Ben Harper gets aboard a new train
The lights are turned down low at Eldorado Studios in Burbank, where Ben Harper is sitting with a mahogany lap-slide guitar, plugged into a custom amplifier set to burn. It's nearly 3 a.m. and Harper is lost in the moment, playing "Why Must You Always Dress in Black," five minutes of smoldering madman blues with a bit of Texas in the grooves. The singer-guitarist is bent over his instrument, effects pedals beneath his feet, eyes shut tight as he shouts an uneasy "a-hey-hey!"
The session is in late September, 11 days into the recording of "White Lies for Dark Times," Harper's ninth studio album and the first with his new band, Relentless7. The 11-track collection, which jumps from heavy rock to soul to graceful acoustic balladry, is set for release Tuesday on Virgin Records.
At 39, Harper is a journeyman rocker with a sizable following and two Grammy awards, but he's found new inspiration in the company of Relentless7 guitarist Jason Mozersky, bassist Jesse Ingalls and drummer Jordan Richardson, all from Austin, Texas, and late transplants to Los Angeles.
"For the first time in my musical life, I'm in a creative environment where it's taking all of my senses and perception to keep up," says Harper, who has put his longtime band, the Innocent Criminals, on indefinite hiatus. "I don't want to make compliments about my new band in a way that seems like a put-down to my old band . . . but I gotta say, right now I'm in a group where I am fighting for my life. I'm practicing on my days off. I'm spending more time writing than I ever have. And I'm loving it."
