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"...among the finest musicians I have ever had the privilege of working with… [his] musical sensibilities and voluminous knowledge and experience are a joy to behold."
- Pete Kehoe, solo artist, session player and founder, Mackinac Music

Duane Allen Harlick is a native of the greater Detroit area who began singing and enjoying music at a very early age. (His preschool report card stated that "Duane has a wonderful singing voice.") He began playing guitar and singing for family & friends at age 12, and his songwriting followed almost immediately. In high school, he wrote and recorded his Senior Class Song with Matt Bissonette, Gregg Bissonette and Paul Ventimiglia. Duane then worked his way through college playing every kind of gig imaginable, touring and recording with regional and international acts between classes.

After college (and landing a "respectable day gig"), Duane teamed up with vocalist Jeff Scott to form The Big Picture, an R & B/pop band that quickly enjoyed a strong local following. Duane, Jeff, and keyboardist Todd Ague wrote & co-wrote many songs for the group, and this original material became the lion's share of their live act. The Big Picture won Marlboro's National Talent Roundup in 1990, and spent much of the next two years touring and opening shows for Smokey Robinson, Eddie Money, and Richard Marx.

The Big Picture disbanded in 1994, and Duane was again in demand as a studio player and live performer, which gave him the opportunity to meet and work with a large base of phenomenal musicians, including David Mullaly and Peter Kehoe. Duane also spent much of his time writing and revisiting ideas he had shelved during the Big Picture years. In 1998, Dave & Pete joined forces to convince Duane that a "solo" album should be recorded. They pooled their resources, and with no money and minimal recording gear, began working. For over a year, they worked around hectic schedules, borrowed equipment, recorded, re-recorded, and re-recorded again. This hard work culminated with the release of Duane's new release, Just Like Me.

"A great songwriter." - Skip Pruett, accomplished sax sideman with The Wynans, Luther Vandross, Toni Braxton and others

Winner, Best R&B CD, Just Plain Folks Music Awards, 2000
First Place, Billboard Songwriting Competition, 1999, Jazz Category (co-writer)
Top Ten, Billboard Songwriting Competition, 1999 Pop, R&B and Jazz Categories
Best Male Vocalist, MetroMusic Awards, 1993
National Winner, Marlboro Talent Roundup, 1990

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A short list of other releases Duane's written for or performed on recently:

Artist Karen Newman	Release Christmas (1999)
Paul Ventimiglia	Kiss at a Red Light
Kevin McCourt	Color of the Truth
The Regular Boys	Right From Wrong
Charles Anthony	Calling You Home Miracle/Come and Dine
Jeff Scott	This Feeling
Called And Chosen	Shout
Watership Down	Watership Down
The Big Picture	The Big Picture

Duane's songs have been performed by:

David Sanborn
Luther Vandross
Thelma Houston
Phillip Ingram
Dorian Holley
Tom Scott

Duane has done commercial work for:

Lincoln-Mercury
Napa
Phar-Mor Pharmacy

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Vocal

I was born during the rise of Motown and was surrounded by soul from a very early age. My earliest musical memories are of Gladys Knight, Smokey Robinson, the Temptations and the young Michael Jackson. However, if you corner me on a particularly good evening when the planets are aligned just so, I just might serve you up the finest David Clayton Thomas impression you're likely to hear anywhere (modesty aside).

In school, it was Elton John, Peter Cetera (Chicago) and Steve Walsh (Kansas). My dream was to be Steve Walsh for a day. I also loved listening to George Benson, Steve Perry, Taylor Dayne, Michael Bolton and Kenny Loggins.

Currently, some of my favorites include Gladys (still), Oleta Adams, Curtis Salgado, Phil Perry, and Anita Baker. (For those of you who haven't heard of Curtis, look him up.)

Guitar

My first love has always been the guitar. I'm pretty much entirely self taught, beginning at age 12 by stealing my sister's lonely classical guitar, locking myself in the bathroom and learning to play John Denver songs by ear: "Sunshine on my shoulder makes me happy…"

After receiving a real live electric (Les Paul copy) for my 13th Christmas, my playing really started taking off. But by far, the greatest advancements occurred during a period in which I learned the entire two album set of Frampton Comes Alive (note for note, talk box and all). That bit of work bridged me from the experimental learning stage to fully comprehending the instrument, scale structures, etc. (I still consider Peter not only my greatest early influence, but also one of the most melodic rock players of all time. Listen to "Lines on my Face". You can sing every line he plays.) This long period of ear training would later prove to be an invaluable asset as a player and musician.

In High School I got involved in Bill Baker's Jazz program, where I learned to read and write music, and a critically important lesson: If you want to work, you must be versatile. So I began listening to a diverse array of guitarists: George Benson, Lee Ritenour, Al DiMeola, Pat Metheny, B.B. King, Chet Atkins, Pat Martino, Steve Morse, Ted Nugent, Jimmy Page, Steve Vai and Larry Carlton. Once, after seeing Vince Gill in concert with the Pure Prairie League, I was so taken back by the tone and feel of his playing that I bought a big Yamaha SA-2000 (which I still play today). One thing I learned from this era is that it is better to be known as a Guitarist, rather than a "Rock Guitarist".

Currently, my tag-along CD case includes Scott Henderson, B.B. King, Mike Stern, Sonny Landreth, The Hellecasters, Robben Ford, Eric Johnson and Norman Brown. (Obviously, I'm still learning).

Songwriting

I just love a good song, whether it be truly from the heart, or just a fine piece of craftwork. And always, melody rules. I love a tune with a great melody. I love the way Elton John and Bernie Taupin could turn anything into a song. Smokey Robinson had such a gift for rhyme and for catchy phasing. Although I've never considered myself a Beatles fan, their song crafting was phenomenal. I'm certain that there's some influence derived from them. Also Phil Collins, Diane Warren, and Billy Joel.

Friends often kid me about knowing the lyrics to "every song ever recorded". While that's more than just a slight exaggeration, I do find that the songs that really strike me seem to burn an impression into my permanent memory bank and are forever available for recall. I love the feeling you get when you hear a song for the first time on the radio and you wish you could hit a rewind button. And if it's not the singing, or the guitar solo, it's a perfect melody, a phrase or a way of assembling a message along with the music and arrangement. It immediately paints a vivid and colorful picture in your head. It makes you want to pull the car over and sit for a minute. I got that feeling the first time I heard "Rain falls angry on a tin roof as we lie awake in my bed". What a brilliant image.

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"Truly sensational" - David Syme, International Recording Artist

"Hands down, the most underrated, under-utilized, most diversely creative musical talent I've ever worked with…" - Mark Kieme, Detroit area session player

Guitars

My main electrics are a Telecaster and a Strat with a Tele neck that was made for me by a local friend, Mark Balash. I also have a Yamaha SA-2000 (circa 1979), and an Ibanez GB-5, which is a fuller sized version of the George Benson GB-10 model. My acoustic and classical are both Takamine cutaway models. On the CD, I used the Takamine acoustic and a borrowed Taylor.

Pickups

All of my electrics have Seymour Duncans, with the exception of the George Benson which still has it's original Ibanez pickups, and the "Nashville" Tele which has Duncans in the neck and bridge and a Lace Sensor Gold in the middle.

Amps

Recording: I have a couple of Sundowns (a 1x12 combo and a 100 watt head) that I really love. They aren't produced anymore, but the guy who made them back in the mid 80's is still in New Jersey and is happy to talk about and work on them. I don't often use them live, but in the studio they are indispensable. I also use my late 60's Fender Princeton quite often. For the CD, I primarily used an old Marshall head through a 4x12, as well as the Princeton and the Sundown. However, I had to pull out a Vox AC30 and a Rat distortion pedal for an eleventh hour fix due to an engineering blunder.

Giggin': My main live setup consists of some old Mesa Boogie rack gear (Quad Preamp and Simul-295 power amp) through a 4x12 Marshall 1960AV.

Etc.

The rest of my rack consists of a Rocktron switcher, compressor, and Intellifex, an Alesis Quadraverb, and a Juice Goose power unit. On the floor I have a old cry baby (with a toe bar for explosive distortion), an Ernie Ball master volume pedal, a Rocktron midi controller and an expression pedal, which controls parameters on the Intellifex.

And yes, if I'm feeling truly adventurous, I may pull the old Golden Throat talkbox out of the closet! "Do you feel like we do…"

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