For their second EP, Kevin Harrison & True North set out for New York’s Catskill Mountains and enlisted the expertise of acclaimed producer Simone Felice (Lumineers, Vance Joy). Five days of barn sessions and campfires produced a collection of five songs showcasing a versatility that sets Kevin Harrison & True North apart. Howl opens with “Practice What You Preach,” a driving, modern rock song that demands to be played loud. Drummer Ray Mazza and bassist Pete Smith push the track forward while lead guitarist Brendan Cavanaugh adds a catchy, slapback-soaked melody line. The intensity of singer-songwriter Kevin Harrison’s opening growl, “Tighten the straps on my straight jacket,” sets the tone, and the energy doesn’t subside until the band collectively hammers the song’s last note. The ballady “Lost in the Snow,” was initially a long shot to make the album. A staple of the band’s winter set lists, but otherwise overlooked, it found new life with the addition of a haunting piano melody courtesy of band friend (and, if they have anything to say about it, future full-time member) Sloan Marshall. Marshall’s foundation sets the stage for Harrison’s pain-tinged storytelling as the band complements with playing that truly embodies the mantra, “serve the song.” The third track, “Start a Fire,” may just be Kevin Harrison & True North in a nutshell. Opening with introspective lyrics and delicate acoustic guitar, the song blossoms into an anthemic, harmony-drenched chant followed by a lengthy, searing guitar solo. If you’ve been to a Kevin Harrison & True North live show, you’ll feel right at home. “Brother,” the first single off Howl, follows, and Harrison’s opening guitar riff lets the listener know that these boys mean business. Cavanaugh counters with a bluesy slide guitar line that later takes the lead in an extended jam. Mazza’s drums nearly knock the wind out of you and deliver impressive, tasteful fills between Harrison’s howling lyrics. Find yourself exaggeratedly nodding along with this one? You can thank Smith’s groovy bass line. “It was pretty clear to all of us when listening to the album for the first time that this one had to be the single,” says Harrison. “It’s a rocker, it’s fun, it’s groovy, but it also has an important message to deliver. It’s a song about finding common ground – something I think a lot of us have forgotten how to do as of late.” The album – like the recording session itself – closes with an acoustic, Americana tune, “If Today I Should Die.” One the eve of the last night of recording, the band presented producer Simone Felice and engineer Pete Hanlon with a dilemma: with time to record only one more track, which should it be – the aforementioned, upbeat rock anthem “Practice What You Preach,” or the melancholy cowboy song “If Today I Should Die?” Upon hearing them, Felice immediately decreed that the album needed both! Recorded live in one take, the white noise of a stray room mic gives the song and old-time vinyl feel that neither band nor engineer considered removing for one second. Harrison delivers his lyrics about love, mortality, family, and saying all the things that need to be said, while Cavanaugh’s slide guitar carries a longing, vocal-like melody. Mazza and Smith’s rhythm section and Marshall’s saloon piano join the track halfway through to ensure just enough levity in the face of heavy themes. Kevin Harrison & True North’s Howl is built on a time-honored foundation of inspired songwriting, strong rhythms, and guitars that are both soaring and soulful. It illustrates a band that is as comfortable playing heavy rock songs in theaters (someday stadiums?) as it is playing acoustic ballads entirely unplugged – a range that is rare among those who profess to carry the torch for “rock n’ roll.”