Ben Kweller

Infobox musical artist
Name = Ben Kweller


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Birth_name = Benjamin Lev Kweller
Alias = Ben Kweller
BK
Born = birth date and age|1981|6|16
San Francisco, California, U.S.
Died =
Origin = Greenville, Texas, US
Instrument = Vocals, guitar, piano, harmonica, drums
Genre = Rock, folk, country, punk rock
Occupation = Singer-songwriter, Recording Artist, Record Producer
Years_active = 1993 - present
Label = ATO, RCA, Practice Amp, Noise Company, 679
Associated_acts = Radish, The Bens
URL = [http://www.benkweller.com www.benkweller.com]
Current_members =
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Ben Kweller (born 16 June 1981, San Francisco, California) is an American rock musician.

Biography

Early life

Ben Kweller was born in San Francisco, CA in 1981. In 1982 his family relocated to Emory, TX where his father Howard Kweller became the town's first Doctor. In 1986, The Kwellers moved to a much larger city, Greenville, TX, [http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Ben-Kweller-Biography/17E2F30FD6B99A3A48256C3000031B2C] . Ben was exposed to music at a very early age. Howard taught Ben how to play the drums when he was 7 years old. For the next year, the father and son would jam together almost every night after Howard got home from work. With Howard singing and playing guitar and Ben keeping the beat, the duo would play songs by The Beatles, The Hollies, Jimi Hendrix, and other artists of the 1960's. When Ben turned 8, someone showed him how to play "Heart And Soul" on the piano. The youngster immediately began to create his own songs using the same chords. By the time he was 9 he had a dozen original compositions under his belt and entered a songwriting contest sponsored by Billboard magazine. Kweller won honorable mention. [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:jifyxqwhldke]

Radish

In 1993 Kweller became friends with another young local musician, drummer John Kent, and the two formed the band Radish with bassist Ryan Green. The trio played locally in and around Greenville and recorded two independent releases, "Hello" (1994) and "Dizzy" (1995), with Martin Baird at Verge Music Works recording studio in Dallas, Texas. Around the time of "Dizzy's" release, Ryan Green decided to leave the band and focus his attention on school. Lorin Hamilton filled in for a few months until Bryan Bradford AKA Bryan Blur joined on for most of the band's career.Ben sent a copy of "Dizzy" to Guitarist Nils Lofgren who grew up with Bens dad in Maryland. Nils was impressed with Radish and recommended them to Roger Greenawalt who was producing Lofgren's album at the time, "Damaged Goods". Greenawalt took Radish into a studio where they recorded a demo tape which was subsequently shopped around to record labels nationwide, After an unexpected bidding war, Radish eventually signed to Mercury Records to release the album Restraining Bolt. Radish made appearances on "The Weird Al Show", "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" and "Late Show with David Letterman", but despite the much-hyped signing, the band failed to strike big success. Radish earned a large cult following in England with their top 40 hit "Little Pink Stars". The band toured several times in Europe including opening slots for Faith No More and Main Stage at Reading Festival '97. Radish released two singles. In 1998 Radish became a quartet featuring Joe Butcher (Polyphonic Spree, UFOFU) on lead guitar and Debbie Williams on bass. Radish went to Muscle Shoals Studio in Alabama to record the follow-up to "Restraining Bolt", provisionally titled "Discount Fireworks". The band recorded with producer Bryce Goggin (Pavement, The Lemonheads). While mixing "Discount Fireworks" in NYC Kweller and Kent met bassist Josh Lattanzi who would become Radish's 5th and final bass player. As a result of Polygram's merger with Universal Music Group, the 18-song album was never released and Radish soon secured a release from their contract with Mercury Records.

olo career

At age 19, Ben Kweller moved to New York with his girlfriend Liz Smith, where he began his solo career. He played acoustic shows and self-released four EPs, comprising some of the unreleased Radish "Discount Fireworks" recordings and other songs recorded in his apartment on a laptop computer. It was one of these EPs, "Freak Out, It's Ben Kweller", that caught the attention of Evan Dando of The Lemonheads, and Dando invited Kweller out on tour with him, playing across America and Europe. Jeff Tweedy, Juliana Hatfield and Guster also began to notice Kweller and took him on tour with them

In 2001 Ben Kweller became ATO Records's first worldwide signing and released a 5-track EP entitled "EP Phone ,.Home". In March 2002, "Sha Sha", Kweller's first solo studio LP was released. "Sha Sha" included the very radio-friendly and popular single "Wasted & Ready". The album featured John Kent on drums, Josh Lattanzi on bass, and showcased a wide variety of sound from Quriky Pop to Folk to Punk [http://www.stanforddaily.com/article/2002/4/5/benKwellerFindsTheThingsHeLoves] . The album grew in popularity with a grassroots effort based on his website and a promotion group called teamBK, which promoted via word-of-mouth advertising. To support the release of the album and EP, he put together a live band, initially comprising Lattanzi on bass, Fred Eltringham on drums, and Mike Stroud on guitar and keyboards. Towards the end of the "Sha Sha" album cycle, the four-piece performed on PBS's Austin City Limits

In 2003, Kweller toured Australia with Ben Folds and Ben Lee as The Bens. [http://www.benkweller.com/isite/past3.html] The trio produced an eponymous four-song EP, with each member taking lead vocals on one song, and a final song in which they all contributed vocals. In an interview on October 14 2006 Ben hinted that The Bens may do another album. Later in 2003, Kweller provided lead vocals on the song "I Hope Tomorrow is Like Today" from Guster's album "Keep It Together". Kweller and Guster co-wrote the song after a late night jam at Gusters' Brooklyn studio. The song is prominently featured in the movie The Wedding Crashers.

"On My Way" (2004), Kweller's second LP, went in a new direction. The album, produced by Ethan Johns, was recorded 'live' - there were limited overdubs and no use of headphones. [http://www.stylusmagazine.com/reviews/ben-kweller/on-my-way.htm] After the release of On My Way, Kweller embarked on more touring, playing to his largest audiences ever, including a US tour co-headlining with Death Cab for Cutie [http://www.benkweller.com/isite/past4.html] . By this point, the lineup of his live band had changed to include John Kent on drums and Jason Roberts on guitar and keyboards, after Mike Stroud left to concentrate on his own band Ratatat and Fred Eltringham left to play drums in The Wallflowers.

In 2006 he recorded his third LP, "Ben Kweller" with producer Gil Norton [http://www.ziarecords.com/Item/8999930413] . Unlike the previous studio albums, Kweller played all the instruments on this record himself. [http://www.atorecords.com/?title=artists&aid=2&what=bio] Kweller continued to tour to support his self-titled album, and expanded his band into a five piece, which grew to include Dan Horne on bass, Mark Stepro on drums, Jay Barclay on guitar and organ, and Jason Roberts on lead guitar. Kweller continued to play guitar and piano on this tour, but it also gave him the opportunity to just sing on certain songs. The Canadian group, the Sam Roberts Band, and New York based Hymns (band), opened for Kweller. Roberts did double duty on this tour, playing guitar for Hymns, and keyboards, guitar and glockenspiel with Kweller.

His tie-in "Trio on the Train Track Tour" included a new live band comprising Chris Morrissey on bass, vocals & keyboard and Mark Stepro on drums, vocals, glockenspiel, percussion & "whatever else he feels like" during appearances in the United States. During the Australian leg of the tour, the band was comprised of Jay Barclay on guitar, keyboard & vocals, Dan Horne on bass & vocals, and Mark Stepro continuing his previous roles.

As part of his 2006 tour, Kweller played the Austin City Limits Music Festival, where he was plagued by severe nosebleed for the entirety of his set. After covering his guitar in blood, he attempted to stop the flow by inserting a travel-size tampon thrown onto the stage by a fan, which expanded painfully during a performance of "This Is War." After attempting to play "Falling" at the piano, which also became covered in blood, Kweller was forced to end the set early. [ [http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/09/17/093929.php Incident photo] at Blogcritics.org] [ [http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/11717282/the_10_best_shows_at_austin_city_limits_2006/2] Rolling Stone review ACL performance]

In the Spring of 2007, Kweller co-headlined with his label-mates Gomez. He continued through the summer with hisown string of headlining dates which eventually ended at ACL fest. This time no bloody nose, however, commemorative T-shirts were sold at the merch booth with fake blood stains that said "ACL 2007: The return of Ben Kweller".

Immediately following his performance at ACL, Kweller began recording his fourth full-length LP, "Changing Horses" in Austin, Texas on September 21, 2007. The album features the trio on the train track, and Pedal Steel/Dobro player Kitt Kitterman.In 2008, Kweller re-signed with ATO Records who will be releasing "Changing Horses" in early 2009. [http://www.benkweller.com]

Discography

Albums

*"Sha Sha," ver.1, 2000 (Homemade. Feat. Songs from the unreleased Radish album "Discount Fireworx". Scarce quantities known)
*"Freak Out, It's...," ver.1, 2001 (Homemade. Black & white artwork. Scarce quantities known.)
*"Freak Out, It's...," ver.2, 2001 (Professional packaging with shrink-wrap, color artwork. Roughly 1,500 known copies)
*"Sha Sha," ver.2, 2002
*"On My Way," 2004
*"Ben Kweller," 2006
*"Changing Horses," Due to be released in 2009

EPs

*"Melange", 1999 (Homemade. Very scarce quantities in circulation)
*"Bromeo", 2000 (Homemade. Very scarce quantities in circulation)
*"EP Phone Home", 2001 (Limited Edition 2,000)
*"BK", 2001 (UK version of EP Phone Home. Different songs. Limited Edition 1,500)
*"Sundress", 2006 (Limited Edition 2,500)
*"Live and Solo from the Artists Den", 2007 (Exclusive iTunes digital release.)
*How Ya Lookin' Southbound? Come In..., 2008 (Limited Edition 2,500)

ingles

*"Wasted & Ready", 2002
*"Commerce, TX", 2003
*"Falling", 2003
*"The Rules", 2004
*"Sundress", 2006
*"Penny On The Train Track", 2006

Other releases

*"" : Compilation track, 2001
* "This Bird Has Flown - A 40th Anniversary Tribute to the Beatles' Rubber Soul" : Wait
*"" : A cover compilation of hits from the 1950s : Lollipop
*"The Bens" with Ben Folds and Ben Lee
*Bright Eyes - "Four Winds" (2007 · Saddle Creek)
*

Appearances in popular culture

*New Jersey pop-punk band The Ergs! released "Ben Kweller EP" (2002). It includes a song called "Ben Kweller."
*Rapper Talib Kweli sampled Kweller's "In Other Words," without permission, for his song "Ms. Hill". In part 7 of Kweller's video podcast series "One Minute Pop Song," Kweller said he found Kweli's use of the song "a little ****** up" due to the fact that it was sampled without permission. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCX54oh0p2o Link to episode]
*The song "Sha Sha" appeared in A Guy Thing, starring Jason Lee, Selma Blair, and Julia Stiles.
*The song "The Rules" appears in trailer for the movie Choke.
*The song "Red Eye" is often used to close the [http://www.joystiq.com Joystiq] video-game podcast.
*The song 'Make It Up' is used in a Ray Ban sunglasses commercial.
*The songs "Penny on a Train Track" and "I Gotta Move" are used in the 2008 movie, "College".
*The song "Wicked Little Town" from Hedwig and the Angry Inch tribute album, 2003

References

Kweller is profiled in chapter 4 of "Nobrow", John Seabrook's 2000 study of pop culture, published by Vintage Books

External links

* [http://www.benkweller.com Official website]
* [http://www.maniatv.com/tv/backstagepass Live Performances and Interview on Maniatv.com]
* [http://woxy.lala.com/music/loungeacts/index.php?id=135 Ben Kweller live on WOXY.com, October 13, 2006]
* [http://www.xanthein.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk Comprehensive Radish and Ben Kweller discographies at "Xanthein Archive" fan site]
* [http://www.leftlion.co.uk/articles.cfm/id/1678 Interview with Jared Wilson of LeftLion Magazine]