Ben Kweller | |
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 Kweller performing on tour 2023 | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as | BK |
| Born | Benjamin Lev Kweller (1981-06-16)June 16, 1981 (age 44) San Francisco, California |
| Origin | Greenville, Texas |
| Genres | Indie rock,indie folk,country rock,power pop |
| Occupations | Singer-songwriter, recording artist, record producer |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar, bass, piano, harmonica, drums |
| Years active | 1993–present |
| Labels | ATO,RCA, Practice Amp, Noise Company,679,MapleMusic Recordings (Canada) |
| Formerly of | Radish,The Bens |
| Website | benkweller |
Benjamin Lev Kweller (born June 16, 1981)[1] is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist.
A former member ofRadish, Kweller has released seven solo albums and appeared on several collaborations.
Ben Kweller was born in San Francisco in 1981. In 1982, his family relocated toEmory, Texas, where his father, Howard Kweller, became the town's first doctor. In 1986, the Kwellers moved to the larger Texas town ofGreenville.[2]
Kweller was exposed to music at a very early age. Howard taught Ben how to play the drums when he was seven years old. For the next year, they would play together almost every night after Howard got home from work. Howard sang and played guitar, while Ben played the drums. The duo played songs byThe Beatles,The Hollies,Jimi Hendrix, and other artists of the 1960s. Howard is also a longtime friend ofNils Lofgren, a neighbor of his.[3] Kweller has mentioned in interviews that meeting Lofgren greatly helped his exposure to music. When Kweller turned eight, someone showed him how to play"Heart and Soul" on the piano, and the youngster immediately began to create his own songs using the same chords. By the time he was nine, he had a dozen original compositions under his belt and had entered a songwriting contest sponsored byBillboard magazine, where he won an honorable mention.[4]
In 1993, Kweller became friends with a local musician, drummer John Kent, and formed the bandRadish with bassist Ryan Green. The trio played locally in and aroundGreenville and recorded two independent releases,Hello (1994) andDizzy (1995), with Martin Baird at Verge Music Works recording studio in Dallas, Texas. Around the time of the release ofDizzy, Green left Radish to focus his attention on school. Lauren Hamilton stood in for Green for a few months until Bryan Bradford, also known as Bryan Blur, joined on for most of the band's career.
Kweller sent a copy ofDizzy to guitaristNils Lofgren, who grew up with Kweller's father in Maryland. Lofgren was impressed with Radish and recommended them toRoger Greenawalt, who was producing Lofgren's albumDamaged Goods at the time. Greenawalt took Radish to a studio to record a demo tape, which was subsequently sent to record labels nationwide. After an unexpected bidding war forDizzy, Radish signed toMercury Records to release the full-lengthRestraining Bolt.
Radish made appearances onThe Weird Al Show,Late Night with Conan O'Brien andLate Show with David Letterman, but despite a much-hyped signing, the band failed to strike success. Radish earned a cult following in the United Kingdom with its top-40 hit "Little Pink Stars." The band went on multiple European tours, including opening slots forFaith No More and Main Stage atReading Festival in 1997. Radish released two singles.
In 1998, Radish became a quartet; it featured Joe Butcher ofthe Polyphonic Spree and UFOFU on lead guitar and Debbie Williams on bass. Radish went toMuscle Shoals Studio inAlabama to record the follow-up toRestraining Bolt, provisionally titledDiscount Fireworks. The band recorded with producerBryce Goggin (Pavement,The Lemonheads). While masteringDiscount Fireworks inNew York City, Kweller and Kent met bassist Josh Lattanzi, who would become Radish's fifth and final bass player. As a result ofPolyGram's merger withUniversal Music Group, the 18-song album was never released, and Radish secured a release from their contract with Mercury Records.
At age 19, Kweller moved with his girlfriend, Liz Smith, to New York, where he began his solo career. He played solo acoustic shows and self-released fourEPs, comprising some of the unreleased RadishDiscount Fireworx recordings and other songs recorded in his apartment on a laptop computer. It was one of these EPs,Freak Out, It's Ben Kweller, that caught the attention ofEvan Dando ofThe Lemonheads. Dando invited Kweller on tour with him.Jeff Tweedy,Juliana Hatfield andGuster also noticed Kweller and took him on tour with them.
In 2001, Ben Kweller becameATO Records' first worldwide signing and released a 5-trackEP entitledEP Phone Home. In March 2002,Sha Sha, Kweller's first solo studio LP, was released.Sha Sha included the radio-friendly and popular single "Wasted & Ready", which reached #29 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart. The album featured John Kent on drums and Josh Lattanzi on bass, and showcased a wide variety of sound from quirky pop, tofolk, topunk.[5] The album grew in popularity with a grassroots effort based on his website and a promotion group called teamBK, which promoted via word-of-mouth advertising. To support the release of the album and EP, he put together a live band, initially composed of Lattanzi on bass, Fred Eltringham on drums, and Mike Stroud on guitar and keyboards. Towards the end of theSha Sha album cycle, the four-piece performed onPBS'sAustin City Limits.
In 2003, Kweller toured Australia withBen Folds andBen Lee asThe Bens.[6] The trio produced an eponymous four-song EP, with each member taking lead vocals on one song, and a final song in which they all contributed vocals. In an interview on October 14, 2006, Ben hinted that The Bens may do another album.
Late in 2003, Kweller provided lead vocals on the song "I Hope Tomorrow is Like Today" from Guster's albumKeep It Together. Kweller and Guster co-wrote the song after a late night jam at Guster'sBrooklyn studio. The song is prominently featured in the movieWedding Crashers.
Kweller's second LP,On My Way, took a new musical direction. The album, produced byEthan Johns, was recorded mostly live, with limited overdubs and no use of headphones.[7] After the release ofOn My Way, Kweller embarked on more touring. On these tours, Kweller played for his largest audiences ever, including a US tour co-headlining withDeath Cab for Cutie.[8] By this point, the lineup of his live band had changed to include John Kent on drums andJason Roberts on guitar and keyboards, after Mike Stroud left to concentrate on his own bandRatatat and Fred Eltringham left to play drums inThe Wallflowers.
In 2006, he recorded his third LP,Ben Kweller with producerGil Norton.[9] Unlike the previous studio albums, Kweller played all theinstruments on this record himself.[10] Kweller continued to tour to support his self-titled album, and expanded his band into a five-piece, which grew to include Dan Horne on bass, Mark Stepro on drums, Jay Barclay on guitar and organ and Jason Roberts on lead guitar. Kweller continued to play guitar and piano on this tour, but it also gave him the opportunity to just sing on certain songs. The Montreal groupSam Roberts Band, and New York basedHymns, opened for Kweller.
His tie-in 'Trio on the Train Track Tour' included a new live band comprisingChris Morrissey on bass, vocals & keyboard and Mark Stepro on drums, vocals,glockenspiel, percussion & "whatever else he feels like" during appearances in the United States. During the Australian leg of the tour, the band was composed of Jay Barclay on guitar, keyboard & vocals, Dan Horne on bass & vocals, and Mark Stepro continuing his previous roles.
Changing Horses is Ben Kweller's fourth official studio album, which was expected for release in September 2008 but was pushed to February 2, 2009, in Europe and February 3, 2009, in the United States throughATO Records. Kweller has described the new album as being morecountry in style than his previous releases. The album features his rhythm section Chris Morrissey (bass) and Mark Stepro (drums). It also debuts the talents of Ben Kitterman, who playedpedal steel guitar andDobro.[11] On November 23, 2008, the full album was leaked to the Internet. In a statement,ATO Records said the leak was not the final version of the album. The song "Hurtin' You" debuted onStereogum, and the whole album was made available to stream exclusively onLast.fm.
In April 2009, Ben Kweller appeared at Australian festivals such asChill City,East Coast Blues & Roots Music Festival andWest Coast Blues & Roots Festival.
Kweller's fifth studio album,Go Fly a Kite, was his first release produced solely by his own record label,The Noise Company. In earlier interviews, Kweller had stated that it would be released as early as March or April 2011.[12] However, a conversation with the manager ofThe Noise Company revealed that it was now set to come out either late January or early February 2012. The delay in release is a result of Kweller's parting ways with his former record label,ATO Records. This was confirmed by Kweller himself, onstage at Stubbs in Austin, Texas, on April 16, 2011. More recently, Kweller posted on his Twitter account that "Kite's" released date will be February 12, 2012. This was followed by a tweet saying that it will be available for pre-order in October. Kweller's album was released a few days earlier than expected on iTunes on February 7, 2012.
Ben Kweller's sixth studio album,Circuit Boredom, likely started its production in 2018 and culminated with the album's global release on December 17, 2021.
On June 23, 2018, Kweller announced via hisInstagram page that he would be releasing a new album soon.
On January 22, 2019, Kweller announced his return to music after he and his family had a near-death experience aftercarbon monoxide poisoning during a vacation in New Mexico. The new album,Circuit Boredom, co-produced by Dwight A Baker, was released over the course of a year via multiple singles. Its first single, "Heart Attack Kid", was released on February 8, 2019.[13]
Kweller's music video forHeart Attack Kid, was made in collaboration with Robert Strange of Superorganism and released on February 19, 2019.[14]
Other singles include "Just For Kids", "Only A Day", and "Starz". The official street date forCircuit Boredom was Friday, December 17, 2021, when it was released to all DSP's worldwide. The Noise Company (record label) has said the album is a priority of theirs in 2022, starting with a radio campaign for the single "American Cigarettes" in early 2022. Limited edition vinyl was made available on Kweller's website.
Kweller released his seventh studio album,Cover the Mirrors, on May 30, 2025, via the Noise Company.[15]
Kweller played the 2003Austin City Limits Music Festival at the conclusion of his tour, where he playedSha Sha in its entirety.
He returned to theAustin City Limits in 2004 when he performed on the Bank of America stage.
As part of his 2006 tour, Kweller played theAustin City Limits, where he was plagued by a severe nosebleed for the entirety of his set. After covering his guitar in blood, he attempted to stop the flow by inserting a travel-size tampon thrown onto the stage by a fan, which expanded painfully during a performance of "This Is War". After attempting to play "Falling" at a piano which he also covered in blood, Kweller was forced to end the set early.[16][17][18]
In spring of 2007, Kweller co-headlined with his label-matesGomez. He continued through the summer with his own string of headlining dates which eventually ended at ACL fest. This time, he did not get a bloody nose; however, commemorative T-shirts were sold at the merchandise booth with fake blood stains that said "ACL 2007: The return of Ben Kweller".
Immediately following his performance at ACL, Kweller began recording his fourth full-length LP, a country record titledChanging Horses in Austin, Texas on September 21, 2007.
Kweller made his acting debut inWilliam H. Macy'sRudderless; filming began in April 2013.[19]
Ben married his longtime love Liz in 2003[20] (she inspired the song "Lizzy" from 2002'sSha Sha). They had two sons, Dorian and Judah.
On February 28, 2023, it was announced that Kweller's 16-year-old son Dorian had died in a car crash.[21][22][23]
Independent Music Awards 2013:Go Fly A Kite – Best Rock/Hard Rock Album[24]
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