Ben Harper says that his biggest musical influence is what he hears in his heart. But he wants listeners to draw their own meanings from his songs.
By BRIAN ORLOFF
Published May 8, 2003
[Publicity photo]
Ben Harper has worked hard to move his music into the mainstream while keeping an anchor in the underground.
For someone considered a master of the pithy, slow-burning soul ballad, Ben Harper isn't exactly chatty. That's not to say he's inarticulate or cold. He just prefers to let his music speak for itself.
"What a song means is per experience," Harper said from a New Orleans hotel room about his fifth album, Diamonds on the Inside. "The meaning is given by the people who hear it. I'd rather leave it open to interpretation because that way the song could be free and affect people in different ways."
Harper brings his band, the Innocent Criminals, to Ruth Eckerd Hall on Saturday. Respected for his loosely paced shows, heavy on slide guitar solos, and forays into delta blues and smoky roll 'n' roll, Harper will do a set that leans on new material, such as the Caribbean-inflected single With My Own Two Hands and the latest album's title track, flecked with a chorus of guitar.
Harper mined eclectic territory on the new album, but he said that his choices were his.
"I didn't base this record on another album or anyone else's sound. I just went for bringing out the songs the way I could hear them in my head," he said. "My biggest influence is going to be what I'm hearing in my heart."
Harper's socially aware lyrics mark all of With My Own Two Hands, for instance, when he sings, "I can clean up the Earth/with my own two hands/I can reach out to you."
"I was politically motivated long before I was a professional musician. Music just gives it a voice that spreads it louder and further," said Harper, who has played festivals including the Tibetan Freedom Concert and Ralph Nader benefits in his nine-year career.
His latest success was a behind-the-mixing-board affair. Harper's mentoring catapulted a young musician named Jack Johnson into regular rotation on the radio and MTV.
Johnson "was coming to my shows before I knew he was a musician. Then I heard his music; (I) thought it was great," Harper said. Harper introduced Johnson to his manager and played on Johnson's debut album.
Harper, too, has begun to enjoy mainstream success after beginning as an underground musician. He is a staple on college campuses and is no stranger to the radio with hits such as 1999's Steal My Kisses.
"Touring and word of mouth, that's how this music has grown," he said.
"We've been at it a while. We work super hard to get our music out to people through live shows and tours, and it's important to me to keep a certain underground established anchor as well as to spread the music by whatever medium possible within my own taste restrictions.
"It won't be showing up on any car commercials or beer commercials. But how do I feel about it entering into the mainstream? It's great. It's fantastic. That just means more people are going to hear it."
PREVIEW: Ben Harper with the Innocent Criminals, 8 p.m. Saturday, Ruth Eckerd Hall, 1111 McMullen-Booth Road, Clearwater. $27. (727) 791-7400.
