Jeff Harshbarger

"I rarely take a night off" says Jeff Harshbarger, bassist. "If I'm not working, I'm rehearsing for something in the future, watching someone elses performance, sitting in with other bands, or playing at all the jam sessions in town."

Whether playing in any number of bands with any number of famed musicians or supporting live music, Jeff Harshbarger is ubiquitous. Voted KC's Best Bassist by the Pitch in 2007, Harshbarger is a sought after musician, composer and producer.

"My goal was to be a working musician, so when I first moved here, I said yes to every gig that was offered, regardless of style. Early in my career, I had a tendency to stick with groups or ideas long after they had ceased to be fertile. It's hard to walk away from something that a lot of energy has been invested into, especially if it is financially lucrative. In hindsight, I wish I had the ability to recognize my own unhappiness sooner, and think of it not as a character flaw, but as an alarm that is signaling that there are better uses of my time."

Harshbarger's time is precious. In addition to being a performer, Harshbarger has also co-founded a record label (Tzigane Music), regularly curates an experimental music series at the Record Bar, hosts a radio show on KKFI, is frequent contributor to JAM magazine and teaches at the University of Kansas.

"Being a multi-disciplinary artist, there are people that only know me for one or two things that I do. Because of the nature of audiences, some are not aware of my jazz work, my experimental work, my rock bands. One of the ways I have overcome this pigeonholing is by diversifying even further."

Harshbarger credits diversification as exponentially furthering his career.

"An unforeseen benefit to this kind of diversification has been the elevation of my profile within the music and arts community - a sort of "that guy is everywhere" perception. It has helped to bring my separate audiences together, so people that have followed my jazz career are now checking out my experimental work, folks that know my rock bands are listening to my radio show, and so on."

Folks are paying attention because he pays attention.

"I make sure I'm always checking out other people's work. Music is an extremely social art form, and being present and supportive goes a long way towards people inviting you to work with them. Being involved in my artistic community has been the single most important thing I have done to further my business. Nothing can replace the visibility of an active schedule. However, as my business expands to markets outside of Kansas City, I have to take great care to remain active within my community in order to counteract the "out-of-sight, out-of-mind" phenomenon."

No worries. Harshbarger is in sight, in sound and on mind.

Jeff is an Artist INC Peer Facilitator.

Written by David Wayne Reed, 2010