Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals have been invited to appear as a special guest of Dave Matthews Band on August 28th and 29th at the Home Depot Center in Carson, CA. Tickets are now on sale for DMB fan club members, and become available to the public on March 27th via Ticketmaster.

He came from a musical family, which may begin to explain it, but from a very young age Ben Harper knew he had the music in him. Getting it out proved not so difficult either. By his teenage years, he'd learned to play slide guitar and was able to emulate his blues heroes. His mix of roots music and various assimilations of modern styles (R&B, hip-hop, reggae) has shown Harper has the dedication to bring it all back home for himself.

Raised in the Inland Empire region of California (approximately 50 miles east of Los Angeles), Harper had instruments around him since day one. His grandparents, Charles and Dorothy Chase, founded the Claremont Folk Music Center in 1958, a store that sold all types of instruments and music books and featured live musicians. His parents were also musicians – his father Leonard was a percussionist, his mother Ellen a singer and guitarist.

As a teen, Harper cut his teeth on blues players such as Robert Johnson and Son House, finding excitement with playing the lap steel. He was playing at the Claremont when headliner Taj Mahal heard his playing and encouraged Harper to take to the road with him. They collaborated on the soundtrack for The Drinking Gourd, a documentary about the life of Harriet Tubman, the woman who led hundreds of slaves to freedom in the North via the Underground Railroad. The subject matter of racism was something that touched Harper deeply, as he is of mixed heritage and has faced racism from all sides.

Harper attracted the attention of Virgin Records and has since released five studio albums and one live disc, all of which have garnered a devout audience that shares Harper's interest in social issues and grass-roots organizations. The titles of his songs spell out much of what he is about, for, and against: Oppression, How Many Miles Must We March, With My Own Two Hands, Picture Of Jesus, Two Hands Of A Prayer. In some ways, Harper is a true child of the '60s, but his music attempts to reach out to all people regardless of such boundaries.

This Biography was written by Rob O'Connor