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Searching for Solid Ground: A Memoir
An inspiring narrative of bridge-building, hope, and resilience from a beloved folk musician.
Before renowned musician Reggie Harris was a sought-after performer, educator, cultural ambassador, and civil rights advocate, he was a low-income Black kid in Philadelphia with a love of music. He was transported by the vibrant sound that filled the air in his church, the voices calling out with passion, the rhythm and the release, and the powerful sense of community.
Searching for Solid Ground is a captivating and deeply personal chronicle of Harris’s extraordinary life, from his early years, when his love of music was fueled by singing everywhere he could—at home, at church, and in the school choir—to performing across the world for over forty years as one half of the folk duo Kim and Reggie Harris, to his current work blending his musical gifts with a commitment to promote justice and peace and heal the racial divide.
Harris shares his triumphs and his struggles, his hard-won wisdom and insights, including the challenges he faced launching a career in folk music as a Black musician, his transformative experience hearing James Baldwin speak and the beginnings of his own justice work, and a harrowing journey back to health through the gift of a liver transplant, among many other remarkable moments.
Before renowned musician Reggie Harris was a sought-after performer, educator, cultural ambassador, and civil rights advocate, he was a low-income Black kid in Philadelphia with a love of music. He was transported by the vibrant sound that filled the air in his church, the voices calling out with passion, the rhythm and the release, and the powerful sense of community.
Searching for Solid Ground is a captivating and deeply personal chronicle of Harris’s extraordinary life, from his early years, when his love of music was fueled by singing everywhere he could—at home, at church, and in the school choir—to performing across the world for over forty years as one half of the folk duo Kim and Reggie Harris, to his current work blending his musical gifts with a commitment to promote justice and peace and heal the racial divide.
Harris shares his triumphs and his struggles, his hard-won wisdom and insights, including the challenges he faced launching a career in folk music as a Black musician, his transformative experience hearing James Baldwin speak and the beginnings of his own justice work, and a harrowing journey back to health through the gift of a liver transplant, among many other remarkable moments.
- GenresMemoir
270 pages, Paperback
Published April 16, 2024
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17 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 2, 2025
Reggie Harris writes openly and honestly of his experience of growing up and living as a Black man in the United States. In this memoir we read of the joy that he found in music from the time he was a child, his struggles with racial discrimination, and his wish that Whites will grow in understanding, allowing us to together seek to eliminate the racial disparity in this country. His words are personal and resonate with hope.
Reggie works tirelessly to be a bridge that allows Whites to understand the uncertainty, trauma and sometimes pain of being Black. In his career as a musician, he strives to educate his audiences about the music of the Underground Railroad and inform his listeners of the comfort that song brought to the enslaved. I’ve been to several of his concerts. Reggie’s rich voice and abundant talent allow him to open his heart to those in the room. When he shares his songs with those gathered it uplifts us all.
Reggie works tirelessly to be a bridge that allows Whites to understand the uncertainty, trauma and sometimes pain of being Black. In his career as a musician, he strives to educate his audiences about the music of the Underground Railroad and inform his listeners of the comfort that song brought to the enslaved. I’ve been to several of his concerts. Reggie’s rich voice and abundant talent allow him to open his heart to those in the room. When he shares his songs with those gathered it uplifts us all.
December 10, 2024
I enjoyed Reggie's story & insight into music as it intersects with racial disparities. I listened to an audio version in his warm voice.
December 14, 2024
I love a memoir that both teaches me new things, and makes me feel like I’m right there talking with the author. Harris does both with Searching for Solid Ground.
Harris has a gift for storytelling on stage both through spoken word and through song, but he dives deeper in this book to share experiences about his neighborhood, church, and schools, his growth and exploration of music and the folk community, his challenges and ill health through a debilitating auto immune illness that led to a liver transplant, and his lifelong love of sports as a fan, player, coach, and performer (including singing the national anthem on the same court as Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls). Throughout all of this was the filter of being Black, which colored how Harris saw the world and how the world saw him. He opens up and lets readers in, which is what the best memoirs do.
This memoir shares a journey, and invites readers to accompany Harris on that journey along with him. It’s personal and inviting, naming challenges (both personal and societal) that were hard, but without ever sounding like we can’t overcome them with a commitment to hope, justice, and community… something he clearly has in abundance. Highly recommended.
(Disclaimer warranted here: I not only know the author, but read early drafts of the book.)
Dec. 2024 re-read: I listened to this on audiobook, and loved the book again. The narrator does a wonderful job, catching the nuanced tones of dialogue from members of Reggie’s community and occasionally launching into beautiful song refrains. There were chapter endings when I laughed out loud, and my eyes filled with tears when I heard, “Turn and face the windows.” Still an excellent book, and narrator Jeremy Michael Durm brought it to life.
Harris has a gift for storytelling on stage both through spoken word and through song, but he dives deeper in this book to share experiences about his neighborhood, church, and schools, his growth and exploration of music and the folk community, his challenges and ill health through a debilitating auto immune illness that led to a liver transplant, and his lifelong love of sports as a fan, player, coach, and performer (including singing the national anthem on the same court as Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls). Throughout all of this was the filter of being Black, which colored how Harris saw the world and how the world saw him. He opens up and lets readers in, which is what the best memoirs do.
This memoir shares a journey, and invites readers to accompany Harris on that journey along with him. It’s personal and inviting, naming challenges (both personal and societal) that were hard, but without ever sounding like we can’t overcome them with a commitment to hope, justice, and community… something he clearly has in abundance. Highly recommended.
(Disclaimer warranted here: I not only know the author, but read early drafts of the book.)
Dec. 2024 re-read: I listened to this on audiobook, and loved the book again. The narrator does a wonderful job, catching the nuanced tones of dialogue from members of Reggie’s community and occasionally launching into beautiful song refrains. There were chapter endings when I laughed out loud, and my eyes filled with tears when I heard, “Turn and face the windows.” Still an excellent book, and narrator Jeremy Michael Durm brought it to life.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews