Harvie S On Tap Episode IV
– A Sheila Jordan Story
Harvie S On Tap Episode IV
Welcome to another installment of my podcast, Harvie S On Tap. I recently had the pleasure of returning to the beautiful campus of Sacred Heart to sit down with my good friend Joe Carter. It is always an honor to record there, and our conversation reminded me why I love the energy of that school.
While we usually dive deep into the music, this episode took a turn toward a more personal memory—one that I recently shared at a tribute to the legendary Sheila Jordan in Manhattan.
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The story actually came back to me during the soundcheck for that tribute. Sheila’s daughter had brought in a collection of Sheila’s favorite hats and berets for all of us musicians to take. Seeing those hats triggered a memory I hadn’t thought about in years, and surprisingly, it was a story I had never told anyone before—not even my wife. It’s a story about the fourteen or fifteen years I spent touring the world with Sheila in our bass-and-voice duo.
One of our most hilarious mishaps happened while we were touring the Basque Country in France. I had convinced Sheila that we should buy berets so we could “blend in” and look cool. We walked down the street feeling very sophisticated, only to realize that we were the only people in the entire town wearing them. People were literally laughing at us as we walked by. To lean into the embarrassment, I started calling her using a ridiculous, over-the-top French accent, pretending to be a man named “Francois”.
This “Francois” bit went on for years until it finally backfired one morning at 6:00 AM. A real promoter from France, who happened to actually be named Francois, called Sheila for a gig. Thinking it was me playing a prank at dawn, she gave him a piece of her mind and hung up on him! We laughed until we cried when she told me the story later that day. It’s memories like these that remind me that Sheila wasn’t just a collaborator; she was a dear friend who loved to laugh as much as she loved the music.