye? Will you look your namesake in the eye? Oh will you look your namesake in the eye? I wonder Who can forget a sinner like me? He who will not face his own reflection Unfold your praying hands old man Awake from your sleep Behold the dead are raised in resurrection
4.
Words & Music by Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon Sweet June Nectar Filled the air With your aroma Jean blouse mornings Fingers though your hair Your scent still on me But how long can you stay In my arms Before you go chasing the sun? Oh, will you remember me like Sweet June Nectar? Move in a little closer I can almost taste it Come on feed my hunger And I'm so intoxicated by your fragrance But how long can you stay In my arms Before you go chasing the sun? Oh, will you remember me like Sweet June Nectar? When you're no longer here with me I feel so bittersweet I need June nectar Sweet June Nectar
5.
Skinny 03:17
Words & Music by Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon Skinny Skinny in love over you Punch me Punch me a hole or two Why am I so frail? Maybe I should just buy a brand-new belt But still I am so poor I’ll take a hammer and nail to knock on your door ‘cause I’m… Skinny Skinny in love over you Punch me Punch me a hole or two Worry me so thin It’s like I’m losing myself when you’re with him But before I disappear Another knock so you know that I’m still here ‘cause I’m… Skinny Skinny in love over you Punch me Punch me a hole or two Cause I'm Skinny Skinny in love over you Punch me Punch me a hole or two Cause I'm Skinny Skinny in love over you Punch me Punch me a hole or two
6.
Mermentau 02:44
Words and Music by Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon You leave in the morning for Mermentau but you know you can't stay 'Cause you're the phantom of vodka on the kitchen floor and you forgot how to pray Saying "Oh, Mama don't see the same sun as me As me no more I'm calling a cab for my own salvation" I leave in the morning for Mermentau but I know I can't stay 'Cause you're love is no longer an open door And I'm falling from grace But maybe it's not falling if I take a leap of faith And feel forever underneath my feet now Singing "Oh, Mama don't see the same sun as me As me no more I'm calling a cab for my own salvation" But where do I go? Papa can't even look at me At me no more Lord won't you send me a chariot Send it down Send me a chariot, oh!
7.
Lake Rita 06:39
8.
Silver Spoon 03:12
Words and Music by Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon I ain't gonna feed you with a silver spoon Eating me under the moonlight, no I ain't gonna starve watching you dress your plate With a piece of my heart But you can take what you need If you make love to me Oh you make me hazy I'm lazy in the morning Sneaking out the back door on your way to him I know it Ask me if I'm jealous for you Yeah but I don't envy you 'Cause you're feeding me that old shit With a silver spoon Who am I to be pointing fingers? Your silver spoon has become my mirror Flip me upside down and turn the other way I'm really just the same So you can take what you need If you make love to me Oh take what you need And make love to me I ain't gonna feed you with a silver spoon Eating me under the moonlight, no I ain't gonna starve watching you dress your plate With a piece of my heart
9.
Mary Ann 03:31
Words and Music by Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon Mary Ann you never knew me You thought you found some blue-eyed wonder But I would've drank the Mississippi Just to keep from going under Oh Missouri won't you show me How I really ought to tell her That I couldn't stop the Mississippi River walls from spilling over Hold your breath a little longer Mary Ann Don't go dancing under water Though you're lighter than the air down there I'm gonna drink the Mississippi I'm gonna drink 'til I go blue I'm gonna drink the Mississippi Then you'll know how much I care
10.
Words and Music by Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon I'm keeping no score I don't wanna fight anymore I'm standing in the need of conversation Concerning the void The peonies have passed Drop petals like punches on my chest I'm falling in between your crescent Eden And into the void Into the void Blush blood red on my punch punch chest into pieces Jump jump into the dark I'm not scared if you're with me Blush blood red on my punch punch chest into pieces Jump jump into the dark I'm not scared if you're with me Are you with me? Your hair's faded to blonde Like peonies passing away in the sun Your love is losing all its color But I'm keeping no score Keeping no score
11.
Century Man 04:24
Words and Music by Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon It was getting close to midnight when the clocks forgot their face And all my life was frozen in a frame I had one hand in my pocket with a watch on a silver chain Waiting on the centuries to change But now that I'm older I can hide away Knowing that in time I'll see the day Now that I'm older I can hide away Knowing that in time I'll find my place Well I'm moving on without you in the morning when I wake Moving out when freedom calls my name You can keep what's in your pocket and your watch on a silver chain You'll never own the dreams that I have made No you'll never own the dreams that I have made Now that I'm older I can hide away Knowing that in time I'll see the day Now that I'm older I can hide away Knowing that in time I'll find my place Now that I'm older I can hide away Knowing that in time I'll see the day Now that I'm older I can hide away Knowing that in time I'll find my place

about

It was a perfect spring afternoon in Los Angeles and Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon was trying to keep his head on straight. Nomadic by nature, Harmon was living out of his guitar case in a hotel room while competing on ABC’s newly acquired television Goliath, American Idol. He was also secretly recording his first full length album with me out in Long Beach. Deploying a tenor with a range that made Lionel Richie implore him to, “make it look hard,” Jeremiah made it into the show’s final acts before being eliminated in early May of 2019. Anticipating a major label deal was imminent we started on the record without any funding or oversight. By this point, three sessions were already in the books with another tentatively scheduled for the coming weekend with jazz pianist Cathlene Pineda, bassist Anthony Shadduck, and former Lou Reed and Fiona Apple drummer Danny Frankel.

There was just one catch: the American Idol season finale.

Jeremiah sent me a text,“So I just got word that I’m prerecording with Katy Perry tomorrow night.”

For a show built around the apparatus of “the star-maker machinery,” it’s ironic that the most popular moment of Jeremiah’s time on Idol was the solo performance of his original song, “Almost Heaven.” A meditation on the geography of acceptance and the perimeter of religious legalism, the song immediately connected with a wide and unclassifiable audience. Born in Alexandria, Louisiana in 1992, Harmon’s father was an itinerant preacher who moved his family as the opportunities called. Jeremiah’s teenage years were spent singing in Memphis, Tennessee churches before winding up in Lynchburg, Virginia in his early 20’s. It was there, in 2016, that he and I first met up to record a handful of songs in his living room. While full of promise, the psychedelic, self-titled EP we created went largely unnoticed.

Quiet and thoughtful in his personal demeanor, it seems counterintuitive that Jeremiah’s breakout moment would come on national TV - a medium suffused with bombast and smug self-importance. After breaking through the show’s Top 10 every action seemed to have a massive reaction: upon singing Elton John’s “We All Fall In Love Sometimes” - a Jeff Buckley favorite - Harmon received a phone call from Sir Elton and his public declaration that the performance,“Took my breath away.” He caught the attention of actress and Broadway singer Cynthia Erivo and the pair sang the Cyndi Lauper hit “Time After Time” as a duet. Meanwhile, after daily soundstage rehearsals for Idol, Jeremiah worked on the lyric and chord charts for his own songs and drove out to BIG EGO, the little recording studio my wife and I opened in Long Beach. The first three sessions yielded nine songs including “Almost Heaven” featuring a rhythm section of Cherry Glazerr drummer Tabor Allen and L.A. bass virtuoso Steuart Liebig. Eventually the scope of the album would grow to include an orchestra, a gospel choir, iconoclastic guitarist Jeff Parker, and Stephen Hodges, drummer on the Tom Waits classic Swordfishtrombones.

As it happened, there was a “five figure” major label deal. Jeremiah signed it. They wanted two songs including “Almost Heaven” and insisted he work with an established pop music producer, scrapping the work we had already completed. Ever the wanderer, Harmon felt the walls closing in and called his lawyer: cancel the checks and get out of the deal. He would finish the album you’re now holding, Namesake, with the musicians and singers who quickly became part of his community. Harmon’s music, much like his trajectory through the machinery, feels particularly charmed. Almost no one gets out unscathed. Thank heaven he did.

—Chris Schlarb, Long Beach, California

credits

released March 27, 2020

Tabor Allen - drums (2, 4)
Ana Barreiro - drums (1)
Danny Frankel - drums and percussion (7, 8, 10)
Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon - vocals, acoustic guitar, grand piano, organ Stephen Hodges drums (6)
Steuart Liebig - electric bass (2, 4)
Jeff Parker - electric guitar (4, 5, 10)
Cathlene Pineda - grand piano (8, 10), Wurlitzer (7)
Chris Schlarb - acoustic guitar (1, 7, 8, 11)
Anthony Shadduck - double bass (1, 6, 8, 10), electric bass (7)

Produced and Mixed by Chris Schlarb
at BIG EGO, Long Beach, CA.

Recorded from April 30th - July 17th, 2019

Engineered by Devin O'Brien
Assistant Engineering by Tristan Dolce

Mastered by JJ Golden at Golden Mastering, Ventura, CA.

Front Cover photography by Olivia Hemaratanatorn
Back Cover photography by Devin O'Brien
Layout by David J. Woodruff

All songs written by Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon
Published by Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon (ASCAP)

Strings:
Philip Glenn - violin, string arrangements Chrissy Johnson - cello
Chris McCarthy - cello
David Tranchina - double bass

Horns:
Ramsey Hampton - trombone
Omar Murillo - trombone
Sam Robles - baritone saxophone
Alex Sadnik - alto saxophone, horn arrangements Kris Tiner - trumpet, flugelhorn

Choir:
Natasha Campbell
India Carney
Lashawn Chester
Calvin DuPree
Aaron Encinas
Dovema Franklin
Tony Franklin
Estelita Jernigan
Adriana Schlarb
Ashli St. Armant
Christine Noel
Heather Sommerhauser
Ann Louise aiss
Ineta Washington
Timothy Williams - choir director

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Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon Baltimore, Maryland

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