Ben Harper performs Oct. 13 at the Morris Performing Arts Center in South Bend

SOUTH BEND — Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals perform at 8 p.m. Oct. 13 at the Morris Performing Arts Center, 211 N. Michigan St.

Harper is a renowned singer-songwriter and musician whose music mixes blues, folk, soul, reggae and rock.

Born Oct. 28, 1969, Harper grew up surround by the activists, poets, artists and musicians — Chris Darrow, Leonard Cohen, Jackson Browne and Taj Mahal — who patronized his maternal grandparents’ music store.

Looking ahead to summer: Tribune seeks information for annual Festival Guide

His break came when Taj Mahal asked him to record 1990’s “Follow the Drinking Gourd” with him and tour with him.

Since the 1994 release of his debut album, “Welcome to the Cruel World,” he has released a total of 15 studio albums, including “Fight for Your Mind,” “Burn to Shine,” “Diamonds on the Inside,” “Call It What It Is” and his most recent, 2022’s “Bloodline Maintenance.” He's scheduled to release a new album, "Wide Open Light," on June 2.

In addition, he and the Blind Boys of Alabama won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album for 2004’s “There Will Be a Light,” and he and Charlie Musselwhite won the Grammy for Best Blues Album for 2013’s “Get Up!” They also released a second album together, 2018’s “No Mercy in This Land.”

Other collaborations include albums with the bands Relentless7 and Fistful of Mercy and writing and producing the Mavis Staples album “We Get By” and co-producing the Natalie Maines (The Chicks) album “Mother.”

Tickets are $135-$45 and go on sale at 10 a.m. April 7 at morriscenter.org.

For more information, call 574-235-9190 or visit morriscenter.org.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Ben Harper performs Oct. 13 at the Morris PAC in South Bend