Fresh on the tour schedule are Ben Folds Five shows here and there across the south and midwest, and one in Holyoke, Massachusetts, in September. In addition to the previously announced shows in New York and Pensacola, new shows are added in North and South Carolina, Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, Austin and Kansas City. Tickets on sale this week; see the tour dates page for more.
Folds-produced Sara Bareilles EP in stores today
The five-song EP Once Upon Another Time from singer-songwriter and The Sing-Off judge Sara Bareilles hits stores, both physical and virtual, today. The project was produced by Ben Folds, whom Sara has known for a few years since she guested with Ben at a couple of his shows, but this is the first collaboration of the two. Rolling Stone has a preview along with a free download of the title song.
NBC-TV confirms “The Sing-Off” won’t be renewed
The fall season upfronts (the TV networks’ announcements to affiliates of their fall schedules) are complete, and notably missing is the breakout a cappella show The Sing-Off, which of course starred Ben Folds as one of the celebrity judges. NBC-TV has confirmed that The Sing-Off won’t be on the schedule, though it has renewed the vocal competition series The Voice to run in the fall on Mondays and Tuesdays, where it will benefit from promotion during the NFL season and avoid competition with Fox’s similar X Factor.
The cancellation has drawn out fans of the show who are trying to get a reconsideration of the decision, mainly through a Twitter account, @SavetheSingoff, and a #SavetheSingOff hashtag campaign. (Update: There is a website as well.)  Ben hasn’t said much other than to acknowledge the Twitter effort and encourage fans to make their feelings known. At least one TV writer, Phil Gallo of Billboard Magazine, speculates that NBC could return The Sing-Off to its former post-Thanksgiving run, but no such announcement has been made.
The a cappella craze, inspired in large part by Ben’s embracing of the multitude of college a cappella groups covering his music, flourished a couple years ago, leading NBC-TV to schedule The Sing-Off as a pre-Christmas mini-series in the fall of 2009. Renewed in 2010 in the same format, it expanded in fall of 2011 into a half-year series. While the concept worked well over the short term, the half-season format didn’t attract the same viewership. Too much of a good thing, perhaps.
We’ve written about The Sing-Off throughout its run; check our archive for past articles.
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…)
New track from upcoming Ben Folds Five album released
Updated below
Do It Anyway is the first new track to be released from the upcoming album by the reunited Ben Folds Five. It’s the product of the writing and recording the trio did starting last December. The album, as Ben has mentioned, is an ongoing project that hasn’t fully come together, but he’s hoping for an early fall release and some touring (they’ve already announced UK dates for November and December). Download the track here.
Update: Tom Bisset, the Scottish musician and video artist known as Pianoshizzle, has produced and posted on YouTube a video of the new track.
