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           Harlan Wells began playing music professionally when he was fifteen years old; by eighteen, he had left home for the road. Wells affirms that his youth was abandoned and still lies scattered along the Trans-Canada Highway. Yet, incalculable experience was also cultivated playing the Toronto club circuit, including the venerable El Mocambo nightclub and the legendary Horseshoe Tavern. Once, while performing in Yorkville, music legend Keith Emerson lunged at Wells as he stepped off the stage. He grabbed Wells by his shirt collar and offered some wise, yet gin-soaked advice: “write your own songs.”

 

            In 2003, Gordon Lightfoot’s long-time manager, Barry Harvey, began to represent Harlan Wells. Wells' first record, Songs from the North Country, features the song I Am Here for You which received rotation on radio across Canada and earned Wells the top male singer/songwriter title in TVO’s Songwriter's Competition. Billboard Magazine editor, Larry Leblanc, stated that Wells reminded him of the great Canadian singer/songwriters like Gordon Lightfoot and Ian Tyson.

 

            When Harvey passed away in 2007, Wells retreated from the music business and spent the following years raising his children. However, those years also mark a prolific period of songwriting. In 2012, Wells released  Home Recordings which, aptly named, was recorded in his apartment and features Wells playing most of the instruments, as well as, notable engineering and production credits.

 

            In 2015, producer/engineer Peter Hamilton (Blue Rodeo, Leonard Cohen, Steve Earle)  brought Wells and friends into Canterbury Studios. Described as Northern Americana, Waiting for June, is a compelling alchemy of genres such as alt-country, folk, roots rock, and blues. Ultimately, it’s a songwriter’s record. This is where Wells displays his greatest strengths. Perhaps both Larry Leblanc and Barry Harvey were cognizant of this before anyone else, but the songs from Waiting for June should convince anyone that Wells has assuredly earned his place on the short list of venerable Canadian songwriters.

 

Waiting for June garnered wide radio support and critical praise across North America and Europe. Harlan Wells is currently in the studio writing and recording new music.