Guerssen Rec.
Harbinger : Second Coming (US,re.2009)***'
It was the right time, when after more general drug abuse and bad Vietnam experiences that people were looking for the kind of spiritual significances just like Dave Bixby had experienced, so after Dave Bixby’s first album, he had gained some reputation. He quickly was invited by Christian schools and communities where they talked about God and where he could sing out his own experiences. People like Don Degraaf were keen to help him with a new album. This dragged Dave’s own experience into some treadmill where he felt he was used for someone else’s purposes more than just being within an occasional community where he actually never felt he really belonged. The notes said about this : “you can be naturally spiritual, but as soon as you become aware of it, you’re religious and before you know, you’ve got a con going”. Despite that he just shared the energy which was used in these circles. It was Don’s idea to bring in the title of Harbinger’s “Second Coming”. But when you look closer to the songs, Dave’s own experiences are kept much more open and vague (like “a cosmic energy”, or like “time to clear your mind”). Don provided a second voice and guitar, and a female vocalist, Sandy Johnson provided a second voice too. While the energy of the album is really fine, a bit closer to a approaching the 60s hippie feelings musically, afterwards the personal experiences involved around this time were not remembered as such a great experience. Don turned into a sort of guru, with a group of disciples around him, called The Group. Dave felt Don was taking advantage of sincere people but took away the responsibilities for themselves, where, before you know it, they all were going to hell together, so he left, dealing with his own hell before he really got back to his own senses. Despite this sort of experience, the true person is still around each song, while the music itself in a neutral way pretty much fits with the early hippie happy seeking movements around that time. All of the underlying creativity was real.
