New Releases category interest

Singer-songwriter, musician and producer Ben Harper has released his new studio album WIDE OPEN LIGHT, available today via Chrysalis Records. The album features his recent release Ben Harper - Wide Open Light “Yard Sale” featuring Jack Johnson, “Love After Love” and his latest single “Masterpiece.”

The follow up to his GRAMMY-nominated record BLOODLINE MAINTENANCE, WIDE OPEN LIGHT is described by Ben as a family of songs he's written where each track is a close relative to the next. It's deliberately minimalist and the songs themselves do as much of the heavy lifting as the production. “There was once a time when albums didn’t need an adjacent story or fable. When the songs were enough,” Ben says. “I’m excited to return to this.”

WIDE OPEN LIGHT was produced by Ben Harper and his longtime collaborative partners including guitarist, songwriter and producer Jason Mozersky, and Danny Kalb, who also recorded and mixed Ben’s albums BOTH SIDES OF THE GUN and LIFELINE. The new record also features special guests such as Jack Johnson on vocals and guitar for “Yard Sale,” Shelby Lynne on “8 Minutes,” and Piers Faccinion the title track “Wide Open Light.”

As the first single from the album, “Yard Sale” tells the story of “follows a man through the final blurred stages of a breakup. With each passing verse the couple grows further beyond reach or repair. By the song's end, he’s more confused than when the song began.” The second single, “Love After Love,” Ben says, “illustrates love as the ultimate renewable resource.” Meanwhile, his new single “Masterpiece” is a powerful song that relates the act of love to that of creating a work of art, a masterpiece.

Harper’s new music arrives fresh off the heels of his recent appearance in the AppleTV+ series "Extrapolations,” a fictional drama based in the near future when the effects of climate change have become embedded in society. The show includes an all-star cast featuring Meryl Streep, Kit Harington, Forest Whitaker, and many more.

Ben recently appeared as a guest on The Jennifer Hudson Show where he talked about the new album and appearing in “Extrapolations.” In May, Ben was featured in Harper Bazaar as their Music Director for the month’s issue (read here). Ben has also recently been featured on CBS Mornings, ABC News, SPIN, Entertainment Weekly, Variety, and spoke with Zane Lowe on Apple Music’s Radio 1 earlier this week, to name a few.

Following the release of WIDE OPEN LIGHT, Harper will have an extensive European summer tour, then select dates with The Chicks, before a string of headlining dates on tour in the US this fall. Harper’s fall tour begins in Richmond, VA on September 29th, and will feature shows in Portland, ME, Buffalo, NY, Cincinnati, OH, MIlwaukee, WI and more. He will also perform at the Oceans Calling Music Festival, Sound on Sound Music andamp; Arts Festival, and the recently announced Farm-to-Fork Festival.

As a 3x-GRAMMY-winner, Harper has amassed international critical applause and a worldwide fan following for his own genre-traversing body of work while also producing acclaimed albums by Mavis Staples, Rickie Lee Jones, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Natalie Maines, Ziggy Marley, and others. An inveterate collaborator, Harper has also recorded with a diverse span of artists ranging from John Lee Hooker, Charlie Musselwhite, to Ringo Starr, Keith Richards and, most recently, Harry Styles, to contribute his signature guitar work to the superstar’s chart-topping album, HARRY’S HOUSE. Harper joined Styles for an astounding 12 nights of performances at The Kia Forum in Los Angeles this past fall.

For more information on Ben Harper, please visit www.benharper.com.

 

TOUR DATES

Sat. Jun. 10 - Torrey, UT - Fort Desolation Fest

Fri. Jun. 30 - Paris, France - L’Olympia

Sat. Jul. 1 - Weimar, Germany - Seebühne Weimar c/o Weimarhalle

Mon. Jul. 3 - Paris, France - L'Olympia

Tue. Jul. 4 - Paris, France - L'Olympia

Wed. Jul. 5 - Paris, France - L'Olympia

Fri. July 7 - Lugano, Switzerland - Lugano Estival Jazz

Sat. Jul. 8 - Enghien, Belgium - LaSemo

Sun. Jul. 9 - Saint-Malô-du-Bois, France - Festival de Poupet *with Fatoumata Diawara, Colours In The Street

Tue. Jul. 11 - Milan, Italy - Circolo Magnolia *with John Butler

Wed. Jul. 12 - Verona, Italy - Castello Scaligero

Thu. Jul. 13 - Perugia, Italy - Arena Santa Giuliana

Sat. Jul. 15 - Tarvisio, Italy - Lago di Fusine Superiore

Sun. Jul. 16 - Sarzana, Italy - Piazza Giacomo Matteotti

Tue. Jul. 18 - Narbonne, France - Festival Jazz à l'Hospitalet

Wed. Jul. 19 - Lyon, France - Les Nuits de Fourvière

Thu. Jul. 20 - Vitrolles, France - Jardin Sonore Festival

Fri. Jul. 21 - Girona, Spain - Porta Ferrada

Sun. Jul. 23 - San Sebastián, Spain - Jazzaldia

Tue. Jul. 25 - Jerez, Spain - Tío Pepe Festival

Wed. Jul. 26 - Cascais, Portugal - CoolJazz

Fri. Jul. 28 - Marciac, France - Jazz in Marciac

Thu. Aug. 10 - Hershey, PA - Hersheypark Stadium *with The Chicks

Fri. Aug. 11 - Canandaigua, NY - CMAC Performing Arts Center *with The Chicks

Sun. Aug. 13 - Edmonton, AB, Canada - Edmonton Folk Music Festival

Tue. Aug. 15 - Carmel, IN - The Palladium at The Center for the Performing Arts

Wed. Aug. 16 - Columbus, OH - Nationwide Arena *with The Chicks

Thu. Aug. 17 - Grand Rapids, MI - Van Andel Arena *with The Chicks

Sat. Aug. 19 - Des Moines, IA - Iowa State Fair Grandstand *with The Chicks

Fri. Aug. 25 - Toronto, Canada - Budweiser Stage *with City and Colour, Katie Tupper

Sat. Aug. 26 - Madison, WI - Kohl Center *with The Chicks

Sun. Aug. 27 - St. Louis, MO - Evolution Festival *with Brandi Carlile

Tue. Aug. 29 - Kansas City, MO - T-Mobile Center *with The Chicks

Wed. Aug. 30 - Omaha, NE - CHI Health Center Omaha *with The Chicks

Fri. Sep. 1 - Sioux Falls, SD - Denny Sanford PREMIER Center

Sat. Sep. 23 - Sacramento, CA - Farm-to-Fork Festival

Fri. Sep. 29 – Richmond, VA - The National

Sat. Sep 30 - Ocean City, MD - Oceans Calling Music Festival

Sun. Oct. 1 – Bridgeport, CT - Sound on Sound Music andamp; Arts Festival

Tue. Oct. 03 - Portland, ME - State Theatre

Wed. Oct. 4 – Hampton Beach, NH - Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom

Fri. Oct. 6 - Burlington, VT - The Flynn

Sat. Oct. 7 - Buffalo, NY - UB Center for the Arts Mainstage Theatre

Sun. Oct. 8 - Albany, NY - The Egg Center for the Performing Arts

Tue. Oct. 10 - Royal Oak, MI - Royal Oak Music Theatre

Wed. Oct. 11 - Cincinnati, OH - The Andrew J Brady Music Center

Fri. Oct. 13 – South Bend, IN - Morris Performing Arts Center

Sat. Oct. 14 - Milwaukee, WI - The Riverside Theater

Sun. Oct. 15 - Prior Lake, MN - Mystic Lake Casino Hotel - Mystic Showroom