MOST musicians will tell you they’ve played in some unusual places during their career.
But singer-songwriter and guitar virtuoso Nick Harper is preparing to perform at what may be the most unusual gig venue of them all – Mount Everest.
Harper joined a 45-strong team of musicians, mountaineers and cancer survivors in Nepal on October 1 and they are currently on a 10-day climb to Mount Everest’s base camp.
Each day, the musicians – including Glenn Tilbrook and The Cult’s Billy Duffy – will create acoustic recordings which will be fed directly to iTunes, as well as posting photos and daily blogs. At base camp, on October 23, they will perform an acoustic concert – the world’s highest ever musical gig.
They will then hike for four days down the mountain to Kathmandu, where they will perform a grand finale concert on October 29.
Money raised from the climb will benefit the Nepal Cancer Relief Society – allowing the local Bhaktapur Cancer Hospital to build a clinic.
All the money raised from the iTunes sales will go towards the LoveHopeStrength Foundation, which provides a support network for cancer patients through music related outreach programmes.
The charity, which also funds cancer research, was founded by Mike Peters of punk band The Alarm and entertainment insurance mogul James Chippendale – both leukaemia survivors.
It was a phone call from Peters that prompted Nick Harper to join the Everest Rocks adventure.
He said: “It’s a great feeling to be given the chance to do something useful, as cancer is a terrible disease.”
It won’t be the first time he has tackled dizzy heights to play music – he took part in Snowdon Rocks in June, where musicians climbed to the Welsh mountain’s summit to perform a gig.
Harper will return to the UK in November for his 13-date Back From The Naughty Step tour, which includes a visit to Bar 1:22 in Huddersfield on November 11.
The Huddersfield date is one of few chances for northern fans to catch Nick, who is at his most creative and successful to date.
He has performed live sessions for BBC Radio Wales, Scotland and BBC Radio 2 and released his long-awaited DVD, Love Is Music, which features a collection of blistering live performances mixed with insights from his friends, family and fellow musicians.
He released a single, Blue Sky Thinking, in May which hit number one in the iTunes download chart and has received good reviews across the UK and Europe.
All proceeds from the sales of the single went towards the LoveHopeStrength Foundation.
It was the first track taken from his sixth studio album, Miracles For Beginners, which was released in June.
The ten-track album features everything from love songs, to witty parodies and social and political commentaries.
For example, Field Of The Cloth Of Gold compares the kings of France and Spain meeting 500 years ago to a modern day music festival and Evo Morales is a song all about the Bolivian president.
Harper is clearly not afraid of thinking outside the box – he’s had to be extra-creative in order to step out of the shadow of his father, the folk/blues legend Roy Harper.
But he has managed it and is now recognised as one of Britain’s best acoustic singers and guitarists.
He began playing guitar at the age of 10, but it was not until 1994 that the world got a taste of his solo material with the EP Light At The End Of The Kennel, followed by his 1995 debut album, Seed.
Fans were already impressed by his vocals and songwriting skills, but when he began touring heavily they were hit with the experience that is his live shows.
They are well-known for being a wild ride, with Harper sometimes literally swinging from the chandeliers and even re-stringing his guitar while playing mid-song.
Live shows, Harper says, are very important to him.
“There are some gigs I’ve done where I know something special has happened. That I have got to the heart of the song and brought it out with the same feeling as when I wrote it. Those occasions when the conscious person leaves and you are left with just the song, well, that’s special.”
While the fans are there for his material, he is always keen to hook in new followers and is not afraid to throw in a few covers – everything from Monty Python to Kylie.
It’s all part and parcel of what an audience now comes to expect from this inveterate showman.
To find out more, visit www.harperspace.com or www.myspace.com/harperspace.
