Seth Horan is an American bassist/singer-songwriter from
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...
who started a successful solo career after stints with
Darwin's Waiting Room
Darwin's Waiting Room was an American alternative metal band from Miami, Florida, United States.
History
Darwin's Waiting Room formed in 1995 and went through several lineup changes before solidifying early in 2000.Vertical Horizon. His songwriting showcases both his voice and his unique playing style, which combines fingerpicking, slapping, tapping, strumming, and use of harmonics as solo accompaniment for his singing. He currently resides in
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffa ...
.
Music career
1994–1998
Horan began his professional career in 1994, providing bass and vocals for the Miami rock band Jennifer Culture, with whom he played until 1995.
Later in 1995, he joined the rap/rock band
Darwin's Waiting Room
Darwin's Waiting Room was an American alternative metal band from Miami, Florida, United States.
History
Darwin's Waiting Room formed in 1995 and went through several lineup changes before solidifying early in 2000.MCA Records
MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group.
Pre-history
MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 wit ...
.
In 1997, Horan joined Vertical Horizon as bassist and backing vocalist. The band was signed by RCA, and Horan played on the demos that led to Vertical Horizon's hit single, " Everything You Want" (the #1 Billboard song of July, 2000), but left the band before the song's final recording and release. ''Billboard'' Hot 100
1998–2001
Horan realized that in order to present his own music to the world, and do so in the most meaningful way, he was going to have to do it alone, at least for a while. So in 1999 he began performing live shows as a solo singer/songwriter, accompanying his voice only with his bass. Key to this goal was building a following on the college circuit, and he made the rounds at numerous New York and Massachusetts, such as the University at Buffalo,
Medaille College
Medaille University is a private university in Buffalo, New York. The Sisters of St. Joseph founded Medaille in 1937. Medaille serves roughly 1,600 students from Western New York and Southern Ontario.
Campuses
Medaille's main campus is in Buffa ...
Tufts University
Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...
. He released his first solo album, ''...this is the session.'', in 2000.
After releasing ''...this is the session.'', Horan relocated to
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
in 2001. He was active on the open-mic circuit and continued his practice of playing at local colleges and universities, adding
Chapman University
Chapman University is a private research university in Orange, California. It encompasses ten schools and colleges, including Fowler School of Engineering, Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, Fowler School of Law, and Schmid College of Scie ...
,
Scripps College
Scripps College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Claremont, California. It was founded as a member of the Claremont Colleges in 1 ...
, the
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...
, and California Polytechnic University to his roster. He picked up session work as a bassist in between playing shows and self-producing a five-song EP, '';torn up;''. Subtitled "Sketches in progress", the EP featured Horan doing triple duty on vocals, bass and drums, and served as a prelude to his next full-length album.
He also became an active member in the Los Angeles chapter of the Just Plain Folks Music Organization in 2001, and in 2003, he received their 2002 Founders Award for Male Artist of the Year.
2001–2003
Recording for the new album, to be called ''Notwithstanding'', began in late 2001 at the Malgamar Studio House, owned and operated by fellow East-Coast transplant David Peters. Horan and Peters produced the album along with Vertical Horizon drummer
Ed Toth
Edward Arthur Toth is an American musician and drummer for The Doobie Brothers, an American rock band. Toth joined the Doobie Brothers in 2005 following his departure from Vertical Horizon.
Early life
Toth says that he has been drumming most of ...
, with whom Horan had originally played in Jennifer Culture. ''Notwithstanding'' was released in 2002.
2002 brought a huge change to Horan's life: he decided to go on tour literally full-time. He ended up without a permanent address, living mainly in motels, his own van, and the vehicles of other touring musicians, from March 2002 until May 2005. During this period, Horan played approximately 420 shows and crisscrossed the country from coast to coast at least 29 times, finally settling in
Reno, Nevada
Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...
. During this period, he widened the scope of his college circuit endeavors still further, including performances at the
University of New Mexico
The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...
in
Albuquerque
Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...
Wayne State University
Wayne State University (WSU) is a public research university in Detroit, Michigan. It is Michigan's third-largest university. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 350 programs to nearly 25,000 ...
, the
University of Dallas
The University of Dallas is a Private university, private Catholic church, Catholic university in Irving, Texas. Established in 1956, it is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
The university comprises four academi ...
, and Antioch College.
Lack of a permanent address did not, however, mean the end of Horan's musical creativity. In 2003, he began to experiment with the musical and technical possibilities of effects pedals, integrating a digital delay/loop pedal into both his songwriting and live performances. He continues to use a
BOSS Corporation
Boss is a manufacturer of Effects unit, effects pedals for electric guitar and bass guitar. It is a division of the Roland Corporation, a Japanese manufacturer that specializes in musical equipment and accessories. For many years Boss has manu ...
loop station for recording and live shows, to impressive effect.
2003–2006
Slightly more than a year into his three-year tour, Horan was signed by Benchmark Records, an independent label based in
Indianapolis, Indiana
Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mari ...
. Through Benchmark, Horan was able to remix and remaster ''Notwithstanding'' for reissue in late 2003, and in July 2003, he recorded the tracks for his third full-length album, ''Conduit''. Through the end of 2003, several live performances across the country were also recorded, for inclusion in a compilation download available with preorders of the album.
''Conduit'' was released in 2004, and the pace of Horan's touring increased to support and promote the new album. Along with a full slate of performances on the cross-country college circuit, he played a number of shows at Borders Books and Music locations in New York, Kansas and California.
Unfortunately, Benchmark closed its doors in December 2004, leaving Horan without a label throughout 2005 and going into the Winter
NAMM
The NAMM Show is an annual event in the United States that is organized by the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM), who describe it as "the industry’s largest stage, uniting the global music, sound and entertainment technology commun ...
trade show in January 2006. For several years, however, numerous musicians played shows in the lobby of the Anaheim Marriott Hotel after the trade show ended each day, and that year, Horan's set was seen by Hans-Peter Wilfer, head of
Warwick
Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined with Leamington Spa and Whi ...
bass guitars. In a conversation following the show, Wilfer invited Horan (already a Warwick endorsee to the extent of receiving discounts on gear and special assistance on repairs) to play at the Warwick booth during the Musikmesse trade show in
Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
in March 2006...and offered to build him a custom bass.
On the strength of his performances at the Musikmesse, Horan was contracted to be Warwick's first-ever bass clinician and product demonstrator. After two weeks of intensive training in June 2006 at the Warwick factory in Markneukirchen, Germany learning the details of what makes Warwick's instruments special, he began performing and leading bass clinics an average of once a month, both within the US and internationally. Traveling from his base in Reno, Horan has represented Warwick in Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Hungary, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Brazil, mainland China, and Australia. Most recently, Horan represented Warwick at the January 2008 NAMM show and March 2008 Musikmesse - all this while maintaining a significant tour schedule in the US.
2006–2009
Also in 2006, Horan was awarded a 2006-2007 Fellowship by the Nevada Arts Council. This grant helped him record and release his fifth album, the ''Happenstance'' EP, in early 2007.
Horan released his first DVD, ''Between Two Oceans'', in 2008. The DVD, a collaboration with Los Angeles film editor and independent filmmaker Keith A. Cox, features interviews, conversations, and live performance footage recorded between 2001–2007, and explores the progression of his music through the stages of his life and career. In fact, Cox spent significant time in 2001 and 2002 recording Horan at shows in Los Angeles and on tour, and later provided him a camera to continue the recording process.
A project close to Horan's heart is the Three Men on Bass series. Begun in September 2002, the nearly annual series includes performances by Horan and fellow solo singer/songwriter/bassists Gonzalo Silva and Tom Bianchi. The trio is currently scheduled to play four shows in June and July 2008.
Early 2009, Seth started playing a custom built fanned fret 5 string bass by luthier Jared Carpenter (http://www.jcbasses.com) of Auburn, CA. The bass was used in the recording of his latest album "Clang & Chime" due out in October 2009.
2010–2014
Horan spent much of this period stepping back from performance and recording to focus on educational music workshops and private music instruction, though he did begin work on eight songs that would eventually be released through his Patreon page and later releases.
2015–present
In 2015, Horan began releasing songs to fans who subscribe to his page on Patreon.com — He released 9 songs that year, followed by 7 songs in 2016 and 10 songs in 2017. Some of the songs also appeared on a limited edition CD release titled “The Mean”, which came out in December 2016.
Horan performs periodic web concerts which are broadcast to patrons and fans, and in May 2017, he began releasing a monthly podcast, which features his own music, as well as interviews with and music from other independent musicians.
Discography
''...this is the session.'' - 2000
''Torn Up;'' EP - 2001
''Notwithstanding'' - 2002
''Conduit'' - 2004
''Happenstance'' EP - 2007
''Clang & Chime'' - 2009
''Animal Mouth'' - 2013
''The Mean'' - 2016