When you think of service, you think of the waitperson who brings you your meal in a restaurant (or perhaps fills your gas tank, if you live in New Jersey). When you think of the Mall, you think possibly of the place where that restaurant is located, or a big shopping complex. Well, in this case “service” refers to the National Day of Service, founded by President Obama as part of his family’s commitment to give service to others. This year’s National Day of Service is Saturday, January 19, and volunteers all across the country will be giving of themselves to improve their communities and serve others. In recognition of that effort, Ben Folds will be performing, not at your nearby shopping center but at The Mall, as in The National Mall, the vast expanse of real estate flanked by the Capitol, the White House, and the Lincoln Memorial in our nation’s capital. Thousands of volunteers are expected to converge on Washington for the Martin Luther King Day weekend leading up to the inauguration, and many will be able to hear Ben’s performance. Ben’s form of service is his support of music therapy, a broad spectrum of assistive therapy involving music in all of its forms for the betterment of health and well-being, and he has partnered with The George Center for Music Therapy in Atlanta to help bring music therapy to those who need it.
Announcements
Ben performing on the Mall
Ben Folds’ photographs in new UK gallery exhibit
Those who have been at a Ben Folds show in recent years have become accustomed to the house lights coming up at some point, whereupon Ben pulls out a camera and takes a picture or two of the audience. He’s also known for Tweeting and Instagramming pictures of his travels, rehearsals, and family moments. Over the past several years, Ben’s photography has gone from a curiosity to a high level of competence and skill. You’ll recall that his triptych of solo EPs and subsequent compilation albums bore a photographic theme – Sunny 16, Speed Graphic, Super D.
Now, Ben’s photography takes another leap over his music with an exhibit of his works at the most prominent gallery in the United Kingdom. (more…)
Help Ben pick the tunes on BBC’s “Now Playing”
Ben will be the guest on Tom Robinson’s Now Playing show on BBC Radio 6 Music Sunday, September 23, a popular British radio programme in which guest artists help choose the songs to be played during the two-hour 6-8pm block. (That translates to 1pm in the US Eastern time zone.) As Ben sits in, he’ll be watching the hashtag #BenFolds56Music on Twitter for fan suggestions. No worries – if you’re not in the UK you can listen online.
Track three: “Sky High” (and subsequent previews)
Editor’s note: As each individual track from The Sound of the Life of the Mind is released, we’ll update this post with the latest links instead of creating a new post for each song.
The third track, Sky High, is out and available for preview at AOL Spinner. The mellow ballad written by Darren Jessee is nicely mixed and produced with the piano dominant in the foreground. Robert’s raucuos bass lines take a gentler turn in this apologetic story, the latest to become available from The Sound of the Life of the Mind, due out September 18.
Update: The title track, The Sound of the Life of the Mind,  is available from Fuse. (10 September)
Update:Â On Being Frank is available from Idolator. It’s not about me; it’s another Frank he’s singing about. (11 September)
Update: Â Draw a Crowd is now available via Rolling Stone. (12 September)
Update: Hold That Thought is now available via Paste Magazine. (13 September)
Update:Â Away When You Were Here is now available via Yahoo Music. (14 September)
Update: Thank You For Breaking My Heart is now available via MSN Music. (17 September)
Second preview track out
The second preview track from The Sound of the Life of the Mind is out, hosted at Conan O’Brien’s TeamCoCo.com. It’s Michael Praytor, Five Years Later and showcases the familiar harmonies of the trio.
