Rich
Harper learned to play blues guitar the traditional way by primarily
being self-taught listening to and learning from the recordings of
artists like Eric Clapton, B. B. King, Freddie King, Freddie King,
Duane Allman, and so on. Rich developed his own slide style using the
same Coricidin medicine bottle as Duane Allman. After paying his "blues
dues" in small blue collar towns throughout Pennsylvania, Rich moved to
Los Angeles to gather like minded musicians and formed the Rich Harper
Blues Band.
With the success of their debut CD, "Don't Think Just Play", the Rich
Harper Blues Band was not only selected as one of Amazon.com's
prestigious "Emerging New Blues Artists", but Taxim Records, a German
label, joined the group's growing list of blues fans by placing another
cut, "She's On Her Way Up", on their compilation album titled "More
Desaster City Blues". It wasn't long before the band's name was popping
up in blues magazines everywhere and blues societies were urging their
members to check out the exciting new group who were carving out a
unique niche for themselves in the blues world. By the time the band
released their second CD, "Bottled Up Blues", Europe had jumped on board
by making the band the #1 selling artists in Switzerland on Amazon's
charts. Radio stations worldwide welcomed the new CD with open arms and
this time one of the cuts, "As She Moved In (My Guitar Moved Out)",
topped Rolling Stone Magazine's "MP3 & More Blues Chart" at #1. The
international blues scene stood up, did a double take, and these
talented artists haven't stopped since.
An international promoter recalls how he came across the band in the Los
Angeles area a few years ago: "While walking past a local club at 4
o'clock on a Saturday afternoon, I heard the faint sounds of a band
playing, and my curiosity dragged me in. Onstage were three guys playing
great music I did not recognize. I sat down, ordered a beer and wondered
why there was nobody there. Half an hour later people started coming in,
and by 5:30 the place was packed. The music got louder, and Rich Harper,
with his tremendous musical creativity and playfulness held a tight grip
on the crowd as it got wilder, and it was an amazing experience - like
nothing I had ever witnessed before. It turned out to be a 3-7 pm
Saturday gig, except the audience demanded an extra half set. I said to
myself that music lovers around the world deserve to experience this!"
Since then, the band has toured the world, including their adoptive
countries of Scandinavia, and such exotic locales as Asia and Australia.
They were also humbled and extremely honored to be part of a group that
entertained the U.S. troops in Iraq in 2004.
