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Ryan Lerman

Darren Jessee, Ryan Lerman projects

There’s fresh action from a couple of Ben’s former sidemen, original Ben Folds Five drummer Darren Jessee and guitarist Ryan Lerman, who toured and performed with Ben in the post-BFF days.

Darren has announced that he’ll be at one of the first venues where Ben Folds Five performed, the Cat’s Cradle in Carrboro, N.C., on November 19. He’s opening for  Rose City Band, actually solo country rocker Ripley Johnson from Portland, Oregon. Darren’s picked up a few outstanding North Carolina musicians, has promised new music coming soon and “announcements right around the corner.” Tickets are $15 and are now on sale.

Meanwhile, Ryan Lerman, active in solo performances and touring in recent months, has teamed up with Boston vocal trio Tiny Habits on a cover of Plain White T’s “Hey There, Delilah.” It’s a stripped-down, very sweetly-harmonized vocal underlaid by Ryan’s strumming along with Greg Liesz, also on guitar. The trio met while students at Boston’s esteemed Berklee College of Music and, during the pandemic, discovered each other’s vocal talents via Instagram and decided to get together. Of the trio, Ryan says “if you don’t know Tiny Habits go down the wormhole. Their unison has been shown to reverse the aging process. Their arrangements are so special.” Their TikTok videos garnered over a million views, and they’ve been picked up by the cover site Stories to do a four-song set with Ryan and Greg. Check out more of their work on their YouTube channel.

Reunion album slated for 2016

WindmillLaneRecording sessions are set in Ireland for February as Ben reunites with his 2011 touring band Sam Smith. Ryan Lerman, Chad Chapin and Andrew Higley. They’re putting together a collection of songs that Ben has been writing, inspired by the various “Rock This Bitch” improvs from live shows. A 2016 release is tentatively planned.

The sessions are to be recorded at legendary Windmill Lane Studios, most famous as the studio where the Irish rock band U2 recorded, as well as the Rolling Stones and Lady Gaga. Windmill Lane, an unassuming graffiti-laden building along Dublin’s “Rock ‘n’ Stroll” Trail, is one of Europe’s most highly-regarded recording facilities. (more…)

Ben Folds Five to crowdsource distribution and promotion of new album

The as-yet unnamed upcoming album by the reunited Ben Folds Five, due out in late summer or early fall, is seeking subscription support from fans for distribution via Pledge Music. Through the Pledge Music system, one makes a “pledge” or payment of financial support and, depending on the amount chosen, can receive a variety of rewards ranging from a digital download of the finished project to signed CDs, tour t-shirts and a vinyl pressing. For the Ben Folds Five project, a basic download is $10, and other premiums range upward to $62. Though the project reached its monetary goal less than a day after being launched, one can still enroll and claim one of the premiums. (more…)

Ryan Lerman’s album now on iTunes

Ben’s bassist Ryan Lerman, who has been releasing his musical creations one by one on channels such as YouTube, has put them all together into an album now available on Apple’s  iTunes Music Service. The seven tracks (more…)

“Rhymes with Nothing” latest from Ryan

Ben’s touring bassist Ryan Lerman has posted his latest song, Rhymes with Nothing, to YouTube. As with his earlier songs, he’s multi-tracked it, playing drums, electric bass and Fender keyboard, and the video is presented in the VideoSong multi-frame visual style. Ryan tweets that he’ll have a full album out in about six months.

Update: Ryan posted another song, After the Fact, today on YouTube. (25 April 2011)