Ben Harper

Genres:	Blues • Music Videos & Concerts • Pop / Rock • R&B / Soul
Descriptive "tags":	singer-songwriter • rock • acoustic • folk • alternative • blues • soul • indie • funk
Decades Active:	1990s • 2000s

Biography

Benjamin Chase Harper, 28 October 1969, Claremont, California, USA. Singer-songwriter and guitarist Harper hails from the arid Inland Emire region, 50 miles east of Los Angeles. His family was musical; his grandfather played lute, his grandmother the guitar, his father drums and his mother combined guitar with vocals. It led to him soaking up a variety of influences in his youth, from Son House and Skip James to Bob Marley and Bob Dylan. He was six years old when he began strumming a guitar for the first time, performing in front of a live audience by the age of 12. His acoustic guitar style was tutored by the great folk and blues artists and often accomplished on his distinctive ‘Weissenborn’ instrument, a hollow-neck lap slide guitar built by Herman Weissenborn during the mid-20s.

In 1992, Harper played with Taj Mahal, a great influence on him, and also performed alongside bluesman Brownie McGhee. He made his debut for Virgin...

Read the Full Biography of Ben Harper