Harrison is a 13-year-old rock singer/songwriter/guitarist whose melodic, take-no-prisoners rock songs fuse diverse influences from classic, alternative, punk and progressive with humor, sophistication and style. Hailing from Chicago and now living in Vancouver, British Columbia, Harrison is also an actor who has appeared on radio, TV, theater, in "viral videos" and commercials.
“Music is a universal language,” says Harrison. “I’m honored to share my music with so many.” The son of professional musicians, Harrison was exposed to everything from the Beatles to Frank Zappa from birth, attended Lolla and many other concerts, and “sat in” with his parents’ band. His onstage vocal debut came at age 9 after the family moved to British Columbia, when he performed Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” at a fundraiser concert where his father, guitarist Dave Ivaz (Martha Reeves, The Fifth Dimension, Nancy Wilson) was a member of Juno Award-winner Michael Creber’s band (David Foster, KD Lang, Raffi). Harrison’s vocal range, magnetism and stage presence ignited the crowd.
Vancouver, BC is known as “Hollywood North” for its film and TV industry. The video of Harrison’s dynamic vocal performance made its way to BC Talent Agency PLAY Management, and the agency signed Harrison for acting work. A performer known for comedic timing, Harrison has also done musical theatre and received rave reviews as the lead in the vocally challenging William Finn musical Falsettos (Peter Jorgensen/Patrick Street Productions). Harrison has also placed in the British Columbia-wide PNE Talent Competition Semi Finals two years in a row.
After a bullying incident in West Vancouver, Harrison began researching the phenomenon and how kids cope with it. This inspired his anti-bullying rocker, “Sweet & Sunny”. Harrison and his parents teamed with friends in the BC theatre and film community to bring “Sweet & Sunny” to life in a music video directed and edited by Vancouver filmmaker Alexander Sharp. Harrison wanted his experiences to help inspire other kids that they too can triumph and see the “light of Sweet & Sunny Day”. Today “Sweet & Sunny” continues to be shared by anti-bullying organizations throughout North America and has over 14,000 views on YouTube.
Harrison’s original songs and his debut CD, produced by Dave Ivaz Music along with Juno Award winner Phil Robertson (David Foster, Michael Buble, Idle Eyes), are available on CD Baby and will be available on iTunes. Harrison recently performed at The 2012 Vancouver International Children’s Festival. He has been a semifinalist in the British Columbia-wide PNE Talent Competition two years in a row.
Harrison is joined at Lollapalooza by the offspring of some of Chicago’s well-known musicians who are his parents’ longtime friends and band mates. On bass is Thyra Sandstrom, whose father Brian Sandstrom is one of Chicago’s iconic jazz bassists (Von Freeman, Mars Williams, Hal Russell). The daughter of two professional musicians, 17-year-old Thyra Sandstrom grew up with music all around her and like her father, fell in love with the upright bass. Thyra attends Whitney Young High School in Chicago, where she’s in the orchestra, and is enrolled in Chicago’s Merit School of Music. A skilled electric as well as acoustic bassist, Thyra continues to perform as often as she can with friends and family.
On drums with Harrison is Noah Kitsos, son of Chicago rock drummer Nick Kitsos (Jennifer Hudson, The Bodeans, Lowen & Navarro). 13-year-old Noah Kitsos hails from Oak Park, Illinois. A multi-instrumentalist who’s studying drums, guitar and horn, Noah is a student at Percy Julian Middle School, and is a young actor studying at Chicago’s Second City, and an illustrator. Noah plays guitar and drums and performs with his rock band, Curvey Road. He’s also appeared with his father at local venues including Fitzgerald’s in Berwyn.
Harrison is active in social justice and environmental causes, and his many influences include Green Day, Zeppelin, The Foo Fighters, Rush, Elvis Costello, The Beatles, Pink Floyd and myriad genres of music.
