Ben Bridwell | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Benjamin Bridwell |
Born | April 25, 1978 |
Origin | Irmo, South Carolina |
Genres | Indie rock, alternative country, Southern rock |
Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter, musician |
Instrument(s) | Vocals, guitar, bass guitar |
Years active | 2001–present |
Labels |
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Website | www |
Benjamin Bridwell (born April 25, 1978) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer and musician. He is best known as the lead singer and only continuous member of the American rock band Band of Horses, as well as a former member of the band Carissa's Wierd.
Bridwell was born on April 25, 1978 [1] and grew up in Irmo, South Carolina. [2] He left home at age 16 and moved to Tucson, Arizona to live with his mother. [3]
While living in Tucson, Bridwell worked with Mat Brooke and Jenn Champion, selling pizza. In 1997 the three moved to Olympia, Washington, but soon relocated to Seattle, where all three worked in a bar. Bridwell founded a record label, Brown Records, while Brooke and Champion formed the band Carissa's Wierd. [4] Bridwell later received some basic drumming tuition from Brooke [2] and subsequently replaced Carissa's Wierd drummer Robin Peringer, who left to play guitar on tour with Modest Mouse. [5] Bridwell later moved on to bass guitar.
Brown Records released the first two Carissa's Wierd albums, but Bridwell eventually gave up running the label and Carissa's Wierd released their third album on Sad Robot records, before splitting up in 2003. [4] The band reformed for a few shows in 2010 and 2011, but Bridwell took no part in that reunion.
Following the split of Carissa's Wierd, Brooke helped Bridwell learn to play guitar and he also began writing songs. He formed the band 'Horses' which soon had to change its name to Band of Horses, following the discovery that a long defunct band called Horses (featuring actor Don Johnson) were issuing re-releases. [2] Band of Horses were briefly a trio featuring Bridwell (vocals and guitar), Tim Meinig (drums) and Chris Early (bass), but former Carissa's Wierd leader Mat Brooke (guitar and vocals) was added to the line up and the quartet released their debut album Everything All the Time in March 2006. In response to Bridwell's success, Brooke said, " I kind of feel bad, maybe Carissa's Wierd was holding him back, all this time...(I am) extremely proud. He took the ball and ran with it. At a time when we were all down he picked himself up, higher than anyone thought he could. It's kind of like seeing your kid brother blossom." [2]
Brooke, Early and Meinig quit soon after Everything All the Time was released, but Bridwell recruited new musicians and the band's popularity continued to grow. Their second album, Cease to Begin was released in October 2007. It was recorded by the core trio of Bridwell, Creighton Barrett (drums) and Rob Hampton (guitar and bass), with keyboards by Ryan Monroe.
Band of Horses third album, Infinite Arms was released on May 18, 2010, and was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Alternative Album category. [6] For Infinite Arms the band became a five-piece featuring Bridwell, Barrett, Monroe, Tyler Ramsey (guitar) and Bill Reynolds (bass). That line up has also recorded the band's 4th album, Mirage Rock , which was released on September 18, 2012. [7]
Bridwell contributed the track "Your Love Is Forever" a George Harrison cover, to the album Sweetheart a compilation album released by Starbucks Entertainment on January 30, 2010. [8] He duetted with Courtney Jaye on a cover version of The Jesus and Mary Chain track "Sometimes Always" on her 2010 album, The Exotic Sounds of Courtney Jaye. [9] Bridwell also appears on "Starting Over", a track on the Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' album The Heist [10] and on the tracks "Opposite" and "Accident Without Emergency" on the Biffy Clyro album Opposites . [11] He also collaborated with Iron & Wine on a cover album called Sing into My Mouth , which was released on July 17, 2015. [12] In 2017 Bridwell contributed two tracks ("Unlikely Force" and "Tara") to the super-group project BNQT's first album, Volume 1 released April 28.
Band of Horses third album, Infinite Arms , was released on Bridwell's previously defunct Brown Records label (along with Columbia and Fat Possum). Bridwell explained his original intentions for his label, "I really started it with the idea of it being a stepping stone. I would press a thousand CDs, we'd get 'em in stores...get in a local independent radio station and the band would have something to sell at shows and then hopefully a real label would pick it up. It got a lot busier than I ever imagined...in the end it just went out of control...I never expected it to be a real label. I'm re-pressing thousands and... 'Shit, I'm...gonna have to do this correctly, people's livelihoods (are) resting in my hands.'...I ended up cracking under the pressure, especially just getting those bands on a real label...That's always been my calling, spreading the bands I liked that people hadn't heard." With reference to the label's relaunch he added, "Now I've just heard that call again...a lot of artists are unheard that I think I can try to help with." [13]
Bridwell married Elizabeth Rae McCann on April 4, 2009. They have four daughters, Annabelle, who was born in 2008 [14] Ivy, who was born in November 2010, Birdie who was born in September 2014 and Georgia who was born in 2015.
Biffy Clyro are a Scottish rock band that formed in Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire, composed of Simon Neil and twin brothers James and Ben Johnston. Currently signed to 14th Floor Records, they have released nine studio albums, six of which reached the top five in the UK Albums Chart. Three consecutive studio albums peaked at number one in the UK official albums chart. After their first three albums, the band expanded their following significantly in 2007 with the release of their fourth album Puzzle, which peaked at No. 2 on the UK Albums Chart and later went platinum in the UK in 2012.
"The Great Salt Lake" is the second single taken from Band of Horses' debut album Everything All the Time, which was released on March 21, 2006.
Band of Horses is an American rock band formed in 2004 in Seattle, Washington. Led by singer-songwriter Ben Bridwell, who has been the band's sole constant member throughout numerous line-up changes, the band's current line-up also includes longtime members Creighton Barrett (drums) and Ryan Monroe, alongside Matt Gentling and Brett Nash.
Everything All the Time is the debut album of indie rock band Band of Horses and was released on March 21, 2006, on Sub Pop Records. It features new versions of five of the six songs from the band's Tour EP, some with different titles. The album is the only one to feature original band members Mat Brooke, Chris Early and Tim Meinig.
Sera Cahoone is an American singer-songwriter from Seattle, Washington. Cahoone's music combines elements of classic country-western and modern indie rock and lo-fi music. She is also a drummer, most notably having played drums for the bands Carissa's Wierd and Band of Horses.
Carissa's Wierd was an American indie rock band based in Seattle that formed in 1995 and disbanded in late 2003. Their sound has been described as "chamber rock". The band deliberately misspelled the word "Weird" in their name.
Puzzle is the fourth studio album by Scottish rock band Biffy Clyro, released 4 June 2007 – the album was later released in America in August. It is the band's first album since leaving Beggars Banquet.
Simon Alexander Neil is a Scottish vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter. He is known for his work in the bands Biffy Clyro, Marmaduke Duke, and also Empire State Bastard, with Mike Vennart.
Grand Archives was an American indie rock band that formed in Seattle. They were originally called Archives and are led by singer-songwriter Mat Brooke, formerly of Carissa's Wierd and Band of Horses.
"The Funeral" is a song by the American rock band Band of Horses, taken from their debut studio album, Everything All the Time (2006). The alternative rock song was written by the band members. The song was released as the debut single from the band and lead single from the album. A live version of the song appeared earlier on the band's self-titled EP, under the original name "Billion Day Funeral".
Cease to Begin is the second album by Band of Horses, released on October 9, 2007. This album solidified the band's sound and was a critical and commercial success, peaking at number 35 on the US Billboard 200 chart. The singles "Is There a Ghost" and "No One's Gonna Love You" appear on the album.
Tyler Ramsey is an American singer-songwriter from Asheville, North Carolina, who is best known as the former lead guitarist for the band Band of Horses.
Only Revolutions is the fifth studio album by Scottish alternative rock band Biffy Clyro, released 9 November 2009 on 14th Floor Records. As with its predecessor, Puzzle, the album was produced by Garth Richardson. Upon release, Only Revolutions was a critical and commercial success. The album entered at No. 8 on the UK Album Chart and was then certified gold by the BPI shortly afterwards. It was certified platinum by the BPI in June 2010 for shipments of 300,000 copies in the UK, making it the band's largest selling album. In September 2010, the album achieved a new peak position of No. 3. It was the 26th biggest selling album of 2010 in the UK with sales of 377,900. It was nominated for the 2010 Mercury Prize, which is awarded annually for the best album in the UK or Ireland, and Rock Sound declared it third in its list of the 75 best albums of 2009.
Infinite Arms is the third album by indie rock band Band of Horses, released on May 18, 2010, on Brown Records, Fat Possum Records and Columbia. Most of the album was recorded in Asheville, North Carolina with some overdubbing done in Los Angeles. The album was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Alternative Album category.
Jenn Champion, formerly known as Jenn Ghetto, is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist who performs under the name S. She was a member of the now defunct band Carissa's Wierd.
Mathew Etter Brooke is an American musician, best known as the lead singer of American rock band Grand Archives and a former member of the bands Band of Horses and Carissa's Wierd.
"Laredo" is the second single taken from Band of Horses' third album Infinite Arms, which was released on April 13, 2010. The song peaked #34 on the US Alternative Songs chart and #41 on the US Rock Songs chart, making it the band's third most successful single after "Casual Party" and "Is There a Ghost".
"Dilly" is the fourth single taken from Band of Horses' third album Infinite Arms. The song peaked #93 on the Belgian Singles chart.
Opposites is the sixth studio album by Scottish alternative rock band Biffy Clyro, which was released on 28 January 2013. A double album, Opposites was originally announced as a pair of albums, The Land at the End of Our Toes and The Sand at the Core of Our Bones, which later became the names of the individual discs of the album. The album features 20 songs across two discs. There is also a single disc version with 14 selected tracks. As of July 2016, the album has sold 260,720 copies in the UK.
Ellipsis is the seventh studio album by Scottish alternative rock band Biffy Clyro. It was produced by Rich Costey and released on 8 July 2016. Ellipsis entered the UK charts at number one, making it Biffy Clyro's second number one album, after 2013's Opposites.