Singer-songwriter Ben Harper is as unclassifiable as that vague, all-purpose label would imply. Working as both a solo acoustic-guitar act and with his rock band the Innocent Criminals, he’s encompassed all manner of folk, rock, reggae, and funk. In fact, in this Danny Clinch film, he defines himself by the desire to remain undefined.

A former still-photographer making his directorial debut, Clinch complements Harper’s eclectic style, and hectic life on the road, with fast-paced editing and camera work. At first, that style mimics road life a little too closely, with cinematography that’s interesting, unsettling, and verging on nauseating. But the film eventually settles into a mix of concert footage and interviews that put Harper’s life and career in perspective. Conversations between the subject and his family reveal a seeming genetic predisposition to music (his grandparents owned a musical-instrument shop). Some of the more entertaining moments show Harper sparring with journalists à la Don’t Look Back. Although he has six albums on major label Virgin, his radio-unfriendly success is shown to owe exclusively to word of mouth. And whether or not you’re a Harper fan, his success story in the midst of the music business’s current disarray is heartening. (92 minutes)