Rex/Pullman’s Harvey w/Solo Bow

Releases his debut in November; tour follows.

By Blurt Staff

Curtis Harvey, best known for his work with/as Rex and Pullman, will release his first solo album titled Box Of Stones November 3 on Fat Cat Records.

While Box Of Stones marks a departure from Harvey's previous work, his gift for melody and use of detailed instrumentation remains. An intensely personal collection, Box Of Stones allows Harvey to explore affinities for John Fahey, Dust Bowl protest songs, and traditional song structures, while retaining the interest in textural sonics that marked his previous projects.

Recorded in the small studio in Harvey's basement, Box Of Stones' immediacy owes much to his immersive process, with Harvey playing everything and often recording the vocals in only one take; for percussion, Harvey says, he used "whatever happened to be [around] at the time: bottles, pencils, pots and pans, an old snare and bass drum." For "Seen," Harvey recorded the audience at a live show at Brooklyn's Union Pool as they accompanied him on the chorus.

Though Harvey's recorded output has been minimal since Pullman's 2001 album Viewfinder - consisting of the sole release by the Curtis Harvey Trio, a cover of "Changes" for 2005 Black Sabbath cover compilation Everything Comes And Goes and a Pullman song for Thrill Jockey's 2007 anniversary compilation - Harvey explains that he's never stopped recording or writing music, despite the break from making records.

Harvey will be touring the east coast/midwest for two weeks in December, and plans a full US run for spring 2010.