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Artist
J Michael Harter
12+ albums
about
It takes more than a pleasing voice, the personality to engage a crowd and the energy to bring an audience to their feet to be a great entertainer. It also takes tenacity, hard work, determination and knowing that, above all else, music is your destiny. At the tender age of 13, J. Michael Harter knew he was born to be a musician. He picked up a Yamaha electric guitar he received that year for Christmas and would almost never put it down. It wasn’t too long until he’d start using his grandfather’s big body Guild acoustic. It was also around this time that he would watch the careers of some of his greatest influences unfold, such as Garth Brooks, George Strait, Clint Black and Alan Jackson. “I can’t imagine doing anything else,” Harter says with a smile. In fact, he lists the most important things in his life as being God, family and music, in that order. His family sees his calling the exact same way. His father remembers taking J. Michael to his first concert in Louisiana, and recalls how his passion for music was clear in the way that he was captivated by the art of live music; and in that moment, he knew J. Michael’s true home would be the stage. A Tempe, Ariz. native, Harter always knew that he wanted to live and pursue his dreams in Nashville – at the “school of hard knocks” just like his musical idols. After building a name for himself in Arizona and perfecting his playing and songwriting skills (by skipping classes at North Arizona University to write and practi
