Thirty Years and still Frank Maynard's Original Ben Folds Website
iPhone at the bottom of the pool? “My contacts! My photos! Did I have insurance???” Oops.
Unless you’re Ben Folds, in which case it’s an opportunity.
Keeping in the same vein as Hiroshima (B-B-B-Benny Hit His Head), Ben has taken another self-inflicted misfortune and written about it in song. This time, he chronicles the drowned cellphone in a track aptly titled (what else) Phone in a Pool, which can be heard on the upcoming album So There, due out September 11. (more…)
Ben Folds
That’s how NPR music critic Bob Boilen describes Capable of Anything, the first track from the Ben Folds/yMusic album So There, which dropped today on NPR’s All Songs Considered website.
Calling it “the most lovable piece of music I’ve ever heard from Ben Folds,” Boilen praises how yMusic fills in and punctuates the lyrics, which Ben says are about needing to accept and embrace the things you purport to be capable of doing – even the ones that you’re not so proud of. Indeed, the song is a piano romp backed up seamlessly by the lilting flute and neo-baroque winds and strings that yMusic brings to the mix.
The album So There is slated for a September 11 release. Folds and yMusic continue their summer tour.
Recording 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…)
Buoyed by Ben Folds’ efforts and a connection made last summer, the National Trust for Historic Preservation has designated Nashville’s Music Row a National Treasure.
The designation means that the trust will research and document the area’s historical significance and will develop plans to ensure its sustainability.
It was following a concert in Washington, D.C. last summer that Folds met with National Trust’s general counsel Tom Mayes, who offered the organization’s support in the face of commercial pressures on the area where it’s generally agreed the country music genre was born and raised. (more…)
An end-of-year move by famed music producer Mike Curb has resulted in 30 Music Square West being rescued from demolition and the building preserved.
The iconic RCA Studio A, now known as Grand Victor Sound leased and operated by Ben Folds, will stay open and continues to do a brisk booking business.
The somewhat nondescript 1960s-era building, which had been sold to Brentwood, Tenn., developer Tim Reynolds earlier in the year, was slated for demolition, and tenants had been told their leases would be cancelled in November. As permits were being pulled for the wrecking ball, a deal was struck between Reynolds and a consortium of Nashvillians consisting of preservationist Aubrey Preston, healthcare executive Charles Elcan, and music producer and former politician Mike Curb. (more…)
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