Andrea Harsell

“Something for the Pain, from her latest band, Andrea Harsell and Luna Roja, ...is worth the wait. I don't think there's a weak track on this record, but highlights include the boisterous BR549-flavored opener "Don't Do It" and "Hearts Were Made to Mend," which has a little bit of an Old 97's feel (Harsell opened for the 97's at the Top Hat recently). Something for the Pain definitely contains some pain mixed in with all the swagger. Harsell's strength is that she sings like a Bon Scott or a Joan Jett or a Janis Joplin, tending to the gritty elements of rock and roll, but she doesn't just rely on stylistic sheen. Her songs have a kind of genuine live-in depth that can't be faked.—Erika Frederickson, Missoula Independent - Missoula Independent

Long-time Missoula guitarist and songwriter Andrea Harsell has a new album of originals out, lighting it up with a top-shelf trio called Luna Roja. It’s Antonio Alvarez, drums, Nicklaus Hamburg, lead guitar, and Mike Hendy, bass. Harsell plays rhythm guitar this time around, and melts the turntable with her gritty, sensuous vocals and impeccable control.

Guest musicians on some cuts include Harsell’s daughter, Leia Sky, background vocals, Stephen Inglis, lead guitar, and Carla Green, bass. Engineer Ryan “Schmed” Maynes adds guitar, keys, and bass, too.

The result is a terrific assortment of rock styles spotlighting searing guitar solos, crisp percussion, and lock-tight rhythms. The musician’s raw emotional delivery, in a seasoned, malleable alto that’s worldly-wise yet warm and sweet, endows her songs with honesty. She sings of heartache and loss, finding love and losing it, and just plain “don’t tread on me” sassiness.

Harsell dedicated the album to her sister, who passed away last summer. The title song reflects that loss. It’s a spooky rocker in a minor key with a pensive extended guitar solo; Harsell sings of “shadows and secrets” and “twisting fate.”

Reverbnation names Joan Jett, Bonnie Raitt, and KT Tunstall among Harsell’s influences. I hear others, too. On “Hard Times,” a blues ballad about a difficult relationship, Harsell shows a slight Rosanne-Cash country inflection that, as the song builds, transforms into a guttural Janis Joplin lament, raspy and powerful as emotion overtakes her. It’s cleansing and compelling. There’s a fiery guitar interlude, too. Yow!

On the swampy bayou rocker, “Singles,” Harsell finger-wags her way through a conversation as she sings “Slow down, I think you’re movin’ too fast …” She stretches out “around” on “I’ll be ‘arow-ow-ound,’” à la Amy Winehouse. I like it!

Influences have given Harsell’s voice many facets. What comes out is pure Andrea. And Luna Roja is the perfect complement, balancing her passion with their energy. Get this one! - Lively Times

Missoula Montana based singer songwriter Andrea Harsell penned twelve new songs for her new album Something For the Pain, released in September of 2017, that reflect the character of her home town. Missoula is at a crossroads between
the mountains and the great plains: a college town in ranch and reservation land
that harbors a mix of progressive intellectualism and traditional ideals. Harsell and her backing trio Luna Roja, featuring drummer Antonio Alvarez, guitarist Nick Hamburg, and bassist Michael Rhead, nimbly bridge the musical landscape from jazzy blues to country, rock, R&B and folk with a western edge and a rough and ready spirit. Opening track, “Don’t Do It,” is a honky tonk rocker with tongue twisting a lyric about being in love with a bad boy. The dance floor remains full for the snappy Northern Soul bopper “Oh Boy,’ with Harsell deftly shifting her vocal from alluring coquette to blistering rocker. The grooving continues with the heavy R&B track “Singles,” that features great riffing from Hamburg. Harsell then leads on acoustic guitar for the island tinged lament “Singing Angel,” and the straight ahead rocking title track. Producer/Engineer Ryan “Shmed,” Maynes adds some old-time tack piano to the robust blues shuffle “Hush Little Baby.” Foot stomping blues rocker “Teenage
Girl,” draws comparisons to Janis Joplin and Melisa Etheridge. The high lonesome blues “Hard Times,” gives Harsell plenty of room to stretch out vocally and emotionally. The crew get as close to traditional country as they dare on the rousing “Hearts Were Made To Mend,” followed by the sweet torch and twang love song “Like We Used To Do.” She then faces her demons head on for the anthem of self-empowerment “Medicine and Chains.” The sweet swinging album closer “Born In The Valley, “ feels like a bonus track with Harsell crooning alongside the upright
bass of Carla Green on a long lost French cabaret number.
Rick J Bowen - Washington Blues Society

Review: When we first moved to Missoula, Andrea Harsell was one of the first local indie artists we met. We have loved her solo material, but had not had a chance to see her perform with a full band until the recent Flathead Lake Blues and Music Festival. Her band, Luna Roja, gives her the dynamic edge she needed to add to her amazing voice and incredible songwriting chops. With the band, she adds a strong roots rock vibe to her bluesy songs, creating a sound that lifts the spirits and gets the toes first to tapping and then onto the dance floor. Their debut album is a fabulous collection of songs that should serve to elevate Harsell & Luna Roja into the elite ranks of great musical bands. We especially love “Oh Boy,” “Singing Angel (with its gentle reggae sound),” the title track, “Hush Little Baby,” and “Hard Times.” - Indie Voice Blog

Harsell, a singer with a wide-ranging and gutsy voice, returns with a set of tunes that rock and swing. - Missoulian

Missoula’s Andrea Harsell will be performing in the Kalispell Brewing Company tasting room this Saturday, at 5:00 p.m. Don’t miss out on a great evening of music, and read on to find out what this terrific singer-songwriter is all about.

KBC: How long have you been playing and writing songs? How did you find your way into music?

AH: I’ve been writing songs since I was 5—silly little blues songs. At 23, I lived in Japan for a year on an internship and that was where I really started writing songs and playing guitar. My grandparents were both musicians, as is my father. Music was always in the house. My Dad was a radio DJ and I had a turntable in my room. Music has always played a big part in our lives. I learned piano from my Grandma from age 5. I played saxophone and bass in grade school and some high school. At 18, I had a guy come up to me while I was playing basketball with my dad and he said to me, “You’re going to be famous someday! Do you sing?”It kinda freaked me out at first but he was a nice old fella who hooked me up with some musicians and in no time I had my first band. My first gig was wearing purple wranglers and a Bull Riders Only T-shirt, playing the Western Montana Fair. I’ve come a long way. Haha.

KBC: How many Montana breweries do you estimate you have performed at?

AH: 20? It is such a blessing to be able to play breweries. The early hours and family friendly environments have been really necessary as a single mom. My kids are older now so I can travel more. I love when they join me on stage and at the gigs, because we all enjoy the music and environment together.

KBC: What would you say it is about the brewery setting that works so well for your music?

AH: I love that the crowd is older; generally as my target audience is 35+. The patrons in microbreweries are a great listening audience and are there to relax with their friends and families, making for a friendly, relaxed, and happy atmosphere. I’ve never seen a belligerent drunk or a bar fight at a brewery. They genuinely enjoy the original music. They show their appreciation through tips and purchasing my cds. It’s an energy exchange that always leaves me feeling so blessed that this is my job. I make people happy and they make me happy. Pretty great, right?

KBC: How do you describe your sound? What influences you?

AH: I have a stomp box I built five years ago that I stand on—the world’s smallest stage. Haha. It gives the music a backbeat that people can feel. Little ones especially tune in to that and come up and start stomping and dancing along with me. It’s great! My music spans the American roots genre pretty thoroughly. Blues, bluegrass, country, folk, and rock. I am influenced by Bonnie Raitt, Janis Joplin, Alison Krauss, Susan Tedeschi, and Joan Jett to name a few. I have a new band, Luna Roja, that are taking my songs to the next level. It’s a blast! Playing solo takes me back to my roots. As a songwriter I can change up the song from one time to the next and do whatever I want. I can get lost in it all in the best way imaginable. I like those quiet moments where it’s one voice, one guitar, tapping into the message and sending it with wild abandon.

KBC: What music have you been enjoying lately?

AH: Tonight I am going to the Tedeschi Trucks Band concert at the new Kettlehouse Ampitheater in Bonner, just East of Missoula. I’ve been waiting for this band to come through for years so I am super excited!! On my turntable right now is Don Williams. I love his music. I listen to a lot of Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday. These jazz greats are my go to. My Mom introduced me to these incredible jazz singers at a young age; my Dad is all rock and roll. I embody the spirit of both. New music wise, I love Nahko and Medicine for the People. The world is incredibly sick right now and his music is so healing. I’m pushing myself to write more songs that speak to the collective in a more broad and powerful, meaningful way beyond heartache and loss. - Missoulian

WildFlavor

Andrea Harsell
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From her home base in the beautiful mountains of Western Montana, Andrea Harsell has been bringing her vibrant performing style and exceptional songwriting to audiences around the country for more than 20 years. With a powerful, supple voice and outstanding original songs, Harsell is more than just a major talent—she’s a force of nature. Blending styles of American roots music like blues, country, bluegrass, rock and folk, each original song illuminates topics of love, simple living and social issues. Joined on stage by her 15-year-old daughter Leia Sky on fiddle and vocals, this dynamic family duo sings sweet harmonies weaving musical magic that can only come from that unique gift of a deep emotional bond expressed through the universal language of love and music. - Paws Up

Missoula recording artist Andrea Harsell is in the spotlight to discuss her album, “Something For The Pain,” and the ways she’s carved out a unique niche in the Montana music scene.

Join host John Floridis as he chats with singer-songwriter Andrea Harsell in this encore episode of "Musician's Spotlight."

(Broadcast: "Musician's Spotlight," 09/14/17 and 1/4/18. Listen on the radio Thursdays, 7:30 p.m., or via podcast.) - Montana Public Radio

For several months, Andrea Harsell had only a chorus. She'd sing, "Oooooh lemonade, I gotta find my way home," but she couldn't get past that one bluesy minor key line, couldn't turn it into a full-fledged song with verses. The local singer-songwriter let it simmer. She'd sit down to write other tracks, settling into a guitar riff, letting the words spill out. But the lemonade song haunted her. .... - Missoula Independent

Andrea Harsell was born when being a "love child" was groovy.

No, her parents didn't go to Woodstock or fall out of a Volkswagen bus onto the streets of San Francisco during the Summer of Love.

But she is the daughter of Rod Harsell, a Missoula radio veteran who always had cool tunes spinning through the background of his daughter's youth.

So while she wasn't raised on the radio, she was raised by a radio professional.

"I grew up with my dad in radio, so there was always a lot of music in my house," said Harsell, a lifelong Missoulian raised on the Northside. "I had the Joan Jett albums, the KISS albums. And I just knew that music was something I wanted to do."

And done it, she has. Harsell is a prodigious songwriter and performer attracted to a stage like a moth to a porch light. Since high school, she has embarked on numerous solo and group projects, and is now the author of her first full-length CD of entirely original and self-written material in "Rock & Roll Love Child."

The CD will be released at a party on Friday at the Top Hat.

For Harsell, the CD has been a five-year project, one that started with a simple wish to create the best music she could and record it with Missoula's best musicians.

Now complemented by a new band, the Night Lights, Harsell found a cadre of musicians who made the project all that more fulfilling.

"This is something I've always wanted to do," she said. "And I have a lot riding on this one."

The CD is a tightly recorded and arranged collection of 12 songs, ranging in style from straight-up rock to blues shuffles to rock ballads to gospel, reflecting Harsell's love of rock and blues divas from Joan Jett to Aretha Franklin.

The thickly textured gospel song "Waterside," featuring a full backing gospel choir, is perhaps the most ambitious tune on the recording.

"I just wrote it, but didn't think it was going to be on the album," said Harsell.

In fact, none of the songs on "Rock & Roll Love Child," the cover of which features Harsell with a Pat Benatar haircut and wearing Jett-like black attire and stockings, were written solely for this project.

Instead, Harsell had a mental library of around 35 or 40 songs she had written over the years. What she recorded over numerous sessions starting last fall at Club Schmed recording studio was subject to the emotion and whims of the day.

"I'd think about it on the drive over," said Harsell, who first surfaced in the Missoula music scene with her band the Andrea Harsell Experiment a decade ago. "They were all songs I wanted to record, so I started making lists, making lists, making lists."
The album features Joe Nickell (the Missoulian reporter) on drums, Louie Bond on lead guitar, Ryan Shmed Maynes on the keyboard and Matt Nord on bass, along with Harsell on acoustic guitar.

And, it also features what Harsell calls the "Waterside Choir", a collection of some of Missoula's best musicians who showed up to record the background vocals on the ambitious gospel song.

The CD was mixed and mastered by Jim Rogers and Richard McIntosh, "so I got the best of both worlds in recording and mastering," said Harsell.

Listeners will also notice the between-song sound clips, recorded at various locations around Missoula, from the Orange Street underpass to a hot, bustling night downtown. They serve as Harsell's personal love note to the town she still loves to call home.

"It feels like it kind of made this whole thing full-circle," she said.

Harsell, who like her father makes her living in radio (as a marketing consultant for The Trail 103.3), hopes this recording gets somebody's attention.

"I guess the biggest thing is I'm looking for some representation, as far as artist management and distribution," said Harsell, who is also a married mother of an 8-year-old. "I love my job, but music is what I've always wanted to do."

In addition to local music stores, "Rock & Roll Love Child" will be available on iTunes and CDBaby.

Reporter Jamie Kelly can be reached at 523-5254 or at jkelly@missoulian.com. - Missoulian

Andrea Harsell picks her New Year's resolutions like she writes her songs. She doesn't dictate what they're supposed to be; they come to her just as they are.

For six months, the Missoula singer-songwriter has been amping up her music career; not with obvious things like hiring a publicist, buying a lot of expensive equipment and auditioning drummers, but with a deep and steady personal resolve.

Harsell's resolution, or motto as she puts it, for 2007 was, "Accept the Challenge," part of which included participating in two triathlons and revving up her musical ambitions.

"It pushed me to get over some of my fears, to take on things like a bulldozer," Harsell says of her '07 motto. "I would think, 'Oh, I can't do that, it's too big, too much,' but you have to commit to it, to work hard for it."

Harsell's 2008 motto or resolution is a combination of the last two years and more.

Harsell's resolution for 2008 is "Create The Eight."

Eight what?

"Harmony and balance, courage, generosity," Harsell said. "Happiness, wisdom, cleanliness and beauty."

The throaty diva of Nine Pound Hammer and The Andrea Harsell Experiment knows she'll need to work for all of those to create the musical life she wants in Missoula and beyond. - Missoulian