This post is from Out the Other's 2009 Bonnaroo Artist Previews, where I will be posting previews of all the musical acts playing the 2009 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival. Please check out and subscribe to the full site to learn more about all of this year's performers.
Editor's note: This is a guest preview from contributor Sarah Thornton, a Nashville-based budding music journalist who publishes her own music blog, We Don't Get Out Very Much. Sarah can be reached via her website, or via email at sarah.thornton7@gmail.com.
I get asked constantly, "Have you heard so and so's latest album?" and sometimes I respond, "No, but I have heard of them." This is the case with Ben Sollee, the 24 year old classically trained cello player from Lexington, KY. I knew his debut album, Learning to Bend, had been incredibly well received, but I had not yet given it a listen. But now that I have, boy am I glad I did. Ben incorporates a Southern charm into his music, which combined with the nontraditional sounds of his cello produces some wonderful tunes. Plus Ben, who is also one fourth of The Sparrow Quartet, can really belt it out.
Learning to Bend, released in June 2008, contains many politically based songs and includes an updated cover of Sam Cooke's "A Change is Gonna Come". Ben remains incredibly positive and hopeful of the future, though, which I think is one of the reasons I love the album so much.
Currently, Ben is finishing up recording an EP, produced by Jim James of My Morning Jacket, with his fellow Kentucky born buddy Daniel Martin Moore. (Moore recently signed to Sub Pop and released his debut, Stray Age,in October of 2008.) The two have played together and seem to complement each other very well.
I would suggest catching Ben at Bonnaroo; particularly his early afternoon set on the Solar Stage, which is the perfect time slot for him. Let his wonderful performance start off your Sunday at the festival.
"A Few Honest Words"
"A Change Is Gonna Come"
Ben Sollee plays three times at Bonnaroo - in Cafe Where on Friday from 5-6 p.m., on the Solar Stage on Saturday from 4-4:45 for an interview and performance, and on the Sonic Stage on Sunday from 12:00-12:30 p.m. Check out the full Bonnaroo schedule on the official Bonnaroo website.
