Performing with Miracle Legion at a CMJ music convention, NYC circa late 80s from left to right: Ray Neal, Chris Harford, Mark Mulcahy, Dave McCaffery (not pictured Scott Boutier on drums).

Chris Harford @ Bottom Line, headlining

Chris Harford doesn't forget his friends, and that cr eates a slight problem: how to fit them all onstage. At a recent Bottom Line show marking the release of his debut album, Be Headed, there were more entrances and exits than in "The Last Waltz." The revolving-door band, which at some points swelled to eight or nine people, included one guitarist with whom Chris Harford had played in a band as a teenager, one whom he jokingly claimed to have found in Tomkins Square Park, and his dad, who hopped onstage to sing a standard. Harford can afford to feel so loose: his record, a diverse free-for-all that features cameos by Richard Thompson, Loudon Wainwright III, and many others, has been generatin g the satisfying sound known as an industry buzz. A singer, guitarist, and songwriter who rose through the local club scene in the nineteen-eighties, Harford operates in the free zone outside rock's usual categories. He has a foot in country, a hand in seventies rock, a toe in folk, a finger in post-punk. With his gruff but plaintive voice and his fondness for muddied-up guitars, he sometimes recalls Neil Young. At the Bottom Line, Harford's big-tent approach made for a rather uneven performance, but when his cast of thousands found a groove there wasn't a still foot in the house.

Time Out

Harford makes other singer-songwriters seem like the navel-gazing no-talents they are: He can rock furious feedback onslaughts as well as delve into the deepest, darkest depths of his acoustic soul.

The New York Times

Chris Harford @ Tramps, opening for Graham Parker

Chris Harford, who shared the bill, has also studied Mr. Dylan, along with the Beatles and Jimi Hendrix. He has distilled those 1960s foundations into tuneful songs with fat-toned guitar chords and crisp, tough riffs. His lyrics are full of incantatory images with an ambiguity that makes them linger. "When you've gone too far," he sang with calm inscrutability, "you'll be with me beyond the crash."

Rolling Stone

Chris Harford @ CMJ Music Marathon, NYC

Traditionalists of a different kind, Chris Harford and his backing band, the Harrowing Hounds of Heaven, played soul-satisfying, meat-and-potatoes rock at the venerable punk shrine CBGB. The winsome Harford — who is negotiating a deal with Elektra — rocked out with abandon, picking out tortured leads with guitarist Matt Sinclair, then dropping to dramat ically hushed passages. Besides heartfelt songs about love and loss, Harford delved into the suburban experience in language that was simple, thoughtful and true; suburbia is America's true heartland, Harford seemed to say.

Two River Times

Chris Harford and the Band of Changes @ the Stone Pony, NJ

Accompanied by Chris Conley (electric guitar), Matt Kohut (e.g./bass), Dave Dreiwitz (bass/trumpet/vocals), Brad Smith and J.P. Wasicko (drums), Anna Soloway (acoustic g./v’s.), Stephanie Sanders (keys/v’s.), John Thompson (sax) and Garland Lamb (backing v’s.), C hris (lead v’s./electric g.) opened up with the brilliant “Leaf Of Fall” (awesome lead v. & g.), and followed it up with 60 minutes of rock ën’ roll perfection featuring such gems as “Into The Universe” (big d’s. & g’s.), “Looking For Light” (Pettyesque/band rocked), “Ouch” (doesn’t get any better), Harry’s “Jump Into The Fire” (with Dave D. on l.v’s. it’s a free-fall jam), “To Be Real” (ol’ Bob would be jealous/Dave’s trumpet an excellent touch), “Road With You” (vintage Chris), “Sound Of You” (wonderful ballad), “Joe Strummer’s Midnight Dream” (killer vocal) and “Raise The Roof” (Chris & band ripped it up).

For those of you that have read this column in the past you know exactly how I feel about Chris Harford, his talent and his dedication. For those of you that haven’t let me say this. You know that old rock clichÈ, Sex, Drugs & Rock n’ Roll, well Chris Harford makes the first two superfluous. Yes. His musical talents are all consuming. Chris writes these songs that are so pure of heart, that they can move you to tears just as easily as they can put a great big smile on your face. Like I said, for me, Chris Harford is the finest talent in the great state New Jersey! Bar None!