A California songwriter whose music mixes personal reflection with social conscience across three decades.
For a good frame, try 'Diamonds on the Inside' for its social themes, or 'Another Lonely Day' for that direct, soulful vocal style he's known for.
Harper's sound has always been hard to pin down, it's the blues of 'Burn One Down' meeting the folk of 'Power of the Gospel,' with reggae and soul woven through. That 1994 debut 'Welcome to the Cruel World' set the template, and he's stuck with it, whether on the social ballad 'Diamonds on the Inside' or the reflective 'She's Only Happy In The Sun.' He's been vocal about issues offstage too, getting arrested at the 2004 Democratic Convention, which gives his music a lived-in weight.
He came up in Claremont, California, absorbing blues, folk, and reggae early. The debut 'Welcome to the Cruel World' in 1994 introduced that raw blend, and he's kept a steady output since with albums like 'The Will to Live' in 1997 and 'Diamonds on the Inside' in 2003. He's worked with a core band including Juan Nelson on bass, and recorded with guests like Tom Morello on 'Save The Hammer For The Man.'
Keep it compact: a lyric you come back to, a live memory, or the part of the catalog you would point someone toward first.
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