Harper

Peter Harper entered the world in Britain before spending his formative years in Perth, western Australia. An early passion for music led him into brass bands, where he performed on trumpet and euphonium, yet the blues harmonica soon captured his imagination and shaped his professional path. Relocating to Melbourne, he issued a sequence of harmonica-driven recordings that showcased his soulful vocals alongside his songwriting. The first of these was Tears of Ice in 1994, with Yesterday Is Over appearing in 1996 and Live at the Soup Kitchen following in 1997. Core Records then handled his subsequent trio of projects: Glass on the Stepping Stone in 2000, Live at St. Andrews in 2002, and Way Down Deep Inside in 2003. Harper next turned his attention to Australia’s indigenous musical traditions, exploring the didgeridoo and incorporating the Aboriginal instrument into his live performances. During a San Francisco concert, Blind Pig Records president Edward Chmelewski discovered him and offered a recording contract. The resulting Down to the Rhythm arrived on Blind Pig in 2005, presenting Harper’s distinctive Australian approach to roots music through layered didgeridoo drones and intense harp passages. A second Blind Pig album, Day by Day, followed in 2007, and Stand Together appeared in 2010.