At the age of 9 he took up the guitar and began to learn all the standard country and bluegrass tunes as well as other genres. Throughout his teens he spent countless hours learning to emulate the sounds of all the great Nashville session musicians such as Mark Casstevens, Brent Mason, Brent Rowan and many others. His love for bluegrass continued to grow with the influences of Sam Bush and Tony Rice, the Newgrass Revival and many other influential instrumentalists such as Bela Fleck and Jerry Douglas.
In college Ben played guitar in the school’s jazz band and began delving deeper into music theory. Learning an appreciation of the classical and jazz masters all the while continuing to challenge himself with the country and bluegrass sounds he had grown up playing. Along the way he picked up the banjo and the stand-up bass (even picking up the fiddle from time to time – although, admittedly, not enough to make a difference – only to influence some of his other instruments).
After getting his degree Ben traveled the country. Putting music on the back burner for awhile to get his bearings and decide which direction he wanted to go. Finally, at the urging of his college roommate – the decision was made to move to Chicago and check out the scene up there. After spending a couple of years doing lighting and scenic design he decided it was time to hit the music scene as hard as he could.
Ben can currently be seen travelling with the Chicago based bluegrass band
The Henhouse
Prowlers. The group performs upwards of 200 - 250 shows a year
playing traditional bluegrass at festivals and clubs throughout the country.
The band recently added their talents to the PBS series 'The
Ride Of Our Lives' which features Ben's original song 'Newsome
Ridge' as the opening credits theme. The band is currently in the studio preparing
to release a new album in 2008.