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Houston Native Launches New Album ‘Ready For A Change’

Harriet Reynolds' newest work is set to drop during Pride month on June 17.

Harriet Reynolds

Award-winning singer-songwriter Harriet Reynolds found herself up quite the proverbial creek when the pandemic hit the world and the particularly vulnerable music business. She was all ready to record her fourth original album when she found music venues closed and recording studios shut down.

So, what’s a gal to do? In Harriet’s case, a little ingenuity—with a helping hand from the universe—brought her in touch with multi-instrumentalist and recording guru Katie Marie, a British producer now residing in Austin, TX.

Together the two embarked on an adventure that became Harriet’s new album Ready For A Change, which is set to drop during the heart of Pride month on June 17.

Harriet’s recording journey centered mostly on Nashville where her second and third albums were created, but her producer had retired and all the studios there were closed because of the pandemic. As she recounts, “I had finished most of my songs for the new album but had nowhere to record it and no producer, and I was determined to move forward with the project, no matter what it took. So, I started reaching out to music colleagues all over the world, and lo and behold, I was pointed in the direction of the fabulous producer Katie Marie. And so we began the project remotely and what a tremendous experience it has been.”

The two women completed the entire album from afar without the luxury of meeting face-to-face. As Harriet says, “I have loved the other albums I have done and the people I was privileged to work with, but this process—as foreign to me as it was initially—has brought about perhaps my most authentic work.”

Harriet wrote both the music and lyrics for every song on this new project and plays acoustic guitar and sings all the lead vocal tracks on the album. Katie Marie has contributed essentially all the instrumental and background vocal tracks to create a truly magical experience for the listener. 

In a recent interview, Katie Marie offered her take on the project, “Creating this album with Harriet has been one of my all-time favorite projects. She is an exceptionally talented songwriter and performer.”

To find two extremely talented women creating such a dynamic record is somewhat rare in an industry in which women still represent a small portion of producers, studio instrumentalists, and promoted performers.

It is perhaps even more exciting to see these members of the community step up and create a stellar album that speaks to many of the concerns of the community and the world at large.

Another project of Harriet’s that came about as a result of the pandemic is her Tuesday online happy hour performances that are still continuing to the delight of thousands of devoted online listeners over the past two years. Her shows are festive and interactive and as one listener remarked, “No matter where Harriet plays, she always makes people feel so happy.”

This new CD is now accompanied by a unique piece of merch—a lyric companion book, featuring all the album’s song lyrics and backstories overlaying the stunning photographs of community members Pam Granot Karter of Houston and Long Beach California designer Charl Kroeger.

Harriet’s team has also created a fabulous online song lyric merchandise store, which features a multitude of products sporting prominent lyrics and song titles, and this year—an array of exciting Pride merchandise worth checking out, for sure.

Harriet has spent years performing in the Houston area and all over the country and is eager to get out there and connect again—in-person—with fans and friends in the fall when she returns from a stint in Montana this summer at the famed Stillwater Landing venue in early August. She will also be launching her Summer Season Series of Harriet’s Happy Hour—livestreaming on Facebook—with her 81st show. Additionally, she will perform as a guest artist for Composer’s Café out of Chicago and numerous other virtual venues in the summer months.

She will be touring on the new album for the remainder of 2022 and into 2023, beginning in Texas in the fall and including swings to the northeast and to the southern California area, among other locales.

Harriet is proud of her Houston roots and continues her passion for writing and performing. She never loses sight of the privilege of being able to share her work with audiences everywhere and, as she says, “It is all about the sharing and the exchange of energy between performer and listener. If I have done my job well, we all feel connected and we all feel uplifted. That is perhaps the central most important thing for me to strive for as an artist.”

About the new album, producer Katie Marie says it best, perhaps, when she says, “I can’t wait for the rest of the world to hear what we have created together!”

To join Harriet’s email community, where you can learn more about her musical journey and her take on life, be sure to visit her website and sign up! There you can find all the latest about Ready For A Change and other fun stuff.
harrietreynolds.com

To browse the lyric merchandise store and see the Pride month offerings, visit harrietreynoldsmusic.com.

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