Renaissance man — this term originates from the Renaissance, a period of rapid artistic and scientific expansion in Europe. It describes figures like Leonardo da Vinci, whose talents spanned art, science and engineering. Today, the phrase is used to describe someone who excels across multiple disciplines.

It’s an apt way to describe someone like Kyle Harvey. Originally from Omaha, Nebraska, Harvey now helps run the Lithic Bookstore & Gallery in Fruita, alongside owner Danny Rosen, and contributes graphic design work for Lithic Press, also founded by Rosen. Beyond the shop, Harvey’s creative reach is wide — he’s a music professional musician, has worked on films and writes poetry. All of this unfolds alongside a full home life: married, with three children, a dog and four cats, at 45 years old.

“Back when I was in seventh or eighth grade was when I got my first bass guitar … And I did take four or five bass lessons from someone back in Omaha,” Harvey says. “But for the most part, it’s been self-taught — just things I’ve learned from playing with other people.”

As for the kinds of music he plays, that, too, has evolved over time. Early on, “in eighth or ninth grade, we loved Nirvana, so we were trying to do stuff that sounded like that,” he says. After graduating high school, Harvey did solo shows on acoustic guitar while playing in multiple bands, bartending and taking college courses in graphic design and creative writing. Among the bands he joined, the most life-changing experience was playing bass for It’s True!, an indie-rock band that formed in 2008.

“We made an album, and did quite a bit of touring,” Harvey describes. “Played at the South by Southwest … and NPR listed us as one of the top 100 bands to see.” After It’s True! broke up, Harvey married his wife, Veronica, and the two moved to Moab, Utah, where she had accepted a job.

After six months, Harvey and his family moved to Fruita in 2012 where he met Rosen and became friends with him before being hired to work for Lithic Bookstore. “One cool thing at Lithic is that it affords me some time to work on my own stuff here and there,” he says. “Danny’s really supportive of me as an artist.”

Currently, Harvey creates experimental electronica under the moniker When Light, and released a folk- and country-leaning album under his own name last year titled Anywhere But Here. Alongside his music, he has also published several poetry collections including There Without Being There, also released last year. As for his filmmaking, “I was always interested in film, but I never thought I was going to be a filmmaker,” Harvey reflects. “But when our friend Jack Mueller was in the hospital, I said, ‘I would like to make a film.’ He said, ‘Okay, you can do it.’”

Mueller was part of the Beat Generation of poets, alongside figures like Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac. “So, I borrowed a friend’s video camera and flew out to San Francisco. I learned the basics of how to use the camera before I went,” Harvey says. This became the documentary Portolano: A Film About Jack Mueller that came out in 2018 after Mueller passed away the year prior. He later directed It’s Nice To Be With You Always: A Film About Neeli Cherkovski, a cinéma vérité-style documentary on another Beat poet that premiered at the 2020 Omaha Film Festival.

“I can’t imagine not making things,” Harvey says. “It’s what brings me joy.”

He performed at the Grand Mesa Songwriter Festival in Cedaredge, Colorado, from June 5-7, 2026, with hopes of also appearing at Porchella in Grand Junction this fall.

For more information on his music, films and published work, Harvey directs readers to his website, kyleharveypoet.com, and he can also be reached through the Lithic Bookstore.

Originally published in the summer 2026 issue of Spoke+Blossom.

Kyle Harvey’s Creative Life: A Renaissance Path In Fruita