Bio

harley card / / guitarist / / composer / / educator / /

harley card is a Toronto based guitarist, composer, singer-songwriter and educator originally from Winnipeg Manitoba, via Ottawa Ontario. In addition to leading his own groups, Harley is a member of and co-composer for the Canadian bands; Hobson's Choice, Stoptime, God's Gift To Yoda, and Dream Logic.

As a contributor to the creative music scene in Toronto since 2003, Harley has played with many artists including; Richard Underhill, Alex Dean, Alex Samaras, Mike Malone, Kelly Jefferson, Colin Fisher, William Carn, Alexander Brown, Michael Herring and Harrington, Chris Gale, Ethan Ardelli, Bernie Senensky, Michael Davidson, Don Scott, Matt Newton, Daniel Jamieson, Felicity Williams, Dave Clark, Carlie Howell, Jon Challoner, Sarah Jerrom, RJ Sachnanathan, Rebecca Hennessy, Dan Fortin, Ted Crosby, Dan Gaucher, and Ernesto Cervini, among others.

"Card’s musical sensibility is fully formed and urbane. His writing reflects a sense of history and is therefore worldly wise."

-Raul d’Gama Rose- All About Jazz

The Harley Card Quintet has completed three Canadian tours centred around their CD's; "Hedgerow" and "The Greatest Invention." The most recent tours (March 2015 and Nov 2017) of Central and Western Canada were made possible by grants from The Canada Council For The Arts. "The Greatest Invention" has garnered rave reviews and received extensive radio airplay since it's international release in January, 2018.

Card’s current projects include; Two Tomorrows (Dan Fortin, Matt Newton, Jeff Luciani) a band he fronts as a singer-songwriter, Harley Card Trio (Dan Fortin, Ethan Ardelli), and his longstanding quintet (David French, Matt Newton, Jon Maharaj, Ethan Ardelli). The quintet is currently collaborating with beloved Toronto singer Alex Samaras for a series of shows in '24/'25.

A graduate of Applied Music from Mohawk College, and Jazz Performance from the University of Toronto, Harley was also a semi finalist in the 2008 Montreux Jazz Festival Guitar Competition. Harley has also been the recipient of multiple grants from the Ontario Arts Council, and the Toronto Arts Council for recording and composition projects.

Card spent the summer of 2017 in New York City to study with Peter Bernstein, Lage Lund, and Rez Abassi.

Harley is on faculty at The University Of Toronto in addition to maintaining a private teaching practice, providing instruction in guitar, theory, and composition. Hobson's Choice and The Harley Card Quintet have been guest clinicians at Vancouver Island University and The University of Toronto.

drac yelrah music 2024.