There’s fresh action from a couple of Ben’s former sidemen, original Ben Folds Five drummer Darren Jessee and guitarist Ryan Lerman, who toured and performed with Ben in the post-BFF days.
Darren has announced that he’ll be at one of the first venues where Ben Folds Five performed, the Cat’s Cradle in Carrboro, N.C., on November 19. He’s opening for Rose City Band, actually solo country rocker Ripley Johnson from Portland, Oregon. Darren’s picked up a few outstanding North Carolina musicians, has promised new music coming soon and “announcements right around the corner.” Tickets are $15 and are now on sale.
Meanwhile, Ryan Lerman, active in solo performances and touring in recent months, has teamed up with Boston vocal trio Tiny Habits on a cover of Plain White T’s “Hey There, Delilah.” It’s a stripped-down, very sweetly-harmonized vocal underlaid by Ryan’s strumming along with Greg Liesz, also on guitar. The trio met while students at Boston’s esteemed Berklee College of Music and, during the pandemic, discovered each other’s vocal talents via Instagram and decided to get together. Of the trio, Ryan says “if you don’t know Tiny Habits go down the wormhole. Their unison has been shown to reverse the aging process. Their arrangements are so special.” Their TikTok videos garnered over a million views, and they’ve been picked up by the cover site Stories to do a four-song set with Ryan and Greg. Check out more of their work on their YouTube channel.
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.
