Information AboutBen Folds |
Benjamin Scott Folds (born September 12 , 1966 ), more commonly known as '''Ben Folds''', is an American Singer-songwriter best known as the former frontman of the musical group Ben Folds Five . He is widely acclaimed for his prowess as a pianist, performer and Multi-instrumentalist . EARLY LIFE AND MUSICAL BEGINNINGS Ben Folds was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina to middle-class parents. Due to his father's work as a builder, he moved frequently throughout his childhood. Due to these circumstances, making friends was difficult. As a result, Folds became attached to a piano his father had brought home when he was 9. The piano was payment to his father because the person his father was working for couldn't afford to pay in cash. During this time, Folds listened to songs by Elton John on AM radio, and imitated them by trial and error. During high school, Ben Folds played in several bands as the pianist, bassist, or drummer. In the late 1980s, Folds was the bassist for the band ''. The band broke up, but Folds eventually got a publishing deal and moved to Nashville to pursue it. Things didn't work out and Ben moved to New York where he began to act in theater troupes. He also played weekly gigs at Sin-é , famous for being the cafe which had helped start Jeff Buckley 's career. It was there where and I was talking to Steve, his A&R guy, and somehow we knew the same people or something. So I ended up moving back to North Carolina, got a band together, played our first gig after a month, and then after another couple months we signed to Caroline Records. Our first record was out eight months after that.” BEN FOLDS FIVE Folds is best known as the frontman and pianist of the former band Ben Folds Five and as a solo artist. Folds' compositional and playing technique remain wholly unique, combining elements of the typical "singer/songwriter" genre, jazz and power rock. Indeed, his music is evocative of artists such as Joe Jackson and Sir Elton John , with an added edge and bold infusion of energy and wit. Although his music is not easily identified as belonging to any one distinctive genre, the term Piano Rock is often used to describe his unique style. At a concert in Collingswood, NJ on April 26th 2006, Ben told the crowd of how he had been a drummer at Florida State University on a scholarship and, after throwing his drums in the water, lost his scholarship. Later he tells of how attended UNC and was tested into a beginners piano class due to the fact that he could not read sheet music. After a few weeks of goofing around in the class his teacher eventually figured it was Ben who was playing full songs in the middle of class on his keyboard. After class that day his teacher spoke to him and asked Ben to play a little for him. After playing a song or two, and harmonizing another the professor told him that he was awarded a scholarship. "I can give them, and you just got one" Ben is quoted in telling his story to the audience about his new scholarship at UNC. In 1995, Ben Folds Five released their self-titled Debut Album (songs included "Philosophy" and "Underground"). The debut was followed by '' Whatever And Ever Amen '' in 1997. This album spawned many hits, such as " Brick ", "Song for the Dumped", and "Battle of Who Could Care Less". In 1999 the band released its final album – '' The Unauthorized Biography Of Reinhold Messner '' – which included the hit "Army". It's worth noting that popular, piano-centric artists such as the trio Keane and solo artist Matt Hales , a.k.a. Aqualung, began their rise to popularity after Ben Folds' three-member band, Ben Folds Five , broke up in 2000 . Folds has described his former band as "punk rock for sissies," and his oddball lyrics often contain nuances of depression, melancholy and self-conflict. SOLO CAREER As of 2005 , Ben Folds has released four solo LPs, including an experimental side project called Fear Of Pop which was released while Ben Folds Five was still together. His first solo release after the breakup of the band was Rockin' The Suburbs in 2001 on which he played nearly all the instruments, notably guitar, an instrument frowned upon during the Ben Folds Five days. A year later, in 2002, he released Ben Folds Live , a collection of live solo recordings. In late 2003, two solo EPs, Speed Graphic and Sunny 16, were released, and with a third entitled Super D released in mid-2004. His most recent solo album, Songs For Silverman , was released in the United States on April 26 , 2005 . The album featured Jared Reynolds on bass and Lindsay Jamieson on the drums, thus returning to the trio format in earnest. This album includes the track "Late", a tribute to the late singer-songwriter Elliott Smith , and also features "Weird Al" Yankovic on "Time". (Folds had played piano for Yankovic's song "Why Does This Always Happen to Me?"). Folds has also supplied to William Shatner 's album, Has Been, as a producer, arranger, and backup vocalist. Touring On a tour of Australia, Folds joined up with solo artists Ben Kweller and Ben Lee to travel the country together as The Bens , at the suggestion of a fan on Ben Kweller's official Web site. The trio also went on to record a Four-track EP together. In the summer 2004, Folds co-headlined an American tour with fellow rockers Rufus Wainwright and Guster . Folds again performed with Wainwright and Lee in summer 2005 as part of the "Odd Men Out" tour. In addition, Folds has performed with many other famous musical names, including Weezer . Ben also has shown the intricacy behind his original sound by performing with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra (WASO) , in March 2005, and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) , in November 2005. A DVD of Folds playing with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra was released in December 2005. Crowd Involvement Folds' tours are renowned for his solo act as "Ben Folds and a piano", where he often involves the audience by having them "play" the accompanying instruments (for example, humming the trumpet and saxophone harmonies in "Army") and singing choral backing vocals on "Not the Same". His concerts are charismatic yet calm - an enjoyable experience for most. And although Folds is constantly putting out new songs, his concerts rarely omit classic fan favorites such as "Philosophy", "One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces", and "Army." One particular crowd favorite is the improvisational " Rock This Bitch ", in which Folds takes requests of musical styles and adapts the lyrics and format to suit. During one particular concert, Folds claimed to have done 50 versions of this song. Among the variations have been polka, Freebird -style (heard on the fan recording "Live At Foellinger Auditorium"), orchestrally with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra (recorded on "Live in Perth" DVD/CD), and a " Weather Channel music" variant in which he insisted he was "not" going to "rock this bitch". Also, at a concert in Milwaukee on March 12 , 2006 he declined to "rock this bitch" and instead played a humorously vulgar improvisation of Billy Joel 's song "Piano Man". Folds once created rumors for his crowd to spread at a concert. One rumor involved Folds supposedly levitating on stage. The concertgoers all posted similar rumors online, and many believed the events occurred. Another involved Folds having his picture taken autographing a fan's Thong . Later Folds registered a user account on www.BenFolds.org, a fan-created unofficial site where he arranged an AOL Instant Message chatroom meeting, using the screenname "zloo" to clear up the rumors. At a Muncie, IN concert in April of 2006 Ben Folds started the rumor mill once again when he told fans in attendance to spread rumors about him lip-syncing the song "Kate", among others. Fans happily obliged and began posting on internet message boards that in the midst of Folds's performance of "Kate", the song skipped and stopped, and Ben Folds jumped away from his piano "pretending" to dance with the music. The rumor continues that the crowd was infuriated and booed him off-stage. Finally, it was said that his opening act, Chris Mills, continued the show by playing several Hank Williams covers. PERSONAL LIFE Currently Ben resides in Nashville, Tennessee, with his wife, photographer Frally Hynes , and their two fraternal twin children, Louis and Gracie. The family also spends a few months each year in his wife Frally’s hometown of Adelaide, South Australia. He is currently touring such countries as the United States, Australia, and Japan and with drummer Lindsay Jamieson and bassist Jared Reynolds. FEATURED IN MOTION PICTURES AND TELEVISION Folds also provided a number of songs for film soundtracks. Some of these include "Lonely Christmas Eve" for the ''. On April 10, 2006, the Ben Folds song "The Luckiest" was played at the end of an episode of Everwood (TV Series) . On April 11, 2006, the Ben Folds song "Still Fighting It" was played during the episode of Scrubs (TV Series) entitled "My New Suit". Ben Folds is also one of lead preformers on 2006's film Over The Hedge . On April 23, 2006, Ben Folds preformed "All You Can Eat" on The Henry Rollins Show on IFC . TRIVIA
DISCOGRAPHY Ben Folds Five
Ben Folds Solo
Solo EPs
Singles
DVDs
SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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