Nearly a year after tragedy, Great Falls' Call of the Awakened refuses to fade away

The light glints off several heavy rings on Noah Harrison’s hand as he plays guitar. Standing with him are his brother, Jayden, Dillon Kuntz and Nathan Ross II. Their heads nod in time to the beat as they break into the opening chords of their original song, “Fade Away.”

Together with Lance Rader, the young men make up the band Call of the Awakened. After a year of tragedy and setbacks, they’ve finally released their first album and are on their way to what they hope will be a successful music career.

In February, Call of the Awakened missed an opportunity to record an album with musician and producer Mikey Doling at the famed Stagg Street Studio in California when their Kickstarter campaign failed to earn the $25,000 they needed to make the trip.

“We didn’t make the goal,” said Jayden. “We raised a good amount but not nearly enough to make it out there.”

The Kickstarter loss came just a month after Jayden and Noah’s father, Kris Harrison, was killed in a head-on collision near East Helena. One of Noah’s rings symbolizes his struggle to cope with the death of his dad, who was the band’s biggest supporter.

Great Falls teens chase music dream after dad’s death

“Even though it’s a hard topic and it’s something tough…we’re coming back from it,” Noah said.

As several band members scattered to separate colleges, Noah remained behind in high school and Lance joined the U.S. Army Reserve, it seemed like the band would never move forward.

“It did fall apart for a while in the beginning because we were just trying to get acclimated to school,” Jayden said. “We just started talking again because we were like, we just can’t let this die.”

Then, in a move that would have made Kris Harrison proud, the band set up a fundraising gig at the Bighorn Bar and Grill near Sun Prairie that raised $2,000.

“(The Kickstarter) kind of gave us the publicity to do the Bighorn show, and that was everything. That gave us the money to produce the album,” said Jayden. “We packed the place.”

The Harrisons’ dad had always told them playing onstage for a big crowd would be a life-altering experience.

“It wasn’t until after he passed away that we found out what he was talking about,” said Jayden.

Call of the Awakened’s newest member, Nathan Ross, played at the Bighorn as a last-minute stand-in on bass. The band wasn’t necessarily looking for a new musician, but one time playing with Ross was enough to convince them not to let such a talented guitarist get away.

“We let him in and we’re glad we did. He’s changed the game completely,” said Noah.

On Dec. 2, Call of the Awakened released “Simulated Consciousness,” which was recorded at 4th Avenue Studios in Great Falls. The album, which is dedicated to Kris Harrison, is also available on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play and Amazon Music.

“We’re in the process of trying to figure out where we can distribute and someone who can help us with that,” said Ross, whose belief in the band is so strong he’s taking some time off from college “to see if we can push this through because we’re pretty close to making something happen.”

Ross also heads promotion of the album, which includes an active presence on the web and social media as well as YouTube and ReverbNation.

“We’re getting more and more followers every day,” he said.

Call of the Awakened plans another Kickstarter in January to produce its first music video, a professional lyric video and a new single. They’d also like to go on tour this summer.

“We love playing shows and that’s kind of our passion, so it’s kind of rough sitting around and not playing,” said Noah.

Local band misses Kickstarter goal, not giving up

Kuntz invited supporters of Call of the Awakened to contribute whatever they can to the band’s Kickstarter and Patreon accounts, follow them on Facebook and attend their shows.

“Anything helps, honesty,” he said. “We want to do this for a living.”

Although the band would love to see Call of the Awakened get signed to a label and hit the big time, the guys get more gratification from how their music affects those who listen to it.

“As a band, my ultimate goal is to spread our message,” said Noah, who came up with the band’s name after their first moniker didn’t work out. “It’s basically about people not being followers. It’s about making something out of themselves and not doing what everyone else does”

So far, the biggest hurdle to the band’s success has been that people tend not to take them seriously because they are so young.

“They just think we’re some dumb kids, but we’re all pretty dang musically talented,” said Noah. “This is not a joke. This is what we want to do with the rest of our lives.”

“People always ask you what you want to do with your life, and it’s really hard to give a solid answer,” Kuntz added. “I believe our purpose is shown to us through our passions, so whatever your passion is, you need to pursue it. Those who don’t reach their goal gave up.”

Reach Tribune Staff Writer Traci Rosenbaum at 791-1490. Follow her on Twitter @GFTrib_TRosenba.