As we approach the consequential midterm elections in the US, Ben is turning his Facebook page over on Tuesdays to issues of politics. Every week he’s featuring a guest commentary to encourage fans (and everyone, really) to vote in our November 8 Congressional elections (and, in many states, local and statewide elections). Current commentaries come from his manager, Mike Kopp, a longtime political operative turned music manager, and Scott Goodstein, Mike’s blogging partner, who took the opposite course and transitioned from music to a career in politics. Both have tremendous insights into our political landscape and are worth paying attention to.
The bottom line in the effort is to excite everyone – especially young people – to pay attention to the candidates who want to serve as their representatives and to the issues on the ballot in their communities, and to register and vote in this fall’s election. The weekly commentaries are well worth the read, and will hopefully motivate you to get involved.
Ben Folds Five fans know about Alice Childress. Or at least they think they do.
If you’ve attended a Ben Folds show in recent years, you may remember Tambo-Man, the mysterious figure who appeared on stage to play the tambourine and occasionally the guitar. Tambo-Man is actually former tour manager Chad Chapin, a Grammy-nominated drummer in his own right, who got the role, as the story goes, when Folds had a dream that Chad was playing drums during a show. Chad comes from a musical family – he’s played the drums since childhood, and his brother Lonnie plays bass. They got their start playing in the band at their dad’s church and went on to back up Michael Tait in his Christian rock band TAIT, where Chad earned the reputation of “the Tommy Lee of Christian rock”.
