Amazon.comRich 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, Rory Gallagher, Freddy 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.
Details for all tours are available at the bands website http://www.richharper.com