Ben Harper

[Lotesse]

This artist is one of my long-time favourites, yet unfortuantely I haven't paid much attention to his music, or his style of thoughtful, soulful, amazing music for like the last few years. I just heard the most beautiful song on the radio, and I googled the title and discovered that it was, indeed, Ben Harper, and that he's coming out with a new album next week. Guess who's all over THAT like white on rice!!

Here's an article, from Billboard.Com, regarding Ben Harper's upcoming album:


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Singer/songwriter Ben Harper will unveil 18 new songs spread across two discs on the new album "Both Sides of the Gun," due March 21 via Virgin. It will be Harper's first solo release since 2003's "Diamonds on the Inside," which debuted at No. 19 on The Billboard 200 and has sold 470,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

A number of tracks on "Both Sides of the Gun" crackle with intensity and outrage over the political climate in the United States, particularly "Black Rain," the lyrics to which Harper posted last September on his official Web site. The cut lashes out at President Bush's handling of Hurricane Katrina, proclaiming, "Don't speak to us like we work for you / Selling false hope like some new dope we're addicted to / I'm not a desperate man but these are desperate times at hand / This generation is beyond your command."

The first disc delves into a variety of styles, from the swaggering, Black Crowes-style rocker "Get It Like You Like It" to the raw blues of "The Way You Found Me" and the slow-burning, largely instrumental jam "Serve Your Soul" that closes the side.

The second half of "Both Sides" is a much quieter, intimate affair. It opens with the wistful, string-addled ballad "Morning Yearning" and moving on to the Nick Drake-influenced solo guitar confessional "More Than Sorry" and the unabashedly sentimental closer "Happy Everafter in Your Eyes," an ode to Harper's wife, actress Laura Dern.

Harper is getting ready to return to the road, including a previously announced appearance at longtime pal Jack Johnson's Kokua Festival in April in Hawaii. The artist and his band the Innocent Criminals will also perform March 8 in Athens, Ga., the following day in Jacksonville, Fla., March 10 in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., and March 11 at the Langerado festival in Sunrise, Fla.
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FOCUS: Who else here loves Ben Harper, or has been to any of his shows? What are your favourite songs of his? Any great stuff from the Ben Harper archives you can turn me on to? Are there similar-styled musicians out there you guys can tell me about? What style is Ben Harper's called, anyway? Things like this.

[Telcontar_Dunedain]

I've never heard any Ben Harper but I love Jack Johnson's music. Is it at all similar?

[Lotesse]

I see he's touring with Ben Harper in Hawaii, for that Kokua Festival, so yes, I imagine that they're on the same page as it were. I know I've heard of Jack Johnson before; I think so, pretty much. What style would you call this kind of music, TD?

[Telcontar_Dunedain]

It's quite hard to describe. Windows Media Player classes it as rock, but I'm not sure I would. You can check some of it out here. Just click on the picture of the album and then on one of the songs. Some songs have videos attached so just scroll through them until you find which ones do.

[Lotesse]

No, it's not Rock. When I think "Rock," I think Rolling Stones, right? Or Led Zeppelin, or Aerosmith, stuff like that. No, it's like alternative, with a message, and a bit of soul, and - well, I'll have to give this some thought for a while.