Michael Harris

Michael Harris is an American musician. He cites the influence of his father (a jazz musician) and mother (a classical musician) for his unique style. Michael has also been influenced by many progressive guitarists, composers, & musicians, along with many music pioneers and legends. Michael formed Arch Rival in the late 80s in his hometown of Dayton, Ohio with Greg Martin & Gary Rigmaiden. After several vocalist changes, the band found their niche in Michigan based vocalist, Steve Snyder, and have since yielded 4 CDs worldwide. Arch Rival's line-up : -Michael Harris – guitar, harmony vocals -Steve Snyder – lead vocals -Gary Rigmaiden – bass, harmony vocals -Greg Martin – drums Michael formed a heavy metal band, Surgeon in 1995 to perform extreme heavy metal. Surgeon released its sole album, 'Encyclopedia of the Insane' (1996). Surgeon's line-up : -Michael Harris – Guitar -Len Jarrell – Vocals -Matt Thompson – Drums -James Martin – Bass Michael joined up with long time friend, guitarist David T. Chastain and formed Zanister, which created two albums, 'Symphonica Millenia' (1999) and 'Fear No Man' (2001), and previous to that, Michael and David had teamed up in the band Chastain / Harris, and released "Live Wild and Truly Diminished" in 1992. Michael has also released 6 solo CDs worldwide: "Defense Mechanizms" (1991), "Ego Decimation Profile" (1996), “Distorted Views” (1999), “Sketches From the Thought Chamber” (2001), “Words Collide” (2003), “Orchestrate” in 2006, and “Tranz-Fused” in 2010. in 2001, Michael formed his midwest based live band, “THE MICHAEL HARRIS TRANZ-FUSION”, which continues to be Michael's live band. Michael was also hand picked by world renowned keyboard virtuoso Vitalij Kuprij, to play on his “Forward and Beyond” disc, to play alongside seven more of the world’s best known guitar virtuosos, and has since been the lone guitarist on 2 more of VK’s records, “Revenge”, and “Glacial Inferno”. In early 2007, Michael’s newest band, THOUGHT CHAMBER, released their debut disc, “Angular Perceptions”, on InsideOut Music, the world’s biggest prog rock label. Thought Chamber's line-up : -Michael Harris - Guitar, kybds -Rob Stankiewicz - Drums -Derek Blakley - Bass -Ted Leonard - Vocals Then in 2009, Michael formed yet another mind blowing metal band, DARKOLOGY, who’s debut, “Altered Reflections”, was released by RAH Records in 2009. Darkology's line-up : -Michael Harris - Guitar -Brian Harris - Drums -Mike Neal - Bass -Sundown - Vocals In the meantime, while composing the 2nd THOUGHT CHAMBER and DARKOLOGY records (among others), MH can also be seen touring with his live band, The Michael Harris Tranz-Fusion, as he continues to push the musical envelope by creating, recording, and releasing cutting edge progressive music. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.