languages helped connect them
Turner & Rochi Harrison – languages helped connect them
Turner Harrison was born in Nashville, TN in 1984 to Jim and Connie Harrison, a country music family that play in some famous country bands. His parents did not try to encourage him or his brother, Miller to learn or play music. However, listening to a lot of Motown music while growing up may be the reason Turner is attracted to late 60s, early 70s, R&B, and soul music. He attended high school but dropped out in 2002 and received a GED. He also joined a punk band – an unusual sound for the Nashville music scene.
Turner worked in Jamaica for a non-profit home builder and fell in love with Reggae music. In 2003, he moved to France to study at a culinary institute, then had an internship in Italy and moved to Iceland to become a chef. His poor sense of smell and taste led him give up culinary arts and study graphic arts in Prague, Czech Republic. He graduated from Charles University with a degree in Graphic Design Fine Art.
Reggae is very popular in Prague and Turner began playing and singing twice a week while in school. After graduation, he formed a band with his brother. Later, along with new friend and future Key West musician, Tommy Tangie on trumpet, they formed a band called TiNG, touring major festivals in Europe. TiNG still performs and was recently featured at the Green Parrot.
In 2009, he left Europe, bought a sailboat, and toured the Caribbean through 2011. He visited Key West in 2011 to sell his boat, met local musician Jeff Clark and started playing gigs. For the next seven years, he was a musical snow bird, performing in Prague during the summer and returning to Key West in the winter. He brought several players from Prague to Key West, including violinist Martin Sedlak.
Turner plays trombone, bass, guitar, keyboard, and drums. – all self-taught. He learned to speak four languages. He says his fifth language, Spanish is getting better since he married his Argentinian wife Rochi.
Rochi Carbajal was born in Cordoba, Argentina. She attended the University of Cordoba, studying language and translation, graduating in 2010. She came to Key West in 2017 for six months and returned to Argentina. Like many others, she fell in love with Key West and returned at every chance. Rochi met Turner in 2019 while working at Island Dogs. She then started to see him perform often all over town. They kept communicating mostly online through the COVID shutdown. Rochi moved back to Key West after March 2021 and she and Turner were married that October.
Rochi Harrison never studied music except for five months of vocal lessons and was very shy and feared performing in public. Singing karaoke at Bobby’s Monkey Bar was a big help in overcoming her fear of the audience. On Valentine’s Day 2022, at General Horseplay, she performed with Turner for the first time. She was not happy with the performance and did not perform again for another year although Turner kept insisting and creating opportunities.
Turner and Rochi speak multiple languages, it was part of their original connection. Turner says Rochi speaks better English than he does. Language is a large part of culture and music is a part of most cultures. Music connects Turner and Rochi much the same as language has connected them. Teaching the language of music has not been simple for Turner as he is mostly a self-taught musician. For Rochi, learning musical chords has helped her imagine more melodies and write original music.
They recently had a beautiful baby girl named Inti, after the Incan Sun God which is also featured on the Argentina flag. While on a trip to Nashville, Turner and Rochi recorded 17 songs in three days and will soon be releasing them. With help from Turner, Rochi along with Kari Wolf and Gi Buxdorf are in process of forming an all-female group – stay tuned.
One of Turner’s music endeavors is Astro Yeti, a band with Hiram Garzaro, and Mark King. All three are very good vocalists and get along famously. It’s a funky cosmic road trip with sonic twists and turns. They have released singles and music videos and are working on more singles/videos.
Turner is performing very cool duets with Rochi who has an Amy Winehouse style of vocals. They recently tried out some new music together while performing at VIV Wine Bistro on Petronia Street.
Before Rochi, Turner says he was switching gears often and traveling like a gypsy. He says he has come into a calmer more focused period of his life. He was once worried about the ravages of climate change and his music reflected those fears. He is now becoming focused on writing less volatile and more fun music and is more of a supporter of Rochi’s music. Turner and Rochi will be performing together at Viv Wine Bistro tomorrow 7-10 and every Wednesday together at Mangoes.
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