So, we gave him very few reasons to have to pull that card. We had approached Charlie with such reverence that our main goal as producers, because I produce with the band as well, our main goal is to not allow that to happen going in. Were there any moments when Charlie kind of pulled the elder statesman card? Like, "No boys. So, it was bound to be an eclectic blues record, but I think more to the point is that Charlie and I have eclectic taste within the genre of the blues, and hopefully it reflects in a unique way through this record. You know? So, in the music I’ve made all my life, it’s probably one of the more unique components to what I do, is that it is eclectic. Not that we had a choice, because that’s how I write anyway. And B, because Charlie and I have such an eclectic appreciation of the blues new and old, I wanted to reflect our appreciation and our love of different styles of blues on this record. We wanted to take it further and I just-A, I don’t write like that. Because it’s hard to make a blues record this far removed from the inception of the blues and have it be a contribution to the genre and thereby be unique.Īlso, we wanted to improve on our last record. Hopefully, that’s what contributes to this being a unique statement in the world of blues, and that’s also hopefully what makes it an unpredictable blues record. How do you go about pulling all these different strains together? We’re not reinventing the wheel here, but just as our process to give it a fresh feel, so it’s not retro, but it’s not overly close-mic’d and in your face.Īs far as the inspirations here, there’s moments on the album that are country/folk blues and others that are Howlin’ Wolf-like Chicago stompers. So, there’s the close-mic process, there’s the room-mic process, and then there’s blending the two, which is a third sound all its own, which I think gives this record a huge part of its character-being able to blend those two. But you don’t want to leave it behind either. There’s a close-mic addiction in modern music that needs to be broken that we’re proud to say we’re part of the movement of. The production on this record is no accident, and with the engineer Ethan Allen and myself having a very clear vision on how we wanted to bring these sounds to life. Did you go into it with an idea of mixing blues with some modern production methods?Ībsolutely. In listening to the album, it sounds like there’s a good mix of that vintage mic/vintage equipment appeal and what sounded, to me at least, like a couple newer recording techniques. I’m glad it wasn’t another 15 years, because we had talked about making a record together before the first one for 15 years. We made the first one, put in a couple hundred shows and a couple million miles, and just knew that-I mean, we didn’t know-but we knew there was a place for us to continue moving forward with our sound, our collaboration. Moving on.īest part about it is we didn’t plan it. There was five years or so between Charlie and I’s last record and this record, and songs would pop out and I’d just say, Yep. You know, after writing songs for so long and so many years, you recognize their respective homes as they come alive or as they come to life and complete themselves. When in the songwriting process did you know that Charlie was going to be recording with you again? In the mini documentary that you put out for No Mercy In This Land, you said the blues you write are born to be played with Charlie. It’s part raucous Chicago blues, part Delta fingerpicking, and includes a standout Percy Mayfield-inspired soul track for good measure.Īhead of its release, Harper spoke with Reverb to talk about the songwriting and recording process, how making the album with his mother got him closer to Charlie, and how songs can come out of nowhere if you get your ego out of the way. The third-and his latest with Musselwhite-is No Mercy In This Land, which comes out this Friday, March 30. Another was 2014’s Childhood Home-a duet album with his mother, Ellen Harper, and an emotional testament to everything she instilled in him through her own playing, her record collection, and her family’s Folk Music Center & Museum, a 60-year-old institution in Claremont, California. One was 2013’s Get Up! with blues harmonica great Charlie Musselwhite, which won Harper another Grammy. Ben Harper & Charlie Musselwhite - No Mercy In This Land
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