Alan Jarvis

Alan is Canadian but was born in London, England.  Like a million other teenagers, he started playing acoustic guitar and singing Beatles songs when he was sixteen.  He began writing songs around the same time and he has now written more than 450.    

He started performing with just an acoustic guitar, then for many years was a member of a folk trio called "Breakaway" tackling 3-part harmonies on songs by the Eagles, America, Poco and Simon & Garfunkel.  After taking a break from performing to focus on his young family and business career, he sang and played lead guitar for seven years in a very successful rock and roll cover band called "Platinum". 

For more than 40 years, Alan has written and recorded music, starting on the kitchen table with a cheap condensor microphone and a portable cassette tape player.  Over the years he has steadily upgraded his studio equipment and now records everything in a custom-built studio located in Guelph, Ontario, Canada.  He writes and records music in a variety of styles including easy listening, pop and instrumentals.  

Click on Contact  at the top to send him a message. 

WHERE DID YOU GROW UP?   

I was born in England, but my family emigrated to South Africa when I was a teenager.  I lived there for many years before emigrating to Canada in 1988 with my wife and two daughters.  Canada has been our home ever since.

WHAT MADE YOU REALIZE THAT MUSIC WAS YOUR PATH?   

When I was 11 years old, I started singing along with 45rpm singles on our record player.  I got an acoustic guitar when I turned 16 and, since then, writing and recording have been a regular part of my life. 

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE MUSIC THAT YOU TYPICALLY CREATE?   

Easy listening, pop, ballads, some rock and roll, folk, instrumentals and theme music.  I focus a lot on melody as I believe that is the heart and soul of any song. 

WHO ARE YOUR BIGGEST INFLUENCES?   

Andre Gagnon, Hans Zimmer, Secret Garden, Alan Silvestri, Marc Shaiman, James Horner and other top soundtrack composers.  When it comes to pop songs, it's Dan Fogelberg, Kenny Loggins, Richard Marx, Eagles and, of course, the Beatles.   

WHAT MAKES YOUR MUSIC UNIQUE?   

I try not to copy any artist or style which I hope makes it unique.  I am sure there are influences in there somewhere but I just let it flow - with the emphasis on writing a strong melody. 

HAS THERE BEEN A PARTICULAR MOMENT IN YOUR MUSICAL CAREER THAT YOU ARE MOST PROUD OF?   

The answer to that question is always "my newest CD".  And right now, that's After Dark, my tenth commercial release.  It has fifteen vocal tracks and every one has harmonies, which always presents a challenge but it's something I love doing.  And one of the tracks was definitely a challenge - my first ever a cappella recording.

WHAT'S NEXT?   

I'm always working on something new and right now, that's a new instrumental album.  It won't be finished for some time but I love going to “work” in my studio every day!