OK, enough with the commercial announcement- back to Ben.

What’s that you say? You are not FAMILIAR with Ben Sollee?  We did introduce you to him a few blogs back.  You remember.  That cool cello player who rides to some towns via bicycle that used a bunch of Shure mics  to record his latest live album that you can now pick up which comes with 2 copies: one for you and one for your friend, which is super cool idea…(deeeep inhale)…yeah, that guy!

It was great to finally meet Ben as well as his band since our discussions had previously happened via email.  The record turned out great, I received a copy and then a week later, I noticed he was playing in Nashville.  We immediately got into discussions about the road and the antics the guy play on each other to keep things fun.  When someone has a leftover hotel room key, the have to try to pawn it off on someone else, who unknowingly accepts it and keeps the game going.  Once, a card made it into Alex’s (FOH Engineer) hands via a waitress.  I’m sure these guys will come up with other interesting ways to prank each other because isn’t that what life on the road is truly about ?   (RRRRRiiiiiiighht!)  Alex took me outside and introduced me Tammy, their recently acquired new ride who, since being named, has behaved and treated them very nicely.

Ben was asked to perform on the show last week and was a fitting closer for the evening.  Joined by band mate and friend Drummer Jordan Ellis, Ben commanded the stage singing through a KSM9 while Jordan complimented Ben’s unique cello stylings.  There were solo’s, dynamics, laughs, and most importantly standing ovations.  The crowd loved it and I was happy to be among them.  Please take the time to visit Ben’s site and find out more about this creative artist and all around interesting guy.