Official website of Canadian country music recording artist Harley Carmen

If someone had told me five years ago that I would be writing an introduction to a website to promote a recently released full length CD, I would have said, " I'm sure you must have me mistaken for someone else". But I guess the future is the biggest mystery we all face because here I am.

I played drums for many years in a lot of different bands and still love drumming. Like most drummers, your ability to enjoy playing music is heavily dependent on the combination of players you are involved with. When that combination works it’s beautiful but when it falls apart, it can be both heartbreaking and frustrating.

My love for music has always pulled me through the peaks and valleys of band life. Five years ago it actually put a guitar in my lap and started taking me in a whole new direction. Although I have always had an affinity for poetry and a simmering interest in writing songs, until I was introduced to that guitar I had never really pursued writing seriously. It has now become one of my passions.

Quite honestly, I know I have barely began to crack the door open when it comes to the singer/songwriter genre. I have a lot of time and distance to make up, but as with all passions it can be surprising what perseverance and hard work can accomplish. As I said in a poem I wrote for a graduating class in 1977:

"As you stand on the edge of your world and peer in at the obstacles before you, don't be discouraged. For there is a way to overcome each and every one. And when you have you can look back and see that you have grown"

Hopefully some of these songs on the album "Love & Loss" will spark enough interest for you to witness my future growth.

- Sincerely, Harley Carmen.