Paul David Harbour (born May 24, 1965) is an American bass guitar and guitar player, pianist and composer. He is recognised for his work with David T. Chastain, Michael Harris and Tony MacAlpine. He has played in the bands "Leather", "Chastain" and "King Diamond". He teaches bass guitar, guitar and piano.

Education

Harbour began piano lessons at age five with the encouragement of his German paternal grandmother. Harbour's father had studied music and opera in

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...

's Peabody College of Education,

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

. At 16, Harbour was impressed by Edward Van Halen's performances and began

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

lessons. Harbour's prior lessons in classical and jazz piano assisted his guitar studies. Harbour studied

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

and

Motown Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

bass lines. His desire to play the bass guitar came not only from his father but also from the music of

Chris Squire Christopher Russell Edward Squire (4March 1948 – 27June 2015) was an English musician, singer and songwriter best known as the bassist and backing vocalist of the progressive rock band Yes. He was the longest-serving original member, having r ...

from "Yes" and

Geddy Lee Geddy Lee Weinrib (; born Gary Lee Weinrib, July 29, 1953) is a Canadian musician, best known as the lead vocalist, bassist, and keyboardist for the Rock music, rock band Rush (band), Rush. Lee joined the band in September 1968 at the request o ...

from "Rush".

Early career

At 17, Harbour played his first gig. He joined musicians who performed a repertoire of

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...

College rock College rock is rock music played on student-run university and college campus radio stations located in the United States and Canada in the 1980s and 1990s. The stations' playlists were often created by students who avoided the mainstream rock p ...

and covers. One of these musicians was Harbour's high school friend, Kevin White, who played the guitar. Together, they recorded some music. Harbour founded an instrumental trio called "Uncle Festre". Harbour obtained work as a studio session bassist for local musicians from

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

Career

Manta Ray

In the late 1980s, Harbour joined the Dallas, Texas band "Manta Ray". The group was founded by Lance Harvill (who went on to the "Arms if the Sun" project) and included John Luke Hebert on drums and Mike Morgan a guitarist who became Lance's mentor. In 1990, "Manta Ray" recorded a demo album at the "Dallas Sound Lab" in classic hard 'n' heavy style.

Member of Chastain

In 1989, David T. Chastain, a guitarist invited Harbour to record bass parts on his instrumental solo album, ''Within The Heat''. Harbour then joined Chastain's eponymous band, Chastain. In 1989, Harbour participated in the album, ''Shock Waves'', a solo album by "Chastain's" vocalist, Leather Leone. In 1990, Harbour contributed to "Chastain's" album of classic heavy metal songs called '' For Those Who Dare''. Harbour collaborated with David Chastain until the mid-1990s. Together, they recorded another two solo instrumental albums: ''Elegant Seduction'' (1991) and ''Next Planet Please'' (1994). These albums show a gradual departure from heavy metal music towards prog rock and fusion. While Harbour was a member, "Chastain" took three world tours.

Collaboration with Michael Harris

In June 1991, Chastain and Harris (who had played on the ''Leather'' album) collaborated to tour in the US and Mexico, record and release a concert album. Harbour recorded the rhythm section on Chastain's side and Greg Martin played drums on Harris' side. The resulting album, ''Live! Wild And Truly Diminished!!'', was released in 1992. It contained concert versions of Harris' and Chastain's previous solo works and the concert improvisations of each. Harbour contributed to the album a solo bass guitar improvisation called ''B.O.F.''. During the early 1990s, Harbour developed his pianistic skills and prepared his first solo album, with the working title, '' Lost For Words''.

Member of King Diamond

"Chastain's" former drummer, John Luke Hebert, invited Harbour to play with his band

King Diamond Kim Bendix Petersen (born 14 June 1956), better known by his stage name King Diamond, is a Danish rock musician. As a vocalist, he is known for his powerful and wide-ranging countertenor singing voice, in particular his far-reaching falsetto s ...

in 1999, as the bass guitar position was vacant. After a personal conversation with the band members, Harbour joined the group without further question. In 2000, he contributed bass guitar accompaniment to the band's album '' House Of God'' recorded at the "Nomad Recording Studio". "King Diamond" took a self-titled tour after which Harbour left the band.

''Ideology''

In 2003, Harbour's solo album, ''

Ideology An ideology is a set of beliefs or values attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely about belief in certain knowledge, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones". Form ...

'', was released on CD. Harbour composed music for the album, played piano and keyboard parts and bass guitar and took creative control, incorporating a number of different styles such as

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

, jazz, prog rock,

impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

and

new age New Age is a range of Spirituality, spiritual or Religion, religious practices and beliefs that rapidly grew in Western world, Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclecticism, eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise d ...

. Influences evident in the album's music include George Winston,

Tori Amos Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos; August 22, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She is a classically trained musician with a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Having already begun composing instrumental pieces on piano, Amos won a full ...

Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, and human rights activist. He came to prominence as the original frontman of the rock band Genesis. He left the band in 1975 and launched a solo career wit ...

Kate Bush Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and dancer. Bush began writing songs at age 11. She was signed to EMI Records after David Gilmour of Pink Floyd helped produce a demo tape. In 1978, at the ...

, Sting, and bands such as "

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...

" and "Rush". Throughout the CD, the bass guitar contributes an independent melodic line in counterpoint to the piano, rather than just a simple rhythm accompaniment.

''Gods of Balance''

After the release of the ''Ideology'' CD, Harbour commenced work on ''Gods of Balance'' in collaboration with bass guitarist, Michael Manring. Despite Harbour needing time to promote ''Ideology'' (for example with a supporting tour), the new work commenced (as Manring was available). Harbour recorded bass guitar parts for Manring's new composition, ''Phobos and Deimos'' at "Castle Zeek Studio" in

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

. Beyond this, the ''Gods of Balance'' album was postponed for four years. During this time, Harbour explored musicianship and musical expression with the guitar, piano and fretless instruments.

Later work

During the 2000s, Harbour worked as a studio session bass guitar and piano player with various musicians including, the rock bands "Doppler Effect", "T ", the black metal band Absu, the darkwave/ambient project "Proscriptor", shred bass metal musician Ben Kuzay, and dark ambient band, Equimanthorn. In Dallas, in 2006, Harbour joined a local band, "49th Vibration". With an old friend, guitarist Troy Thibodeaux (ex-"Damaged Faith") and drummer April Samuels, Harbour played several club concerts and recorded a demo consisting of four songs in folk-pop-rock genre. Harbour has also played solo bass guitar and piano compositions in

house concert A house concert or home concert is a musical concert or performance art that is presented in someone's home or apartment, or a nearby small private space such as a barn, apartment rec room, lawn, or backyard."VIDEO: House concert in Royal Oak," ...

s. : ''The Gingerman'' (bass solo, 2005) : ''Broken'' (piano solo, 2008) : ''Obelisk/Liberation'' (piano solo, 2008) : ''A Song That Doesn't Exist'' (Trip Wamsley, 2008) In 2009, Harbour wrote ''Is it just me?''. In 2010, he collaborated with Harris, Marco Minnemann drummer, Adam Nitti, Bunny Brunel and James Martin to record the album ''Tranz-Fused''. David left "49th Vibration" in 2011.

Lava Lamp

In December 2011, David Harbour shared with April Samuels ("49th Vibration") his new musical vision. From that moment David and April began rehearsing as a duo "Lava Lamp". David playing piano primarily, but at times acoustic guitar, and April playing a percussion/drum set, often working off one another through improvisational pieces.

Discography

* David T. Chastain ''Within the Heat'', 1989 (bass) * Leather ''

Shock Waves In physics, a shock wave (also spelled shockwave), or shock, is a type of propagating disturbance that moves faster than the local speed of sound in the medium. Like an ordinary wave, a shock wave carries energy and can propagate through a me ...

'', 1989 (bass) * Chastain '' For Those Who Dare'', 1990 (bass) * David T. Chastain ''Elegant Seduction'', 1991 (bass) * David T. Chastain & Michael Harris ''Live! Wild And Truly Diminished!'', 1992 (bass, composer) * David T. Chastain ''Next Planet Please'', 1994 (bass) * David T. Chastain ''Movements Thru Time'' (compilation), 1992 (bass) * Michael Harris ''Ego Decimation Profile'', 1996 (bass in ''Vicious Uppercut'', ''Status-Fear'', ''Julius Seizure'', ''Freudian Trip'', ''Terminus Epic'') * King Diamond '' House Of God'', 2000 (bass) * David Harbour ''

'', 2003 (bass, keyboards, composer) * David T. Chastain ''Heavy Excursions'' (compilation), 2009 (bass) * Michael Harris ''Tranz-Fused'', 2010 (bass in ''Wizard of Odd'', ''Professor Grunklesplat's Math Assignment'') * Manta Ray ''Visions Of Towering Alchemy'' (reissue), 2013 (bass) * Chastain & Harris ''Live! Collision Course!!'', 2018 (bass, composer)

Other works

* Manta Ray ''Until Tomorrow'' (demo tape), 1990 (bass) * DVinity ''Symbols Become Rituals'', 1996 (bass, composer) * DVinity ''You Decide'', 2000 (bass, composer) * Doppler Effect ''Duplicitous Vortex'', 2001 (bass) * Absu '' Tara'', 2001 (keyboards and piano) * Proscriptor ''Thoth Music(k)'' (vinyl EP), 2004 (bass in ''The 4 Horsemen'', ''Epod No Sknup Etihw'') * Equimanthorn ''Second Sephira Cella'', 2004 (aka Vordhk Dzokhk, fretless bass) * 49th Vibration ''Demo Tape'', 2007 (bass in ''Lisas Song'', ''The Same One'', ''Is This It'', ''Victim'') * Ben Kuzay ''Perpetual Reign'', 2009 (bass and keyboards in ''Homage to Hated Heroes'') * Absu '' Absu'', 2009 (keyboards in ''B. Our Earth of Black'' (Part II of ''…Of the Dead Who Never Rest in Their Tombs Are the Attendance of Familiar Spirits…'')

Training materials

* ''Learn How To Learn'', 1993 (video tutorial for bass players)

Influences

Van Halen Van Halen ( ) was an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1973. Credited with restoring hard rock to the forefront of the music scene, Van Halen was known for their energetic live performances and the virtuosity of their guit ...

, Rush,

, Billy Sheehan,

Stuart Hamm Stuart Hamm (born February 8, 1960) is an American bass guitar player, known for his session and live work with numerous artists as well as for his unconventional playing style and solo recordings. Career Born in New Orleans, Hamm spent his chil ...

, George Winston,

, Sting

External links

*
Official MySpace page

Musicians activity

Interview with David Harbour
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harbour, Paul David 21st-century American pianists 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians American male composers 20th-century American composers 1965 births Living people Guitarists from Louisiana Musicians from New Orleans Chastain (band) members 20th-century American bass guitarists 20th-century American pianists American male pianists American male bass guitarists