Experience the living history of the blues with Corey Harris who has carved out a unique niche by blending traditional Delta and Piedmont blues with influences from West African music, reggae, and soul. A captivating guitarist and storyteller, Harris brings his expansive sonic vocabulary to the stage.
Harris is a masterful guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter widely recognized for his role in the mid-'90s acoustic blues resurgence and his continuous innovation within the genre. His music is deeply rooted in the blues but explores connections with African, Caribbean, and Latin sounds, reflecting an all-inclusive approach to music-making. He has toured and recorded with icons like B.B. King, Taj Mahal, Natalie Merchant and Dave Matthews Band, and was featured in the Martin Scorsese film Feel Like Going Home.
Harris was born in Denver, CO in 1969 and got his first taste of the blues from his mother’s collection of Lightnin’ Hopkins records. He first picked up the guitar at age 12, and at the same time developed his singing abilities in church choirs. By high school, he was playing in rock bands.
Harris says “I always deal with Africa and the blues and roots on my records,” he says. “Those have been my primary themes throughout most of my career. I want to express my love for great black music, and demonstrate that love in original song form. It’s the same goal I’ve been pursuing for some time – to make original music and try to educate people in the process.”
An Anthropology major at Bates College in Maine, Harris traveled to Cameroon to study African linguistics, and returned a couple years later on a post-graduate fellowship. During these visits, he soaked up as much African music as possible, entranced by its complex polyrhythms.
After returning to the States, Harris taught English and French in Napoleonville, LA, and spent his spare time playing in the clubs, coffeehouses and street corners of nearby New Orleans. He quickly developed a local reputation that earned him a record deal with the Alligator label, where he released his solo acoustic debut album in 1995, Between Midnight and Day, a recording that showcased his mastery of numerous variations on the delta blues style.
In 2007 Harris was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship which recognizes individuals from a wide range of disciplines who show creativity, originality and commitment to continued innovative work and that same year, he was also awarded an honorary Doctor of Music degree from Bates College, his alma mater.
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