A native of Amarillo, Texas, Harvey first laid his hands on the guitar at the age of 3, and after only a few short years, decided this instrument would be his destiny. By the age of 14, Harvey was not only listening to a variety of music by legends from Elvis Presley to Merle Haggard, he was playing it... playing and producing his first professional gig at 15 years old.

A man of self-ambition, Harvey was successfully managing a grocery story at 17 years old, but the calling of music was never far away. Hitting the road to pursue a professional music career, Harvey realized that living in Texas he would have to master Country & Western music... diligently studying and playing Merle Haggard and similar Top 40 country music.... Harvey did just that.

Working in a local music store and DJ-ing dances to make ends meet, Harvey never let his dream go to the wayside. He soon would enroll in the prestigious Musicians Institute in Hollywood, California where one basic requirement was to have at least 14 playing credits. By this time, Harvey had already amassed 128. While at the MI, Harvey was fortunate enough to study with many legends in the music industry, one of them being Carl Shroeder who played piano for Frank Sinatra and who’s famous fingers were shown on the network game show, Name That Tune. Through The Musicians Institute, Harvey said, “I was exposed to the world of music, and just how large it was. I was really a very small part of that world, but the seed was planted to grow.”

Before graduation in 1991, Harvey continued to perform professionally for several different bands and duos, and often demonstrated his complete music awareness by playing classical compositions at museums!

Hired to play guitar by Jimmy Collins, Harvey left California for New Mexico with Jimmy Collins and The Wild Oats Band. Playing everywhere throughout the United States,  Harvey lists playing at Buddy Lee’s annual Fourth of July picnic in Nashville as a highlight of that time. Another highlight would be recording and performing Jimmy Collins’ hit “I Love Texas” which received considerable radio airplay in just four days of its release.

Harvey’s proudest moment was the birth of his son, Trevor Ray, on March 12, 1992. Just two days after his son was born, Harvey was on stage at Texas Stadium in Arlington, Texas where he and The Wild Oats Band played for 60,000 screaming fans during Farm Aid, “I was at the absolute peak of my life. I just had a son two days before, and now I was playing Farm Aid next to Willie Nelson!”

Soon after, Harvey would be playing guitar for Bob Hope at the Civic Center in Amarillo, Texas before joining the Fret Meisters in May of 1993. Though they had regional success and release of a CD, Harvey was recruited to join The Debbie Burch Band on their Department of Defense Tour which made stops in Italy, Spain, Greece, Egypt, Israel, Germany and Turkey.

In 1994, Harvey moved to Las Vegas where he did a variety of work, playing funk to blues, and soon found himself in a duo which played at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino. Well studied in all facets of music, Harvey joined the Polynesian group Hot Lava, where he was called on to play percussion and sing phonetically.

In December of 1995, Gary Harvey was hired by the legendary Platters, famous for their hits “Only You,” “The Great Pretender,” and “Twilight Time.” First hired only temporarily for a tour of Japan, he soon was offered a full-time position, which he continued in for most of a decade.

In addition to his work with Jim Morris, Harvey strives to remain well-rounded in all areas of the music industry. 

Whether its playing country music or ‘oldies’ hits by The Platters, to 30 or 30,000 fans, Gary Harvey has mastered the guitar and has remained very diversified with his many talents. He hopes to soon produce his own musical production, and sums up his remarkable career this way, “First and foremost, I’m a dedicated father. After that, there’s a world of music I just hope I can continue learning about, and in the process maybe I can pass some of what I’ve learned on to others.”