Ben Harper and his mother Ellen are releasing their first collaboration. Ellen Harper is first on the phone; she's at home in Claremont, California. Next to join the conversation is her son, singer-songwriter Ben Harper. He's also at home, less than an hour's drive away.
Three-way interviews, particularly when one of you is in another country on a line with a slight delay, are never easy. But if anyone can turn an awkward situation into an enjoyable experience, it's the calm, considerate Harpers.
The way they interact on the phone - Ben responding first to each question with a respectful, "Ma, you go first" and Ellen finishing off each answer with, "Ben, what do you think?" provides an inkling as to how they worked together in the studio on their first official collaboration, Childhood Home.
"Ben is the producer on the album and I recognised that and I was grateful for that. Both of us went in being careful of each other's feelings," says Ellen, a musician herself, who raised Ben and two other sons on her own.