At just twenty one, Imogen Harper is a woman to be reckoned with. There’s the fact she’s been playing piano for more than half of her life, started songwriting when fourteen and made her live debut a bare year later at Sydney’s oldest jazz venue Bar Me (Sinatra played there!). Add to that the lure of her siren’s voice and the rock &amp; roll side project in the form of Sydney’s fast-rising Guineafowl and you’d be forgiven for wondering if she maybe isn’t just too good to be true – but make no mistake, there is nothing saccharine in her sweetness.
Brought up on Disney movies and her parents’ folk-heavy record collection (Leonard Cohen, Carole King), Imogen’s songs are elegant meditations of love’s crooked paths; and more Joni Mitchell than the Lion King, though she swears they’re both central in her musical heart. No slouch in the live stakes, as a jazz singer for hire she’s perfected an envious chanteuse style although debut EP Charcoal Heart leans more piano balladry than dive bars and late nights. As an artist in her own right she’s taken to the stages of the Basement and Vanguard amongst others, and sold out her EP launch earlier this year at Raval. Student days spent at open mics at the Surry Hill’s Excelsior fuelled both her writing skills and seductive stage presence and maybe also contributed to the taste for bourbon she’s retained to this day as pre-show drink of choice.
The Guineafowl connection was a serendipitous accident involving a physiotherapist’s receptionist, an out-of-joint musician and an overheard conversation regarding the need for a female vocalist, and she’s been with the band ever since. Their first live show was an exercise in the contradictions of Imogen’s musical double-life, as a solo performer she was shell-shocked by the sheer volume of a full band onstage but she’s long since transformed that energy into a compelling performance. Of course the killer cheekbones don’t hurt any - just look what they did for Stevie Nicks - but there’s a devil in Ms Harper’s smoky voice when she goes to her rock and roll side.
With a sold out EP launch and an extra night added by popular demand to her Vanguard dates at the end of the month, Imogen’s poised to steal the hearts of more than just the boys in the Guineafowl crowds this year.


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