Nick Harper
Encyclopedia
Nick Harper is an English
singer-songwriter
/guitarist
. He is the son of English folk musician Roy Harper
.
. Influenced both by his father and the continual procession through the Harper household of his dad's famous friends; Keith Moon
, Jimmy Page
, Robert Plant
and David Gilmour
amongst others, he started playing guitar at the age of 10. He made his recording debut on his father's 1985 Whatever Happened to Jugula?
and subsequently toured with him for a few years before beginning a career of his own.
which he quickly succeeded with his 1995 album Seed
. In 1996, after this release, he had a chance meeting with Squeeze frontman and songwriter Glenn Tilbrook
, which led to Harper being given the support slot for the forthcoming Squeeze tour and his being signed up to Tilbrook's own Quixotic label.
Following tours in the UK, US and Japan, Harper recorded both the 1998 album Smithereens and 2000's Harperspace with Tilbrook as producer. After moving to the Sangraal label in the early 2000s, a further EP (2001's Instrumental), live double album (2002's Double Life) and studio album (Blood Songs in 2004) were released.
His 2006 album Treasure Island was a change of direction, seeing both a concerted shift to more overtly political themes (songs such as Knuckledraggers, Sleeper Cell and Intelligent Design - spliced together from audio clips of George W. Bush
's speeches on the war on terror
- were all highly critical of the Bush regime) and to more historical perspectives. The album's title track is inspired by an obscure Liverpudlian philanthropist who employed destitute men returning from the Napoleonic Wars to dig tunnels for no other reason than to give them something to do.
May 2007 saw a special iTunes
download release of his first single "Blue Sky Thinking", taken from his sixth studio album Miracles for Beginners
on behalf of the Love Hope Strength Foundation, a cancer charity founded to provide a global support network for cancer survivors. It reached no. 1 in the iTunes folk chart and received favourable reviews and radio airplay across the UK and Europe. All proceeds from the single went to the Foundation. Miracles for Beginners
itself was released in June 2007.
After taking a three year hiatus from recording to focus on touring and charity work, he announced that in February 2010 he would embark on a UK tour to promote his forthcoming album, The Last Guitar. The album was released the following month and features his 13 year old daughter taking a guest vocal slot on one of the songs.
The tour and album are a prelude to his return to the Glastonbury Festival
Avalon stage on June 26, 2010.
and Leicester
's Summer Sundae
. Harper has also played sets at the Glastonbury
and Beautiful Days
festivals in summer 2005. He also played shows in Thailand
to raise money for Indian Ocean tsunami relief.
In summer 2006, he again played a multitude of festivals, including the Moseley Folk Festival, Jersey Live, Beautiful Days and Clonakilty
's second annual Guitar Festival, along with appearances at festivals in France and Catalonia. In November 2007, he performed at the International Guitar Festival of Great Britain
for the fourth time.
In 2008 he performed at Trowbridge Village Pump Festival
, Beautiful Days, Newquay's Rip Curl Beach Sessions and Tenby Folk Festival and appeared at London's Royal Albert Hall on 27 September 2008, where he brought his 12-year-old daughter Lily on stage at the end of the set to accompany him on Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s "Our House." This was of some historical note as he had done the same with his own father Roy Harper
some 35 years before on the same stage.
During 2009, Nick played at Celtic Connections in Glasgow in January before starting ‘The 38’ tour, covering 38 dates across the UK. During the summer of that year he performed in Norway, France and Italy before a series of dates on America's East Coast in September, returning to the US in November for a coast-to-coast tour with Cy Curnin
of The Fixx
.
He also joined a 38-strong team of musicians including Glenn Tilbrook
, Mike Peters and Cy Curnin
, mountaineers and cancer survivors who, in aid of the Love Hope Strength Foundation, took part in a 14-day trek to 18,500 ft Mt Everest base camp where they performed an acoustic concert. The Everest Rocks trek culminated with a grand finale concert in Kathmandu on October 29 and raised more than US$250,000 for the only charitable cancer hospital in Nepal, situated at Bhaktapur (approx. 10 miles east of Kathmandu). Alex Coletti (producer of MTV's Unplugged series) filmed the trek for a documentary, Everest Rocks, which premiered on the Palladia channel on September 7, 2008 and was also released on DVD.
On 27 September 2009, he joined fellow Love Hope Strength trekkers to undertake another charity trek called Kilimanjaro Rocks. Once again, musicians, supporters and cancer survivors scaled the 19341 feet (5,895.1 m) peak of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. The trek raised funds for bone marrow drives and the main cancer centre in Nairobi, Kenya.
did, Harper has forged a reputation as an excellent live performer and a virtuosic acoustic guitarist. His unique style of playing has been called "nothing short of genius", the Times states that he "does things to his [guitar] that would have had Segovia
weeping into his Rioja" and some comedians have stated that they could count "at least eight fingers on the neck of his guitar".
Widely regarded as a much better live performer than he is on record, his albums have nevertheless come in for some significant critical acclaim.
Speaking of his album Miracles for Beginners
, Mojo
called it "his most focused, warm and triumphant album to date" (4 stars), the Herald (Glasgow) said the album is "borne on masterful acoustic guitar patterns...ten minor miracles." (4 stars) and The Sun stated
that "Like his dad, he's a fine folk troubadour and a great guitarist...this is a witty, vibrant affair...a rewarding listen." (3.5 stars).
BBC online took a less enthusiastic viewpoint, saying that "this Harper set is a little patchy, especially if compared alongside 1995’s Seed and 2004’s Blood Songs which updated brilliantly the folk confessional", but the author still admits that "Harper though must be applauded for trying be a politically inclined sort of modern troubadour"
. He still works and tours with Roy occasionally.
Nick was a touring member of British pop/rock band Squeeze from 1996–97 and played on one track on their 1998 Domino album. Glenn Tilbrook
of the band produced Nick's Smithereens and Harperspace albums, which were released on Glenn's Quixotic label. The pair often work together, with Nick most recently appearing on Glenn's 2004 solo album Transatlantic Ping-Pong.
Nick has written and played with Brighton
-based political indie group The Levellers
. He guested on the band's Top 40 UK single 'Make U Happy' - he co-wrote, played and sang on B-side 'Not In My Name'.
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
/guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
. He is the son of English folk musician Roy Harper
Roy Harper
Roy Harper is an English folk / rock singer-songwriter and guitarist who has been a professional musician since the mid 1960s...
.
Early life
Nick Harper was born in London in 1965 to the famous folk singer-songwriter Roy HarperRoy Harper
Roy Harper is an English folk / rock singer-songwriter and guitarist who has been a professional musician since the mid 1960s...
. Influenced both by his father and the continual procession through the Harper household of his dad's famous friends; Keith Moon
Keith Moon
Keith John Moon was an English musician, best known for being the drummer of the English rock group The Who. He gained acclaim for his exuberant and innovative drumming style, and notoriety for his eccentric and often self-destructive behaviour, earning him the nickname "Moon the Loon". Moon...
, Jimmy Page
Jimmy Page
James Patrick "Jimmy" Page, OBE is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as a studio session guitarist in London and was subsequently a member of The Yardbirds from 1966 to 1968, after which he founded the English rock band Led Zeppelin.Jimmy Page...
, Robert Plant
Robert Plant
Robert Anthony Plant, CBE is an English singer and songwriter best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the iconic rock band Led Zeppelin. He has also had a successful solo career...
and David Gilmour
David Gilmour
David Jon Gilmour, CBE, D.M. is an English rock musician and multi-instrumentalist who is best known as the guitarist, one of the lead singers and main songwriters in the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. In addition to his work with Pink Floyd, Gilmour has worked as a producer for a variety of...
amongst others, he started playing guitar at the age of 10. He made his recording debut on his father's 1985 Whatever Happened to Jugula?
Whatever Happened to Jugula?
Whatever Happened to Jugula? is the thirteenth studio album by English folk / rock singer-songwriter and guitarist Roy Harper. It was first released in 1985...
and subsequently toured with him for a few years before beginning a career of his own.
Career
His first solo release was the 1994 EP Light at the End of the KennelLight at the End of the Kennel (Nick Harper album)
Light at the End of the Kennel is a 1994 EP from UK singer-songwriter Nick Harper.Track Listing:1. A Hundred Things2. Is This Really Me?3. Shadowlands4. Flying Dog5. Headless6. Riverside...
which he quickly succeeded with his 1995 album Seed
Seed (Nick Harper album)
-Track listing:# Glittering Eye# The Kilty Stone# Radio Silence# Crazy Boy# Three Magpies# Big Jim and the Twins# Thanks for the Miracle# Building Our Own Temple# Pendle's Choice# Mr. Grey# Peace, Love and Happiness# Janet and John...
. In 1996, after this release, he had a chance meeting with Squeeze frontman and songwriter Glenn Tilbrook
Glenn Tilbrook
Glenn Martin Tilbrook is the lead singer and guitarist of the English band Squeeze, a band formed in the mid 1970s who broke through in the new wave era at the decade's end. He generally wrote the melody for Squeeze, while his writing partner, Chris Difford, wrote the lyrics...
, which led to Harper being given the support slot for the forthcoming Squeeze tour and his being signed up to Tilbrook's own Quixotic label.
Following tours in the UK, US and Japan, Harper recorded both the 1998 album Smithereens and 2000's Harperspace with Tilbrook as producer. After moving to the Sangraal label in the early 2000s, a further EP (2001's Instrumental), live double album (2002's Double Life) and studio album (Blood Songs in 2004) were released.
His 2006 album Treasure Island was a change of direction, seeing both a concerted shift to more overtly political themes (songs such as Knuckledraggers, Sleeper Cell and Intelligent Design - spliced together from audio clips of George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
's speeches on the war on terror
War on Terror
The War on Terror is a term commonly applied to an international military campaign led by the United States and the United Kingdom with the support of other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation as well as non-NATO countries...
- were all highly critical of the Bush regime) and to more historical perspectives. The album's title track is inspired by an obscure Liverpudlian philanthropist who employed destitute men returning from the Napoleonic Wars to dig tunnels for no other reason than to give them something to do.
May 2007 saw a special iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
download release of his first single "Blue Sky Thinking", taken from his sixth studio album Miracles for Beginners
Miracles for Beginners (Nick Harper album)
Miracles for Beginners is the sixth studio album from UK singer-songwriter Nick Harper.-Track listing:# Miracles for Beginners# Blue Sky Thinking# The Field of a Cloth of Gold# Magic Feather# Evo# 2 Secs# Always# Your Love Has Saved Me from Myself...
on behalf of the Love Hope Strength Foundation, a cancer charity founded to provide a global support network for cancer survivors. It reached no. 1 in the iTunes folk chart and received favourable reviews and radio airplay across the UK and Europe. All proceeds from the single went to the Foundation. Miracles for Beginners
Miracles for Beginners (Nick Harper album)
Miracles for Beginners is the sixth studio album from UK singer-songwriter Nick Harper.-Track listing:# Miracles for Beginners# Blue Sky Thinking# The Field of a Cloth of Gold# Magic Feather# Evo# 2 Secs# Always# Your Love Has Saved Me from Myself...
itself was released in June 2007.
After taking a three year hiatus from recording to focus on touring and charity work, he announced that in February 2010 he would embark on a UK tour to promote his forthcoming album, The Last Guitar. The album was released the following month and features his 13 year old daughter taking a guest vocal slot on one of the songs.
The tour and album are a prelude to his return to the Glastonbury Festival
Glastonbury Festival
The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury or even Glasto, is a performing arts festival that takes place near Pilton, Somerset, England, best known for its contemporary music, but also for dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts.The...
Avalon stage on June 26, 2010.
Touring
Nick frequently plays solo acoustic tours of the UK. In addition, each summer he covers the European festival circuit. In 2003, he was awarded a Herald Fringe Angel award for performance excellence at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where he has played many residencies in recent years. He performed at the 2004 Cropredy FestivalCropredy Festival
Fairport's Cropredy Convention is an annual festival of folk and rock music held on the edge of the village of Cropredy in Oxfordshire, England. It has taken place in August since 1976....
and Leicester
Leicester
Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...
's Summer Sundae
Summer Sundae
Summer Sundae is an annual music festival held in Leicester, England which focuses on indie, alternative, and local music...
. Harper has also played sets at the Glastonbury
Glastonbury Festival
The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury or even Glasto, is a performing arts festival that takes place near Pilton, Somerset, England, best known for its contemporary music, but also for dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts.The...
and Beautiful Days
Beautiful Days (festival)
This article is about the music festival. For other uses, see Beautiful Days .The Beautiful Days is a music festival that takes place in August at Escot Park, Ottery St Mary, Devon...
festivals in summer 2005. He also played shows in Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
to raise money for Indian Ocean tsunami relief.
In summer 2006, he again played a multitude of festivals, including the Moseley Folk Festival, Jersey Live, Beautiful Days and Clonakilty
Clonakilty
Clonakilty , often referred to by locals simply as Clon, is a small town on the N71 national secondary road in West County Cork, Ireland, approximately 45 minutes away by road to the west of Cork City. The town is on the southern coast of the island, and is surrounded by hilly country devoted...
's second annual Guitar Festival, along with appearances at festivals in France and Catalonia. In November 2007, he performed at the International Guitar Festival of Great Britain
International Guitar Festival of Great Britain
The International Guitar Festival of Great Britain is a music festival, established in 1989, held annually in November on the Wirral Peninsula, England...
for the fourth time.
In 2008 he performed at Trowbridge Village Pump Festival
Trowbridge Village Pump Festival
Village Pump FestivalStarted over 30 years ago in a barn at the lamb Inn Trowbridge, it then moved to Stowford Manor Farm, Farleigh Hungerford, England...
, Beautiful Days, Newquay's Rip Curl Beach Sessions and Tenby Folk Festival and appeared at London's Royal Albert Hall on 27 September 2008, where he brought his 12-year-old daughter Lily on stage at the end of the set to accompany him on Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s "Our House." This was of some historical note as he had done the same with his own father Roy Harper
Roy Harper
Roy Harper is an English folk / rock singer-songwriter and guitarist who has been a professional musician since the mid 1960s...
some 35 years before on the same stage.
During 2009, Nick played at Celtic Connections in Glasgow in January before starting ‘The 38’ tour, covering 38 dates across the UK. During the summer of that year he performed in Norway, France and Italy before a series of dates on America's East Coast in September, returning to the US in November for a coast-to-coast tour with Cy Curnin
Cy Curnin
Cy Curnin is a singer/songwriter and musician. He is the lead vocalist for the new wave music group, The Fixx. The band became famous with the song "One Thing Leads to Another" in 1983, and remained popular in the United States throughout the 1980s...
of The Fixx
The Fixx
The Fixx is an English rock band formed in London in 1979. Their hits include "One Thing Leads to Another," "Red Skies," "Stand or Fall," "Saved by Zero," "Sign of Fire," "Are We Ourselves?," "Secret Separation," "Driven Out," "How Much Is Enough?," and "Deeper and Deeper," which was featured on...
.
Charity work
In October 2007, Harper climbed up Mt. Snowdon for a concert near the summit.He also joined a 38-strong team of musicians including Glenn Tilbrook
Glenn Tilbrook
Glenn Martin Tilbrook is the lead singer and guitarist of the English band Squeeze, a band formed in the mid 1970s who broke through in the new wave era at the decade's end. He generally wrote the melody for Squeeze, while his writing partner, Chris Difford, wrote the lyrics...
, Mike Peters and Cy Curnin
Cy Curnin
Cy Curnin is a singer/songwriter and musician. He is the lead vocalist for the new wave music group, The Fixx. The band became famous with the song "One Thing Leads to Another" in 1983, and remained popular in the United States throughout the 1980s...
, mountaineers and cancer survivors who, in aid of the Love Hope Strength Foundation, took part in a 14-day trek to 18,500 ft Mt Everest base camp where they performed an acoustic concert. The Everest Rocks trek culminated with a grand finale concert in Kathmandu on October 29 and raised more than US$250,000 for the only charitable cancer hospital in Nepal, situated at Bhaktapur (approx. 10 miles east of Kathmandu). Alex Coletti (producer of MTV's Unplugged series) filmed the trek for a documentary, Everest Rocks, which premiered on the Palladia channel on September 7, 2008 and was also released on DVD.
On 27 September 2009, he joined fellow Love Hope Strength trekkers to undertake another charity trek called Kilimanjaro Rocks. Once again, musicians, supporters and cancer survivors scaled the 19341 feet (5,895.1 m) peak of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. The trek raised funds for bone marrow drives and the main cancer centre in Nairobi, Kenya.
Critical Acclaim
While never having reached the levels of popularity as his fatherRoy Harper
Roy Harper is an English folk / rock singer-songwriter and guitarist who has been a professional musician since the mid 1960s...
did, Harper has forged a reputation as an excellent live performer and a virtuosic acoustic guitarist. His unique style of playing has been called "nothing short of genius", the Times states that he "does things to his [guitar] that would have had Segovia
Andrés Segovia
Andrés Torres Segovia, 1st Marquis of Salobreña , known as Andrés Segovia, was a virtuoso Spanish classical guitarist from Linares, Jaén, Andalucia, Spain...
weeping into his Rioja" and some comedians have stated that they could count "at least eight fingers on the neck of his guitar".
Widely regarded as a much better live performer than he is on record, his albums have nevertheless come in for some significant critical acclaim.
Speaking of his album Miracles for Beginners
Miracles for Beginners (Nick Harper album)
Miracles for Beginners is the sixth studio album from UK singer-songwriter Nick Harper.-Track listing:# Miracles for Beginners# Blue Sky Thinking# The Field of a Cloth of Gold# Magic Feather# Evo# 2 Secs# Always# Your Love Has Saved Me from Myself...
, Mojo
Mojo (magazine)
MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music...
called it "his most focused, warm and triumphant album to date" (4 stars), the Herald (Glasgow) said the album is "borne on masterful acoustic guitar patterns...ten minor miracles." (4 stars) and The Sun stated
that "Like his dad, he's a fine folk troubadour and a great guitarist...this is a witty, vibrant affair...a rewarding listen." (3.5 stars).
BBC online took a less enthusiastic viewpoint, saying that "this Harper set is a little patchy, especially if compared alongside 1995’s Seed and 2004’s Blood Songs which updated brilliantly the folk confessional", but the author still admits that "Harper though must be applauded for trying be a politically inclined sort of modern troubadour"
Work with other artists
Nick's first recordings and major live exposure were with his father Roy HarperRoy Harper
Roy Harper is an English folk / rock singer-songwriter and guitarist who has been a professional musician since the mid 1960s...
. He still works and tours with Roy occasionally.
Nick was a touring member of British pop/rock band Squeeze from 1996–97 and played on one track on their 1998 Domino album. Glenn Tilbrook
Glenn Tilbrook
Glenn Martin Tilbrook is the lead singer and guitarist of the English band Squeeze, a band formed in the mid 1970s who broke through in the new wave era at the decade's end. He generally wrote the melody for Squeeze, while his writing partner, Chris Difford, wrote the lyrics...
of the band produced Nick's Smithereens and Harperspace albums, which were released on Glenn's Quixotic label. The pair often work together, with Nick most recently appearing on Glenn's 2004 solo album Transatlantic Ping-Pong.
Nick has written and played with Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
-based political indie group The Levellers
The Levellers (band)
The Levellers are an English rock band, founded in 1988 and based in Brighton, England. Their musical style is said to be influenced by punk and traditional English music.-1988-1990:...
. He guested on the band's Top 40 UK single 'Make U Happy' - he co-wrote, played and sang on B-side 'Not In My Name'.
Studio albums
- 1995 - SeedSeed (Nick Harper album)-Track listing:# Glittering Eye# The Kilty Stone# Radio Silence# Crazy Boy# Three Magpies# Big Jim and the Twins# Thanks for the Miracle# Building Our Own Temple# Pendle's Choice# Mr. Grey# Peace, Love and Happiness# Janet and John...
(Sangraal) - 1998 - Smithereens (Quixotic)
- 2000 - Harperspace (Quixotic)
- 2004 - Blood SongsBlood Songs (Nick Harper album)-Track listing:# Foreplay# Love Junky# Lily's Song# Love Is Music# Imaginary Friend# Stronger# Vampire Song# The Wanderer and His Shadow# The Kissing Gate# Boy Meets Planet# My Little Masterpiece# Blood Song...
(Sangraal) - 2006 - Treasure Island (Sangraal)
- 2007 - Miracles for BeginnersMiracles for Beginners (Nick Harper album)Miracles for Beginners is the sixth studio album from UK singer-songwriter Nick Harper.-Track listing:# Miracles for Beginners# Blue Sky Thinking# The Field of a Cloth of Gold# Magic Feather# Evo# 2 Secs# Always# Your Love Has Saved Me from Myself...
(Sangraal) - 2010 - The Last Guitar (Sangraal)
Live albums
- 2002 - Double Life (Quixotic - Double albumDouble albumA double album is an audio album which spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically records and compact discs....
)
Singles, EPs
- 1994 - Light at the End of the KennelLight at the End of the Kennel (Nick Harper album)Light at the End of the Kennel is a 1994 EP from UK singer-songwriter Nick Harper.Track Listing:1. A Hundred Things2. Is This Really Me?3. Shadowlands4. Flying Dog5. Headless6. Riverside...
(Sangraal EPExtended playAn EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
) - 1999 - Instrumental (Sangraal EPExtended playAn EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
) - 2007 - Blue Sky Thinking (Sangraal download single)
- 2010 - Instrumental 2010 - Re-recorded / re-mixed version of the 1999 release