By Anthony Nguyen & Staff
The W.A M. Awards celebrate the year’s most outstanding independent artists from around the world in multiple genres and categories. "Best Song" and "Best Album" nominations were based on Artistry, Musicianship, Originality, Professionalism, Diversity, and Excellence. W.A.M. stands for "We Are the Music Makers.' Harrison Country's song, "Men in the House", was the 2020 W.A.M. Award Winner for Best Song in the Country music category.
From the first soulful lick, to the sultry vocals that come in soon after, “Men in The House” by Harrison Country is a powerful new song that grabs you the moment you hear it. The Americana song with heavy rock influences provides a welcome jolt to the system and the musicianship is immediately evident. The guitars are powerful with a deep low end as the instrument chugs the song along. They are free and expressive in terms of the tempo which provides a nice sense of tug and pull with the tight drums, which is a welcome sound in this age of over quantization.
The vocals are intimate but remain extremely fierce, a common theme for the song as a whole. Other instrumentation comes in as needed, such as organ, harmonies, more guitars etc. that give the song deep content and helps keep interest driving throughout.
The arrangement is beautifully conceived and performed with instruments and parts developing and coming out as needed to make sure the song is always engaging. From the quiet intro to an explosive verse. the chorus manages to gather more energy with clever arranging from the bass and organ. The guitar solo bursts onto the scene after the captivating bridge with exciting charisma. The solo is reminiscent of many of the hard rock songs of the 70s and 80s that many listeners will find nostalgic and expertly crafted.
The lyrics are decisive and never lose track of their intention. The narrative is constant throughout. It is extremely uplifting and, quite frankly, empowering. It reminds listeners of the rugged men and women that make America great. The song is a call to arms for the young women to find a real man and for men to reclaim their pride. The inspiration for the song came as Harrison encountered a situation in which an ambulance was needed. Harrison had been reading Leonard Sax’s book, “Boys Adrift: The Five Factors Driving the Growing Epidemic of Unmotivated Boys”, and as a bystander shouted, “Is there a doctor in the house” the combination of a cry for help and the lessons learned from Sax’s book led to the formation of the song.
The song is a bold statement on the current situation of American manhood, perfectly articulated through the lyrics “Man in the house? Man in the house? Step right up if you’re man enough”. Overall the song is an absolutely thrilling addition to the Americana genre, with electric instrumentation, brilliant arranging, a pristine vocal performance, and a message a lot of folks can related to.
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About Harrison Country
Harrison Country (Don, Karen & Amy Harrison, Jennie Harrison Young and Lexi White) is an Americana music group from Annapolis, MD. They are backed by musicians Bryan and Aidan Ewald, Josh Chapman, Larry Byrne, Brad Kimes and Brandon Bartlett. Founder Don Harrison has dubbed their music “21st Century Folk Music.” It doesn’t sound like the folk revival music of the ‘60’s – it’s folk music in a deeper sense.
The people who created John Henry and Froggy Went a Courtin’ and Scarborough Fair weren’t trying to create “folk music.” There were telling stories about their lives and the world in which they lived, using language that ordinary people could understand, with the instruments and music traditions available to them at the time. Harrison Country does the same.