
Ben Folds
Ben Folds can be booked through this site. Ben Folds entertainment booking site. Ben Folds
is available for public concerts and events. Ben Folds can be booked for
private events and Ben Folds can be booked for corporate events and
meetings through this Ben Folds booking page.
Unlike most middle agents that would mark
up the performance or appearance fee for Ben Folds, we act as YOUR agent in
securing Ben Folds at the best possible price. We go over the rider for
Ben Folds and work directly with Ben Folds or the responsible agent for
Ben Folds to secure the talent for your event. We become YOUR agent,
representing YOU, the buyer.
In fact, in most cases we can negotiate for
the acquisition of Ben Folds for international dates and newer promoters
providing you meet professional requirements.
Ben Folds Biography
Singer/pianist Ben Folds (born September 12, 1966, in
Winston-Salem, NC) is best known as the leader of the power pop trio
Ben Folds Five, but has also struck out on his own as a solo artist.
Despite playing in bands in high school, his musical career didn't
really get off the ground until the late '80s, as a bassist for Majosha
(the outfit issued such obscure releases as Party Night: Five Songs
About Jesus and Shut Up and Listen to Majosha). Proving his
multi-instrumental talents, Folds also played drums as a session
musician in Nashville. After relocating to New York, Folds started
acting again (he'd done some theater in high school previously) and
signed a publishing deal with Sony Music.
Moving back to North Carolina, Folds in 1994 formed Ben Folds Five, a
trio that also included bassist Robert Sledge and drummer Darren
Jessee. Whereas most alternative bands of the '90s specialized in
distorted teen-angst rock, the guitarless trio was a refreshing break
from the norm, their sound akin to such past power popsters as Todd
Rundgren, Jellyfish, early Joe Jackson, and such piano-driven artists
as Billy Joel and early Elton John. But like punk bands, Ben Folds Five
put on a high-energy, blistering live show. The band was signed to the
independent Caroline Records shortly afterward, resulting in their
self-titled debut one year later. Due to airings of their humorous
anthem Underground (which poked fun at the politics of the
punk/alternative scene) on MTV's 120 Minutes) and constant touring,
quite a buzz was stirring for the band by the time of their second
album.
Released in 1997, Whatever and Ever Amen was pure pop perfection --
easily one of the year's best releases and perhaps the best power pop
release of the '90s. The band's songwriting and sound had improved even
further, as evidenced by such gems as One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn
Faces, Fair, Kate, and Battle of Who Could Care Less, plus their
whimsical tribute to breakups, Song for the Dumped. But it was the
ballad Brick that broke the band commercially -- unlike the majority
of their material, which was upbeat, the song contained melancholic
music and vocals, as the lyrics told the story of a teenage couple who
decides to get an abortion (it has been speculated that the tale was
autobiographical for Folds). The single didn't hit until several months
after the album was released, which meant that the band stayed on the
road for well over a year, playing with such notables as Dave Matthews,
Beck, and as part of the 1997 H.O.R.D.E. festival -- earning Whatever
platinum status.
While 1998 didn't see a new studio album by the band, BF5's former
label issued a 16-track rarities collection (Naked Baby Photos), as
Folds released his first solo album, Volume 1, under the pseudonym Fear
of Pop. Although the album went largely unnoticed, it included the song
In Love, which included overly dramatic vocals from none other than
Captain Kirk himself, William Shatner (comparable in approach to
Shatner's must-hear 1968 album, The Transformed Man) and which was
performed on The Conan O'Brien Show shortly after the album's release.
Ben Folds Five regrouped with 1999's The Unauthorized Biography of
Reinhold Messner, which was a more mature work than its predecessors,
although the energetic lead-off single, Army, showed that Folds'
humorous approach hadn't dulled at all. Folds officially went solo
again in 2001 with Rockin' the Suburbs. A series of EPs followed, with
the new long-player Songs for Silverman dropping in 2005. He released
Supersunnyspeedgraphic: The LP the following year. ~ Greg Prato, All
Music Guide
Written by Greg Prato