Listing the Best Albums of 2009 by Artist from A to Z: Ben Harper and Relentless7

Ben Harper and Relentless7
White Lies for Dark Times

Released May 5th on Virgin Records

The Many Sounds and Styles of Ben Harper

From picking up the slide guitar in his grandparents’ music shop as a teen, to his collaboration with the Blind Boys of Alabama, it appears that Ben Harper has been everywhere and in between. Whether that be stripped-down acoustic folk music, alternative college radio rock, blues and soul, hard rock or even reggae, the music is constantly flowing out of Harper.

His latest project, Relentless7, does not feature his longtime backing band, the Innocent Criminals, rather, he is joined by three musicians he has known for the better part of the last decade. The story goes that, while Harper was touring in Texas some many years ago, one of the guys driving him around town was in his own band looking to make it. They passed along their demo, in which Harper instantly loved, and the rest was history. They met back up with Harper when he asked them to lay down some tracks on the two-disc, Both Sides of the Gun.

In 2007, Harper was joined onstage at Bonnaroo by John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin) and Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson (The Roots, guitarist Kirk Douglas also sat in for a song) for what is known as SuperJam. I was fortunate enough to be in attendance, to witness the rare performance featuring these musicians who have made a name for themselves in their own right. That set featured nearly all Led Zeppelin covers (including a near thirty-minute “Dazed and Confused”) and Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition.” It was simply mind-blowing. Harper has stated that the sound created that night, was a sound he was searching for in a band, which thus inspired the formation of Relentless7.

Enjoy the video below!