Ben Harper's musical style defies classification, baffling critics and music journalists alike. And that's just the way he likes it.
"I hate to be locked into one sound," Harper said. "There's nothing exciting about that."
Attempts to pigeonhole his music can frustrate Harper. "Everybody needs [my music] to be something," he told The Dartmouth in an interview, taking a break from a Saturday spent in the studio, mixing a two-CD compilation due out in March.
Pigeonholing is one problem, however, that Harper looks forward to escaping when he and his band, The Innocent Criminals, play in Leede Arena on Feb. 4.
"You know what's cool about the college crowd?" Harper asked rhetorically. "They don't need [my music] to be anything. They allow it to be what it is."
Increasing popularity
Whatever one does call it -- and it has been called everything from folk, blues, jazz and reggae to R&B, rock, funk and soul -- Harper's music is slowly gathering a larger fan base for the 32 year-old singer/songwriter.
Since it was released in late 1999, Harper's fourth album, "Burn to Shine," has helped introduce the artist and his music to the masses, with the "Steal My Kisses" single from the album the first of Harper's songs to receive widespread play on the radio.
Fans and many in the music industry, though, have been waiting for the Harper to gain mainstream acceptance since the 1994 release of his first album, "Welcome to the Cruel World," described in one review as "a laudable debut" containing songs that "have the ring of classics."
"It's really cool because to me the number of people we're playing in front of live would be considered mainstream," Harper said, noting the hard work and time it has taken for him and his band to get to where they are today.
But Harper shied away from the connotations of being described as a "mainstream" artist.
"I'd like to be successful without being mainstream. I'd love to have songs that reach a mass amount of people without it being pop," Harper said. "There's something that, regardless of the amount of people, still remains outside the mainstream and I think there's something to be said for that, for the fans and for the music."
Dartmouth debut
Harper promised a great show for the fans who turn out to hear him and his band -- composed of bassist Juan Nelson, percussionist David Leach and Dean Butterworth on drums -- perform at Dartmouth this weekend.
"It'll be a blast to play [at Dartmouth]," he said. "Never once have we not got up on stage and tried to play better than we did the night before. It's a very exciting time for me to be playing with these guys."
Of performing on stage, Harper said, "I like the energy and that moment. There's sort of an undeniable energy to playing an instrument live. With no pretense and no studio effects to hide behind, it's a moment that just belongs to the fans and the people making the music.
"You're giving something that comes from the deepest part of you and having it received in a warm and responsive wayit's just very fulfilling."
The instrumentals on Harper's albums often compete successfully for the listener's attention with his sometimes breathy, high and fragile voice. Most of all, though, the very music that Harper composes is what sets him apart.
Writing songs is a daily process for Harper, but one that takes place by "no set rule or pattern." Some days the lyrics to a song come first, he said, while on others a simple melodic diversion will grow into the title track for an album.
"You need to have discipline and a sense of craftsmanship [to write music]. But if music had rules, I wouldn't want anything to do with it."
Some of Harper's work most often noted in reviews are the songs that take stances on societal problems, inspiring comparisons to Tracy Chapman and Bob Dylan.
In songs ranging from the gritty "Like a King" about the Rodney King incident in Los Angeles to the self-explanatory "Oppression," Harper is not reluctant to use his music as a way to express his opinions on social issues.
"You can affect a lot of people with a wave of a pen," Harper said, but he expressed concern that the socio-political aspects of his music might sometimes overshadow the rest of his work. "I don't want to take myself too seriously because that's not what I'm about."
Harper has at times garnered criticism, however, for not putting enough of himself into his often disillusioned and melancholy lyrics.
"Burn To Shine" may take care of the critics' gripes, with song lyrics that reflect significantly more personal feeling and emotion than Harper's three previous albums. In fact, the album as a whole has a notably different sound, more rock and less blues, perhaps reflecting time spent touring with Pearl Jam a few years ago.
Sources of inspiration
The influence of less recent musicians, however, are more apparent in Harper's music.
Harper said a large cast of musicians, especially Delta Blues performers like Mississippi John Hurt and "Blind Willy" Johnson, have made an impact on him. The influence of performers like Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix is also often apparent in his singing and guitar playing.
"My love for music grew out of my family's love for music. There was always music in my house growing up," he said. "My parents' tastes really rubbed off on me."
One influence that Harper probably wasn't exposed to at home, though, is Turkish folk music, which he called "the most soulful music in the world, period," adding, "It's chilling and inspiringly haunting, and I just love it."
Besides spurring Harper to add a Turkish saz to the virtual stable of guitars that accompany him onto the stage, he said the Middle Eastern musical genre -- along with the Delta Blues -- has been "a source for me like no other."
Harper's Dartmouth concert is part of a month-long national tour leading up to the release of the live album on March 13. About two-thirds of the shows will take places at colleges and universities across the country.
