Kemp Harris

“Kemp Harris is a thief, a tease and a heartbreaker. He knows too much. And it’s all right there when he sings. Beautifully there. He'll take your breath away.”

- Tom Ashbrook, Host of NPR's On Point

“Harris has his finger on the pulse of the modern world with an intensity born of awareness, and he writes with an understanding of what our lives lack. He delivers this wisdom with a timeless voice.”

- Art Tipaldi, Blues Revue 

Kemp Harris defies categorization. He is a singer and songwriter, a master weaver of American musical styles. He’s an actor, activist, author, and storyteller, and an award-winning educator who has taught young public school students for more than 40 years. “It’s all about communication,” Kemp says. “Everything I do.”

Kemp honed his powerful, intimate performance style in Cambridge’s coffeehouses, developing into a magnetic frontman who has shared stages with artists such as Koko Taylor, Livingston Taylor, Gil Scott-Heron, Kandace Springs and Taj Mahal. He has composed original music for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and Complexions Contemporary Ballet, established a songwriting residency at Boston’s Wang Theater, and recently delivered a series of master classes at Berklee College of Music on the subject of Artists as Activists, alongside Chad Stokes of the band Dispatch and members of the dance troupe Urban Bush Women.

Join us for this fabulous JOSA Season Finale!