Articles about magazine

Teen Magazine Favorite Makes a 'Long Story Short'

Anonymous. Wall Street Journal (Online). New York, N.Y.: Oct 11, 2010.

Since releasing a cover of Jay-Z's "Empire State of Mind" in March, indie crooner Jackson Harris has been featured in every teen magazine and site you could think of. Teen Vogue, Seventeen, J-14 and his personal favorite Tiger Beat, which his mother, the prolific theater producer Dede Harris "used to read all the time when she was a kid," he said.

"It's kind of a trip being on the teen-magazine circuit because I'm older," said the 22-year-old on a jaunt last week to the High Line, which he considers his "spot." "It's OK though, because I still feel 17, and I think I'll feel that age forever."

Mr. Harris's first four-song EP, "Long Story Short" hits iTunes on Tuesday, but he's careful not to appeal to a singular audience.

"I try to make my music young, fun, catchy and hip, but not sugarcoated," he said. With influences like Billy Joel, One Republic and Adam Levine of Maroon 5, Mr. Harris, who had bit parts on Nickelodeon and was in a high school band named The Good Fight, calls his sound "honest pop rock with storytelling."

Asked if he felt nervous about his debut, Mr. Harris looked toward the New Jersey skyline and said, "Everything feels like a movie. All I know is that on Tuesday, I'm going to the Apple store and buying my EP. I don't know which store yet, maybe all of them. I've got to encourage other people to buy. too."

He credits his mother, who worked on "Hairspray" and "The History Boys," with his creative bent. "I had a great role model in her. She was always kicking butt and taking names. I went to Riverdale [Country School] and there were expectations of what you were supposed to do, but when I wanted to leave college and pursue music full time, she didn't lose it."

"My mom was never a stage mother," he added. "In fact she was the antistage mother. She never managed me, and still doesn't. I still remember when we were on our way to some audition when I was 8 or 9. I said very matter of factly, 'Can I go on a play date with Eric instead?' She said, 'OK.' It wasn't like 'Are you sure, are you really sure?' She got it then, and even more so now."

Priya Rao