Remembering Tom Harrison

The BC Entertainment Hall of Fame mourns the passing of StarWalk inductee, music journalist, author, and radio host Tom Harrison.

Harrison began covering the Vancouver music scene in 1979 for outlets such as the Georgia Straight and the Province newspaper, and was the author of the History of Vancouver Rock ‘n’ Roll (2015).

Entertainment producer and consultant David Hawkes has written the following in honour of Harrison:

“Our music industry lost a really great and significant person today. Tom was a great music writer, a really nice fella and a huge supporter of our music scene. Words can not express how dedicated he was to music, how even-handed he was in his reviews and how encouraging he was to so many artists…and I mean literally thousands and thousands of artists.

His words and reviews could launch your career and even if you or your band maybe wasn’t the greatest, he still gave you the feeling that you had a shot at success and that you should continue to pursue your dream. He made sure to include bands and artists in his column which made so many feel they belonged to the music industry. For that, he is undoubtedly one of the biggest champions of art and music this City has ever produced […] He had an eye and an ear for quality and for genuine sincere talent. I think Tom’s favorite thing to do was to turn people on to a new artist and we all benefited from his efforts and his constant pursuit of the next awesome band.”

Surrey Now/Leader journalist Tom Zillich added:

“Without Tom and his work, this Tom probably wouldn’t have pursued music journalism as a career. As a teen, I avidly read all of his dispatches in the Province newspaper, and sought out the bands he recommended.  […] What a talent he was, and so instrumental in the careers of so many musicians. Legend.”

As stated in his StarWalk entry on the Hall of Fame’s website, Tom Harrison’s name is synonymous with rock music in Vancouver. Our thoughts are with Harrison’s loved ones at this time.