Kenton Chen, founding member of the a cappella group The Backbeats, will open for Ben’s four shows next week in North Carolina and Virginia. Kenton, the Backbeats’ musical director, is working on an EP and has two tracks available for download on bandcamp.com. He also has an album, Something about Love, on iTunes as well. (more…)
Jackson Cannery for Japan
A special impromptu acoustic version of Jackson Cannery, with Ben playing guitar (and piano with his foot), was shown as part of the equally impromptu SXSW for Japan. The event, a 12-hour live stream of musical acts hosted by the rock band Hanson, is a benefit for relief aid to Japan and took place today (Saturday, March 20) at the annual South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas. Funds raised will go to the Red Cross to help victims of the earthquakes and tsunamis that ravaged the country.
New David Lynch project includes Ben video
The David Lynch Foundation is embarking on a six-week project through PledgeMusic, an organization that works with fans and artists to raise money for charitable causes. Lynch’s foundation, which raises money and awareness for victims of post-traumatic stress syndrome and inner-city youth by introducing them to transcendental meditation, is participating with a 17-track release over the coming weeks. Included in the mix is an exclusive video that Ben Folds did with Detroit soul singer Bettye LaVette at David’s Change Begins Within charity event at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art in December 2010. Download of the tracks is available to those who pledge to the project. Â Others featured in the set are Iggy Pop, Moby, Arrested Development, Maroon 5, and Tom Waits. More about the project in this press release. In case you missed it, Ben posted a short comical video with the filmmaker “introducing” him a few weeks ago.
