Ben Kweller

Posted August 31, 200618 yr

About time I made a thread about him here :P he's been one of my fave artists for a while now and he's gonna come back soon with his third solo album ^_^ :wub: Here's a few bits and bobs from ~~Grand~~Wiki and some vids from You Tube :D :

Ben Kweller (born June 16, 1981) is a Jewish, American rock musician. Kweller is also the former lead singer of the 1990s band Radish.

Ben Kweller was originially the frontman for the band Radish, a group compared to Nirvana by Rolling Stone Magazine. The band's popularity grew in the Dallas, Texas music scene from its formation in 1993. However, the band was dismissed by critics as little more than an imitation of Nirvana with the novelty of an extremely young lead vocal-guitarist (Kweller was in his teens for the entire existence of the band). Nonetheless, Kweller and his two bandmates, bassist Bryan Blur and drummer John Kent, were signed to a major record label in 1995 by Mercury Records. Regardless of a much-hyped beginning, which included appearances on The Weird Al Show, Conan O'Brien and David Letterman, Radish failed to strike big success with either its first record Dizzy or its sophomore effort Restraining Bolt.

Kweller began his solo career with his first album Freak Out It's..Ben Kweller. Recorded using a basic pro-tools setup, the album attracted the attention from the likes of Evan Dando of The Lemonheads. Dando invited Kweller to perform on tour with him as the main support across America and Europe. In 2001 Ben Kweller signed to ATO Records, and released the EP Phone Home. Several months later in March of 2002 Sha Sha Kwellers first solo studio LPwas released. Sha Sha included the very radio-friendly and popular single 'Wasted & Ready'. The title track reconciles his past career efforts with Radish and the difficulty of finding an identity as a 20 year-old artist beginning a musical career for the second time. The record kept many of the familiar sounds of Nirvana, but also worked in other pop music influences such as Weezer and Ben Folds. The album grew in popularity with a grassroot effort with his website and a promotion group called TeamBK, which promoted word-of-mouth advertising.

In 2003, Kweller toured Australia with Ben Folds and Ben Lee as The Bens. The trio produced an eponymous EP.

2004 saw the release of On My Way. On My Way saw a whole new side of Kweller, the writing showed a more mature and subudued sound well beyond Kweller's 25 years. The album was recorded 'live' - there were limited overdubs and no use of headphones. After the release of On My Way, Kweller embarked on more touring playing to his largest audiences ever.

In September Ben Kweller will be releasing his third album, titled "Ben Kweller". His tour for the album will not be solo acoustic, but rather a 6 piece band complete with an organ.

Ben's first child (with wife Liz), Dorian Zev Kweller, was born on May 30th, 2006.

Videos

Wasted And Ready

[flash=450,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIkCpSyg5oY.swf

Commerce, TX

[flash=450,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aC4Ew-vd_w.swf

The Rules

[flash=450,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-aPn7YCo6E.swf

Thirteen (Performance Of A New Song)

[flash=450,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOmHPsD2dSo.swf

My Appartment (Live Performance)

[flash=450,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufdhSk-4l44.swf