Listen Up: Uncle Jungle
Uncle Jungle, known for its instrumentals, now has a lead singer — Harrison Martin, 17.
Guitarist Carl Krausnick, 18, discovered Martin’s singing voice while sitting around a campfire on a duck-hunting trip in Arkansas. “We were singing campfire songs and Harrison stole the show,” Krausnick said. “I didn’t even know he could sing. And he was good.”
Martin, All-State middle linebacker on Memphis University School’s football team and a wrestler, sang Led Zeppelin’s “Dazed and Confused” for the rest of the band — drummer Mikey Rose, 17; guitarist Gabe Ruby, 16; bass player Sam Ferguson, 16; and saxophone player Adam Gordon, 18.
Photo by Michael Donahue
Uncle Jungle: from left, Adam Gordon,Sam Ferguson, Harrison Martin, Carl Krausnick, Mikey Rose and Gabe Ruby.
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Ferguson described Martin’s voice as “powerful and soulful.”
“It’s clear that he has his roots in the whole classic rock — the Doors, the British invasion, kind of Clapton,” Krausnick said.
“He still has his Southern roots, Lynyrd Skynyrd, all the good stuff,” Ruby said.
Martin sang in the choir in grade school. “But I never liked it back then,” he said.
He didn’t think twice about joining the band when they asked him. “I had watched them at pep rallies and stuff like that and I really like their music. If I could be a part of it, I was gonna do it.”
Describing their music, he said, “The way it sounded you could just say, ‘Hey, I would love to listen to that in my car.’ ”
Martin also has stage presence. “I get around,” he said.
“He’s giving high fives everywhere,” Ferguson said. “During the sections where it’s just instrumental, he’ll be walking around. He’s a big dude, so he’s romping back and forth on the stage. You can feel the classic rock presence there.”
Having a singer, Krausnick said, “you have to change the way you play ’cause improvising a lot with a singer, you can’t just let him sit there for 10 minutes. You gotta go back to the vocals and think about what everybody has to add to the song.”
“We probably have more new songs on the table and new sections in songs,” Rose said. “Also, I’m starting to write some songs. Each one of us are starting to contribute a lot more than we have.”
— Michael Donahue
Listen Up spotlights area performers. Michael Donahue can be reached at 529-2797.
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