Twelve songs of voice and acoustic guitar, recorded over two days in 1998 in a Northampton, Massachusetts apartment that Jesse Sterling Harrison shared with Brave Tiger Records founder Joshua Thayer. Thayer engineered the original sessions; the recordings circulated at the time only on a small-run CD among friends. Nearly three decades later, Thayer remastered the material in April 2026 for its first digital release — presented as an archival release, unedited beyond mastering, faithful to its original lo-fi character.
In 1998, Harrison was playing solo shows at coffeehouses in downtown Northampton, close enough to sling a guitar case over his shoulder and walk. He and Thayer were roommates in a Pioneer Valley apartment, working day jobs and, in the afternoons, playing whiffleball and grilling burgers in the backyard. Over two days, Thayer set up a few microphones around Harrison in the corner of their living room and recorded him singing and playing his Gibson Blues King — the twelve songs of Catch and Release Program, voice and guitar, nothing else.
“It’s raw but polished,” Harrison says. “It’s tight but a little dangerous. This all happened a long time ago but I’m proud of the work we did.”
The Process
Recorded in 1998 in Northampton, Massachusetts — voice and guitar, over two days in a living room. Engineered by Joshua Thayer. Mastered by Joshua Thayer at Brave Tiger Studio in April 2026. Runtime: 43:11.
Tracklist
- New World Record
- Easy, Scholar
- The Song that Hates Everyone
- Dancing Flame
- The Ashes
- Wedding Day
- Tricia Jane
- Their Angel
- I Caught Your Cancer
- World Moves On
- Your Favorite
- I Would Burn