Vincent Harrigan

First Gig
Vincent started off playing bass when he was very little. The youngest of the Harrigans, he was only 7 years old when he first played with Country Unknown. In the beginning, he remembers getting up on stage for four or five songs. Then he would go to sleep on a little bed next to the stage that his mum had set up while his dad's band kept playing on. His first gig was at a pub in Cooktown.

Musical Influences
Vincent says his biggest influences were his Dad, Gerhardt Pearson and Bennett Walker.

He likes most types of music and right now he is listening to Jack Johnson. He says he and all the boys have a soft spot for country and western, "That's our roots". He also loves rock and roll, the blues and reggae.

Family and Music
Since the times when he remembers his brothers playing music and "making a lot of noise in their room", Vincent says he feels the connection when they perform together." It just comes naturally for us to perform. It feels great and we get better all the time".

He says his mum, Rosie, was a great supporter, "first for Dad's band then for Black Image.  She enjoys it a lot".

Vincent says he likes big concerts, but "there's nothing like going back home and playing for our people".

Rodeo
Vincent's other love is the rodeo and riding bulls. He first got on a mechanical bull when he was 10 years old (his dad also worked at cattle stations). Vincent loves horses and cattle, "When I'm not playing music, I'm at a rodeo competing".

"Music, sports and rodeo has led me to do a lot of travelling."

School Life and Vincent's Other Job
Vincent loves performing. When he was learning to play the guitar, he would go to school and ask the teacher if he could have a few minutes to play for the class. He would get his mum to help him carry his amp and guitar and set up.

When he was 17 at Abergowrie College, a boarding school in Ingham, he wrote a song about Reconciliation which became part of a compilation CD. These days he still writes songs for the band.

Vincent loved school. He was particularly good at sports and played rugby league. He also did so well at athletics that he was chosen to go to Melbourne to represent Queensland. Vincent also liked doing manual arts. He particularly loved that his school had kids from "all over the place" such as Papua New Guinea and the Torres Strait Islands. He says he still thinks about school now. He remembers that he couldn't wait until school holidays finished so that he could go back to school as he particularly missed his mates and football.

After Abergowrie, Vincent lived in Mossman and did labouring work for the local council.  Having missed out on the intake for the year, Vincent kept his sights on getting an apprenticeship at TAFE and kept sending his school results and resume in. The next year, he was offered the apprenticeship in Wujal Wujal and is now on his third year as an apprentice mechanic with one more year to complete.

Vincent thinks that the schools themselves can help a lot with getting kids to like school. He also thinks that parents play a big part in this.  He says, "My parents were very straight about going to school. Monday was always a school day and you went. Weekends were for fun. That was it. That was the routine."

What's Important
"The key is getting a good education. School is the leading point in your life to get into the real world".