Natalie Maines Covers Pink Floyd’s ‘Mother’ With Ben Harper

Ben Harper's tour rolled into Los Angeles last weekend, and he brought a special guest with him: Dixie Chicks singer Natalie Maines, who joined the band to lend her vocals to a cover of Pink Floyd's 'Mother.'

It might seem like a random live cameo, but Maines' appearance is actually right in line with her current career plans, which include recording a solo album that's currently being produced by Harper at his studio. As she told Howard Stern last month, "Ben has a studio and he’s just sort of facilitated this for me in a natural progression. I didn’t go in knowing what I was gonna do or that I was gonna make an album. I was just gonna go in and make some music, and it’s been fun."

The Hollywood Reporter quotes a later tweet from Maines saying she's "eight songs deep" in the album, and targeting "hopefully a spring release."

Harper's Southern California sets were somewhat heavy on guest vocals; during his Hollywood Bowl show, he invited Rickie Lee Jones out to sing 'Masterpiece,' and in Santa Barbara, Maines took the mic for 'Vein in Vain' as well as 'Mother.'

Watch Natalie Maines and Ben Harper Perform 'Mother'