video: insight on Ben Sollee's bike tour

Ditch the Van Bike Tour - Chapter 2 from marty benson on Vimeo.

Ben Sollee Announces Tumblr for Bike Tour

follow his "Ditch the Van" tour HERE

Aug 20 - Long Beach, CA - {Open} ,- that's the name of the space, not "open date"
Aug 21 - Los Angeles, CA - Bootleg Theater
Aug 22 - Santa Monica, CA - Santa Monica Museum of Art
Aug 24 - Santa Barbara, CA - SoHo
Aug 25 - Salinas, CA - The Steinbeck Center
Aug 26 - Santa Cruz, CA - The Crepe Place
Aug 28 - San Francisco, CA - Rickshaw Warehouse
Sept 04 - Ft. Collins, CO - Tour De Fat
Sept 05 - Denver CO - The Oriental
Sept 08 - Baltimore MD - 2640
Sept 09 - Havre De Grace MD - Biller's Bikes
Sept 10 - Havre De Grace MD - Biller's Bikes
Sept 12 - Philadelphia, PA - Bike Philly
Sept 12 - Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda's
Sept 15 - Doylestown, PA - Puck Live
Sept 16 - Bethlehem, PA - Wild Flower Cafe
Sept 18 - Kempton, PA - Renewable Energy & Sustainable Living Fest
Sept 20 - Lancaster PA - Fair Trade Cafe @ FMU
Sept 21 - York, PA - The Depot
Sept 23 - Frederick, MD - Cafe Nola
Sept 24 - Bethesda, MD - Mansion at Strathmore
Sept 25 - Washington, DC - Edmund Burke School
Oct 07 - Richmond, KY - Eastern Kentucky University
Oct 08 - Frankfort KY - The Grand Theatre

Ben Sollee's bike tour II

info on his first bike tour can be found HERE

"It's not about trying to be 'green' - whatever that means these days - and saving the environment. It's about pace of life and re-localizing. I've spent nearly ten years on the road now and the expectations of the industry are enormous. When you get a call the night before to play late-night TV the next day on the other side of the country you do it. If there's a good money gig but it's 300 miles the other way, you do it. But not if you're on a bicycle. It's a beautiful limitation, because all the reasons you once thought of to avoid these small towns go out the window and the communities become really valuable to us."

Aug 18 - San Diego CA - Sushi Art
Aug 20 - Long Beach CA - {OPEN}
Aug 21 - Los Angeles CA - The Bootleg Theater
Aug 22 - Santa Monica CA - SMMoA - Tour da Arts
Aug 24 - Santa Barbara CA - SoHo
Aug 25 - Salinas CA - The Steinbeck Center
Aug 26 - Santa Cruz CA - The Crepe Place
Aug 28 - San Francisco CA - Rickshaw Warehouse
Sept 04 - Fort Collins - Tour De Fat
Sept 10 - Harve de Grace, MD - Biller's Bikes
Sept 12 - Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda's
Sept 15 - Doylestown PA - Puck Live
Sept 16 - Bethlehem PA - Wild Flower Cafe
Sept 18 - Kempton PA - Renewable Energy & Sustainable Living Festival
Sept 21 - York PA - The Depot
Sept 23 - Frederick MD - Cafe Nola
Sept 24 - Bethesda MD - Mansion at Strathmore
Sept 25 - Washington DC - Edmund Burke School
Oct 07 - Richmond KY - Eastern Kentucky University
Oct 08 - Frankfort KY - Grand Theatre

Ben Sollee - How to See the Sun Rise [mp3]

visit him on MYSPACE

record review: Ben Sollee & Daniel Martin Moore - Dear Companion

Some musicians are masters at feeding the soul. They tap into the sunniest parts of our childhoods and help us look toward the optimistically clean slate of the future. Teaming up with Daniel Martin Moore in a very appropriately named project, Ben Sollee has returned full force, armed with Georgia peaches and old barn tales.

His cello playing is more minimalist than ever before, and it makes for a much more endearing brand of music. Perhaps because this is not a solo project, Sollee has taken a break from crafting showy, elaborate songs and rather contributes to what is mostly a collection of beautiful slow-dance numbers. Dear Companion is like a much needed summer breeze: subtle, refreshing, and perfectly fragrant.

Let this duo take you to the grassy plains of Kentucky, far away from the stress of bills, school and the impending apocalypse.

3.5/5

Dear Companion - Something, Somewhere, Sometime [mp3]

Band of the Week: Ben Sollee

it slipped my mind to do this post yesterday, sorry guys.


Ben Sollee is a Kentucky based songwriter who plays cello and weaves beautiful songs with subjects ranging from the desperation for honesty in politics to personal accounts of love for his family. He is incredibly talented and gained much recognition last summer, mostly due to his spectacular cover of Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come”. Ben’s live shows are interesting and highly improvisational, and he keeps things fresh by reinventing his songs each time he takes the stage. His debut album Learning to Bend is a delight from start to finish, one of my all time favourites.

The soft-spoken Ben recently embarked on a 330 mile bike ride from Lexington to Bonnarroo (toting his cello around with him), playing small towns while trying to raise awareness for the charitable organization OXFAM America.


Ben Sollee - A Change is Gonna Come (Sam Cooke cover) [mp3]

Ben Sollee - Prettiest Tree on the Mountain [mp3]

visit Ben on MYSPACE

Pictures from the Ben Sollee show last Monday

I JUST finished folding laundry, organizing my room and vacuuming/dusting it. I feel very accomplished. I also found my camera cord which means you all get to enjoy these pictures










I didn't get a photo with Ben because my batteries died by the end of the show =( but here is something almost as good:

[click on it.]

Concert Review: Ben Sollee @ Cafe Du Nord 24 November 2008

(sorry I forgot my camera and SD card in Berkeley, will upload photos later, for now, you all can enjoy a picture of Dwayne)

Local Artist Goh Nakamura opened up for Ben Sollee last Monday night, starting off his funny set by singing about being hipless in a hipster world. With each song, he gained confidence and the audience’s approval, well articulated with laughter and applause. He has a soft tenor voice which is good but has much room for improvement. His lyrics were sharp and funny, using plenty of puns and explaining his disgust at one night in his life when he had gotten off of a busboy shift where he had earned 30 dollars only to come out to a 35 dollar parking ticket. “I essentially paid 5 dollars to work”, he told the audience. My favourite lyric by him however, was off of a song called “Red Balloons”: “boys chase girls who chase butterflies who chase red balloons who chase better skies”, sung in a heartfelt manner that showcased his range as an artist: he could easily fluctuate between being humourous and sincere. He thanked the audience, saying that this had been his best show ever; we enjoyed it too.
2.5/5

visit Goh on MYSPACE

Ben Sollee surprised me. I expected (and quite honestly, hoped) that he would accurately emulate the songs off of his record. I thought that the quality of his music didn’t really give him much leeway in experimentation with his live sound. I was wrong. Whereas he upped the tempo on almost every song, his voice for the most part was still slow, creating an excellent contrast (which paralleled the whole “I am going to use a cello to play non-classical music” thing). His voice was scratchier, deeper, and more organic live. He remarked that he was still getting used to a “cheering section”, still recovering from playing in the background of an orchestra. He was scattered when he tried to tell the audience stories, but this characteristic was very endearing on the twenty something. He explained that the dinosaur in the background (whom Goh referred to as Garfunkel before worrying “oh no, wait, maybe I am Garfunkel”) was named Dwayne, painted by the modern Kentucky based artist Phillip March Jones, who also designed the merchandise for Ben’s very first solo tour. He played a handful of new songs, including “Meet With a Bullhorn”, which moved me to tears. He told the audience that “I Can’t” took seven years to write, revealing how meticulous he can be. A poignant moment was when he explained what had inspired the song “Panning for Gold”: apparently, Ben has two grandparents who are affected with dementia, and their memory loss caused him to ponder memory and time, and how the new generations must keep the older generation’s memories alive for both of their sakes. He covered Fiona Apple and Jay-Z, remarking after the latter that it had seemed like a good idea at the time. He also sang part of “Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley, before falling off of his chair and creating an uproar of concern and laughter. That moment defined the show: while we all adored Ben, we were still able to laugh with him. He then covered a Prince song with Goh, which was cute. He also talked to us fans after the show ended. I had a bunch of questions lined up for him, which I unfortunately didn’t get to ask because it was getting late and I didn’t want to miss the last train back to Berkeley (for the record, I barely caught the very last train), but it didn’t matter because he wrote “Happy Birthday” on my copy of Learning to Bend after I told him that it had arrived on my birthday and made my day oh so much brighter.
3.75/5

visit Ben on MYSPACE

1. Try
2. How to See the Sun Rise
3. A Few Honest Words
4. Prettiest Tree on the Mountain
5. Meet with a Bullhorn/A Change is Gonna Come (Sam Cooke cover) [mp3 HIGHLY RECOMMENDED]
6. I Can’t
7. It’s Not Impossible
8. This is Only a Song
9. Extraordinary Machine (Fiona Apple cover) [mp3]
10. Panning for Gold
11. 99 Problems (Jay-Z cover) [mp3]
12. Bury Me with my Car/Crazy (Gnarls Barkley cover) [mp3]
13. When Doves Cry (Prince cover with Goh) [mp3]
14. Turn a light on

sorry for the crappy sound quality, I only had my mp3 player on me to record but it's not too bad, I've been listening to my own recordings =)

here is a proper mp3 off of his record:

Ben Sollee - How to See the Sun Rise [mp3]

Ben Sollee disses Kanye

wow, I knew I loved this guy.
he's put in song what millions of us have felt, especially with the whole Bonarroo fiasco.
Kanye needs to get his head out of his ass, immediately. He has been worshiped by the media for far too long, he's lost touch with reality.

anyhow, download the excellent track below and be sure to give Mr Sollee a visit on his MYSPACE

Ben Sollee - Dear Kanye [mp3]

Love these lyrics:

Greatness is a glass elevator, and so you are, if I recall
So use it make some real change not just advertisements at the mall

Dear Kanye
It’s time to let go
You’ve gathered the moss of
More than a dozen sullen stones
People want music on a real stage
Not the one you bring along

Ben Sollee - FANTASTIC undiscovered talent

I read about this guy on i guess i'm floating

do yourself a favour and check him out. the mp3 is fantastic, this guy has some serious talent. his voice is soulful and extravagant, in a good way.

visit him on MYSPACE for some more excellent tunes