Ben Harper has a new album on the way and it will be his first entirely instrumental project. You’re absolutely right. I noticed a conspicuous lack of videos for this song with lyrics, so I uploaded my own. He plays these new tunes remotely. The store has been open for 62 years, and my oldest son, who is 23, is just now starting to work there. if(typeof __ez_fad_position != 'undefined'){__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-liveforlivemusic_com-banner-1-0')};if(typeof __ez_fad_position != 'undefined'){__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-liveforlivemusic_com-banner-1-0_1')};if(typeof __ez_fad_position != 'undefined'){__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-liveforlivemusic_com-banner-1-0_2')}; .banner-1-multi-109{border:none !important;display:block !important;float:none;line-height:0px;margin-bottom:20px !important;margin-left:0px !important;margin-right:0px !important;margin-top:20px !important;min-height:250px;min-width:300px;text-align:center !important;}, Copyright © 2021 L4LM | Website by Computer Courage, Screengrab via ANTI-Records "Ben Harper - 'London'". You ask yourself all these questions but, at the end of the day, you have to choose what’s going to bring out the best in the music. Is this OK? In the age of the shuffle, it is unusual to have an album that follows a sort of storyline for the entire 15 tracks. Winter Is for Lovers is a 15-song collection that features just Harper and his trusty lap steel (sorry Innocent Criminals fans). We admit we haven’t kept up with the fantastic Ben Harper.So it surprised us that his latest album, Winter Is For Lovers, is an instrumental only affair that finds him exploring the steel guitar.It’s a fantastic diversion that reminds us of John Fahey, Robbie Basho, and Glenn Jones.But Harper pulls enough weight on his own that the album never sound derivative. I never met John nor heard him live, but my family has first-person contact with him and many stories. For Monteleone, hearing the music Harper has already created on the guitar is the greatest reward. Everybody gets two songs and no more than 15 minutes, and no matter how long the line is, everybody ends up getting their time and getting that exposure. So yeah, I’ve long been an appreciator of that sound and that direction a guitar could go in, and I also had a healthy dose of David Lindley, Ry Cooder, Chris Darrow, who were all from the surrounding area and circled my family’s music store. I’m very excited about those, in particular because the maestro, the great Robert Glasper, is on keyboards, as well as Christopher Bleth on duduk, Mike Valerio from the L.A. Philharmonic on upright bass, and Jimmy Paxon—drummer for myself and Charlie Musselwhite, the [Dixie] Chicks, Stevie Nicks—on percussion. But what I heard from the very first note was a sound that I had been reaching for in one instrument and had not heard before. I’ve always heard this cross-section of classical and flamenco and blues and then something else, maybe something Celtic, far off in the distance. Lifeline Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals. I went for it, and it was everything I had dreamed of sonically, and more. Ben Harper has revealed B-side versions of the songs ‘Joshua Tree’ and ‘Inland Empire’, which originally appeared on his 2020 album ‘Winter Is For Lovers’. From the January/February 2021 issue of Acoustic Guitar | By Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers. Check out Lifeline by Ben Harper on Amazon Music. Winter Is for Lovers, released in October, is a mesmerizing 30-minute journey on the Monteleone lap steel, with no singing and no other instruments. Harper conceived the music as a single piece with 15 movements, each named for a place, including Istanbul, Inland Empire (Harper’s home turf in Southern California), London, Toronto, and Islip—the Long Island town where Monteleone has his shop. I’d dreamed of being able to combine those [in one guitar] but had never been able to do it. Sexual Healing . Photo Credit: Jacob Boll; With his new album, Winter Is For Lovers, Ben Harper will showcase his formative Hawaiian, classical guitar influences and his lap steel guitar talent through 15 instrumental compositions imagined as a symphony.The record explores the American Primitive movement pioneered by Leo Kottke and John Fahey, another of his grandparents’ customers. John Fahey was a mainstay there. Entitled Winter Is For Lovers, the 15-song album just features Harper and his lap steel guitar, and is a collection of "original instrumental compositions imagined as a symphony." Ben Harper has revealed the final preview of his new album ‘Winter Is For Lovers’ before its 23rd October release (ANTI-Records). “What an honor.” —JPR. So there I was at Rudy’s, sitting there playing the D’Angelicos, D’Aquistos, the top level of archtops. Burn One Down by Ben Harper (Instrumental Cover) by El_CharcoRecords published on 2014-09-14T21:30:35Z. What is your connection with the store these days? The music is so intimate and meditative, and with place names in the titles, the album is like a travelogue in a time when we can’t travel.Wild. More from Stir It Up. So began a years-long dialogue between Harper and Monteleone that led eventually to the creation of the Monteleone Radio City Special Deluxe acoustic lap steel—Monteleone’s first-ever guitar designed for lap-style playing (see “A New Kind of Lap Steel,” below). So we said, let’s just stay in this same lane. The record is due out on October 23rd via ANTI-Records. Sign up free! Play. “To bring it into a more sensitive fingerstyle guitar always interested me.”. To make the guitar sit more level across Harper’s lap, Monteleone added what he calls a top hat: a carved wooden support that’s permanently attached under the neck and rests on the left leg. 2009. But I am at a place in my life where I have the presence of mind and clarity to know that I had gone too far. But I couldn’t do that to the instrument. He was married to Laura Dern from 2005 to 2013. Instrumental track suggestion ... Ben Harper Note: The following songs are not currently available, but you can activate an alert in order to receive an email when they become available. As this conversation explores, Winter Is for Lovers both spotlights Harper’s original love of lap slide and carries him into new territory. 2016. It’s a coherent body of work that is entirely instrumental and billed as his version of a symphony. So that’s incredibly rewarding, because I would like to keep it open. White Lies For Dark Times Ben Harper & Relentless7. This one-of-a-kind guitar has become one of Harper’s core instruments, and a new album provides its ultimate showcase. Harper said of the song in a press release. I could have sworn he handed me a flattop, but it was an archtop guitar, and I was stunned. Benjamin Chase Harper (born October 28, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. “This is my first entirely instrumental album," said Harper in a press release. Harper, now 50, loves talking guitars, and when I connected with him this fall, he spoke effusively about his new instrument and his lifelong quest for the ultimate tone. All the people I mentioned, John Fahey, Leo Kottke—I could never do that. Reservoir has signed three-time Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Ben Harper to a worldwide publishing deal. Ben Harper released a new song earlier this year and a Nick Drake cover with Rhiannon Giddens, and now, a new album is on the way.. Winter Is for Lovers is a … He is the fifth generation to work in the store full time: my great-grandparents, my grandparents, my mom, me, and now my son. Stream Burn One Down by Ben Harper (Instrumental Cover) by El_CharcoRecords from desktop or your mobile device. First off the blocks is Harper’s debut instrumental album. Wed 23 Sep 2020 Audio Player failed to load. In full disclosure, I went into Capitol Studios and orchestrated this record to the moon. So why wouldn’t it be OK for a lap steel symphony? When Ben Harper first contacted John Monteleone about building an acoustic lap steel, in 2010, the soft-spoken luthier didn’t immediately agree—he wanted to make sure first that he could create an instrument unlike anything already available. Winter Is for Lovers follows a series of projects that reconnect Harper with his roots: the Grammy-winning Get Up! The album is Harper’s first-ever entirely instrumental project, and in many ways, his entire musical life has culminated in this moment: a 15-song solo recording of original compositions imagined as a symphony on his lap steel guitar. . But Monteleone was intrigued, especially when he recalled seeing local players try alternate tunings and slide on small-body archtops like the Gibson L-5. Though Harper has never been a flashy instrumentalist, his lush guitar work has been at the center of his music since his 1994 debut album, Welcome to the Cruel World. But over the next 25 years, Ben Harper would rarely cut a lone figure. For the tuners, tailpiece, and other details, Harper picked Monteleone’s Art Deco–inspired Radio City design. I’ve never been able to play like anyone else. It started out as an exploration of steel guitar. . The silver lining was the experience, because it was wonderful working it up as a symphonic piece—to show myself that you can build a symphonic orchestration around a lap steel. The solo recording, which features just Harper and his Monteleone lap steel guitar, is a 15-song work of original instrumental compositions imagined as a symphony. Didn’t take a close look. Ben Harper with Charlie Musselwhite. And if you’re not being brave, you’re not pioneering your art form. The song joins the previously-released single “Inland Empire” on Harper’s upcoming solo instrumental record. I think it’s the best open mic night in Southern California, if not California, period. If I were any younger, I wouldn’t have been able to step back and remove that production. But this one I feel confident is an album from first note to last. Releasing the first wholly instrumental album, Ben Harper has utilised a lifetime of musical influence to create a groundbreaking body of work. “It’s very connected to a lot of Eastern instruments,” he says. One hundred percent. And I thought exactly what you’re saying. 1 in G major. As I Call You Down Fistful of Mercy. Read the lyrics to Untitled Instrumental, listen to available audio, indulge in song stats including first, last and times played and explore related media. So we want to maintain that connection with people who are just starting out, as well as keeping a stable collection of vintage instruments. In 2010, during a visit to New York City, Ben Harper stopped into the guitar mecca Rudy’s Music to check out instruments. Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to … “What I noticed in those early days, long before I met Ben, was that the archtop guitar has possibilities beyond what is commonly assumed,” says Monteleone. It just took me till now to reach that sound. He literally grew up in his grandparents’ music store, the Folk Music Center in Claremont, California, a hub for folk and ethnic music that introduced him to instrumental masters such as David Lindley, Taj Mahal, and Chris Darrow, who became his mentors. The deal includes global rights to Harper’s entire catalog of works including the new instrumental album Winter Is For Lovers, which was released last week. I was going to weave electric and acoustic tones in and out. But John has a very rare understanding of what makes instruments not only sound great but thrive in a particular player’s hands. As I sat there, Rudy [Pensa] came over and said, “Hey, man, try this.” I was mid-chord, and I just swapped them out. When you first played a Monteleone guitar, what did you hear that was different from your other instruments? 2007. if(typeof __ez_fad_position != 'undefined'){__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-liveforlivemusic_com-medrectangle-4-0')}; Watch Ben Harper perform “London” from his upcoming album. Up next Ben Harper - … Loading... Autoplay When autoplay is enabled, a suggested video will automatically play next. This article originally appeared in the January/February 2021 issue of Acoustic Guitar magazine. It is also an instrument of many attitudes and personalities, ideally suited to a range of compositions. For Harper, the lap steel guitar is the instrument that most closely resembles the human voice. 2013. But I’m a lap steel player. I’m not a big jazz guitarist, but I’ve always chosen flattops that have a little archtop sound to them, and I’ve always chosen archtops that have a little flattop resonance to them. Brooklyn, NY (September 1, 2020) -- Ben Harper has unveiled his new album Winter Is For Lovers (ANTI- Records), and in many ways his entire musical life has culminated in this moment. He was sampling a series of top-of-the-line archtops when a guitar stopped him in his tracks: an instrument by renowned luthier John Monteleone. I grew up with the sound of the lap steel as my childhood lullaby. With his supporting band, The Innocent Criminals, ... while the track 11th Commandment won Ben an award in the category of Best Pop Instrumental Performance. In 2010, during a visit to New York City, Ben Harper stopped into the guitar mecca Rudy’s Music to check out instruments. I put a great deal of time into that particular version of this record before it dawned on me that its strongest step forward and its purest voice was going to be just the guitar. It’s funny you would say that because, I mean, in classical music, it’s OK to have a 30-minute Bach Cello Suite No. How would you compare the Monteleone’s sound to what you get from a Weissenborn?Three main points: the sustain, the overtones, the projection. Did you have any particular artists in mind as models?Connected to my family’s music store was a coffeehouse called the Golden Ring, a renowned venue in the late ’50s, early ’60s, for traveling folk musicians. Video lessons week by week, Chord by Chord. It’s got that driving British push and pulse, a jingling jangling rumble that I tried to get that sound on that track and to me it felt like London specifically. The body and neck of Harper’s guitar are red maple, and the top is Adirondack spruce with a pair of elliptical duet-style soundholes. Did you just decide the guitar felt complete on its own?I wish I was that concise and precise. Ben Harper also formed the bands Fistful Of Mercy (with Dhani Harrison and Joseph Arthur) and Relentless7, recording albums and continuing to performing live with … Get Up! If you can't find the song you're looking for, don't hesitate to make a suggestion. The more I played it, the more I was stunned. He has released twelve regular studio albums, mostly through Virgin Records and has toured internationally. I knew of John Monteleone by reputation, and at that point I knew I had to find him. As for the sonic result of this collaboration, Winter Is for Lovers captures the guitar in fine-grain detail, recorded with two microphones and a touch of pickup signal. How a New Lap Steel Guitar Sparked Ben Harper’s First Instrumental Album – Acoustic Guitar From the January/February 2021 issue of Acoustic Guitar | By Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers In 2010, during a visit to New York City, Ben Harper stopped into the guitar mecca Rudy’s Music to check out instruments. I feel fortunate to have lived long enough for that stuff to find its way into my own unorthodox style and method on the lap steel guitar. SoundCloud. The track ‘London’ for me is influenced by the great British guitar players, such as Richard Thompson, Nick Drake, John Martyn, Jimmy Page. SoundCloud SoundCloud. That gets harder and harder to do with the online vintage sales that happen now, but we maintain. To me this feels like an album that can only be an album. Another important component of the store to me is providing instruments for beginners that play in a friendly way, whether it’s violin, banjo, recorder, or guitar, so that they have the best chance of maintaining their relationship with music. Do I need to tune up to E or down to C or use a different guitar? Weissenborns are incredible instruments, and they have carried me a long, long way. But if we’re not going to take chances in this life, when are we going to get to do it? And I mean, we’ve had everybody on that stage before they were recognized, from myself to Phoebe Bridgers to the Black Pumas. Did you play djembe on this? And the third [aspect] is commitment to community and providing an environment where musicians at all levels can thrive. Ben Harper Activate alert. And it’s even more gratifying that we have [orchestral versions of] “Joshua Tree” and “Inland Empire” as B sides. I stripped it all back. I mean, I’ve been hearing this record in my soul for a long time. 2006. While the original tracks are solo instrumental slide guitar performances from Harper, the new B-sides feature an ensemble including Robert Glasper, Jimmy Paxson and Mike Valerio. Ben Harper | Winter is for Lovers | (Anti-) 3 out of 5 stars. Ben Harper has released his first all-instrumental album. I had to take a second look: What is this? With My Own Two Hands. Home; Stream; Library; Search. And Taj Mahal—I’ve known Taj since birth basically. Childhood Home Ben & Ellen Harper. Some albums, even that I’ve made, I’ve looked back on them and said, I could have done an EP or I could have just done a few songs at a time. Ultimately, he decided to adapt his 16-inch archtop with a square neck. 2010. . Ben Harper has released the second single from his forthcoming instrumental album, 'Winter is for Lovers', entitled "London". “I had no idea that he was going to respond to the guitar so quickly and become inspired enough to produce an album such as this new one,” says Monteleone. It’s D A D F# A D; regular open D, the whole piece. The live performance video for “London” was filmed at The Folk Music Store, the California instrument shop his grandparents opened in the 1950s where Harper learned by observing the many notable musicians who would come through. In some ways, this music brings to mind steel-string soloists like John Fahey or Robbie Basho. Ben Harper has released “London”, the second single from his forthcoming album Winter is for Lovers. Monteleone considered building a hollow-neck instrument but concluded that was impractical—and he didn’t want to re-create a Weissenborn. I would have been too tied to it. “That worked out really well.”. “On his guitar I thought, well, the soundholes are going to be facing him directly anyway,” says Monteleone, “so let’s put a port on the treble side, toward the audience.”, The side port has a sliding panel made of stainless spring steel, and, Harper says, “That little bit of steel plate amongst the carved wood is like having a little reverb chamber in the body cavity.”, Monteleone knew Harper was planning to use the guitar acoustically as well as plugged in, and he had Kent Armstrong build a custom floating magnetic pickup. Category Music; Show more Show less. Give Till It's Gone Ben Harper. It sounds more like parlor music. And that doesn’t take away from the Weissenborn and its place in the choir. I actually had a friend call and inform me that, because she missed traveling so much, she actually felt like she was traveling by way of this record. A lot of that ties into our open mic night, on the last Sunday of every month. I was moved that music without lyrics could take you on a sonic journey in that way. That was part of my mindset: that violinists and cellists can’t have all the fun when it comes to longer symphonic compositions. You can learn more about this … “One aspect of the pickup I wanted to do was build the volume and tone controls into the tailpiece, so they wouldn’t interfere with the soundboard,” says Monteleone. if(!window.AdButler){(function(){var s=document.createElement("script");s.async=!0;s.type="text/javascript";s.src='https://servedbyadbutler.com/app.js';var n=document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];n.parentNode.insertBefore(s,n)}())} var AdButler=AdButler||{};AdButler.ads=AdButler.ads||[];var abkw=window.abkw||'';var plc208206=window.plc208206||0;document.write('<'+'div id="placement_208206_'+plc208206+'">');AdButler.ads.push({handler:function(opt){AdButler.register(168183,208206,[300,600],'placement_208206_'+opt.place,opt)},opt:{place:plc208206++,keywords:abkw,domain:'servedbyadbutler.com',click:'CLICK_MACRO_PLACEHOLDER'}})if(!window.AdButler){(function(){var s=document.createElement("script");s.async=!0;s.type="text/javascript";s.src='https://servedbyadbutler.com/app.js';var n=document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];n.parentNode.insertBefore(s,n)}())} var AdButler=AdButler||{};AdButler.ads=AdButler.ads||[];var abkw=window.abkw||'';var plc208209=window.plc208209||0;document.write('<'+'div id="placement_208209_'+plc208209+'">');AdButler.ads.push({handler:function(opt){AdButler.register(168183,208209,[300,250],'placement_208209_'+opt.place,opt)},opt:{place:plc208209++,keywords:abkw,domain:'servedbyadbutler.com',click:'CLICK_MACRO_PLACEHOLDER'}}) if(!window.AdButler){(function(){var s=document.createElement("script");s.async=!0;s.type="text/javascript";s.src='https://servedbyadbutler.com/app.js';var n=document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];n.parentNode.insertBefore(s,n)}())} var AdButler=AdButler||{};AdButler.ads=AdButler.ads||[];var abkw=window.abkw||'';var plc208209=window.plc208209||0;document.write('<'+'div id="placement_208209_'+plc208209+'">');AdButler.ads.push({handler:function(opt){AdButler.register(168183,208209,[300,250],'placement_208209_'+opt.place,opt)},opt:{place:plc208209++,keywords:abkw,domain:'servedbyadbutler.com',click:'CLICK_MACRO_PLACEHOLDER'}}). It was fully produced with percussion, symphony, piano. It’s OK if you have a 20-minute classical composition that’s in one key. But don’t think it didn’t cross my mind numerous times: Am I allowed to do this? I will still be playing them live in every show. By. Harper’s prominence as a guitarist is evident in signature models created by Martin (a limited edition 0000 flattop), Asher (electric lap steel), and Dunlop (slide bar). Both Sides Of The Gun Ben Harper. A part of me was so taken aback by the sound, I was an inch away from walking out of that store with that archtop and turning it into a lap steel—raising the nut and adjusting it all. John’s genius is not lore; it’s grounded and based in reality. I have debates with very close friends about how context redefines content, but boy, it has never been proven so clearly as now. To my ear, the music on Winter Is for Lovers is not very blues-based. 2011. On Winter Is for Lovers, what were you looking to explore or accomplish that you hadn’t done before?I’ve been planning on doing an instrumental record for quite some time, and the Monteleone was a major arrival that ushered in the completion of the project. It’s hard enough to play an instrument without the action being through the roof, without it being set up properly. Stream Ben Harper (Instrumental) Walk Away by WhereMyMusic from desktop or your mobile device. Being a Black youth and seeing a Black man play an acoustic instrumental was incredibly potent. Ben Harper released a new song earlier this year and a Nick Drake cover with Rhiannon Giddens, and now, a new album is on the way. The challenging part was actually coming to that realization after it was done, as you can imagine. Sign in Create account. Though Harper is best known as a lap steel player who brought vintage Weissenborns into the limelight of contemporary roots-rock, he heard in that archtop a tone quality that he’d been seeking for years, and he wondered whether Monteleone would consider building a guitar for lap slide. On Winter is for Lovers, Harper takes a stripped-down approach that finds the lap steel veteran performing alone and without words. Related: Ben Harper Reckons With Isolation On New Song, “Don’t Let Me Disappear” [Video]. American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist born October 28, 1969 in Pomona, California, USA. The 2:07 minute composition is a simple melodic journey that is able to conjure a world of emotions even without lyrics, with the absence of words leaving the song much more open to interpretation. But once the Monteleone got behind the mic, the producer/engineer, Sheldon Gomberg, just kept saying, “You know, let’s stay with that.” He and I agreed that the tone seemed fresh and original, and no other instrument could beat it. 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