Ben Folds
Depending on which quotes you got above in the random quotes, I apologize if they offend you. I don't mean it, but I'm saying it anyway...
Ben does the piano/vocals for Ben Folds Five. He is labeled as a 'geek' because... I'm not sure why. He wrote or helped to write every song (except the covers) that Ben Folds Five have recorded.
Here is a funny little picture of Ben:
Name
Date of Birth
Age
Plays
- plays either a Baldwin or Steinway baby grand piano
Previous / other
- In early 1988, Ben did bass, drums and vocals in a band called Majosha. Other members were Millard Powers (guitar), Dave Rich (drums) and Rob Strictland. They won the Duke University's Battle of the bands. They also released an EP called "Party Night: Five Songs About Jesus" which had 4 songs on it, none about Jesus. In 1989, Rob Strictland and Dave Rich left the band. Chris "Hound" Brown became the new drummer. Evan Olsen also joined the band temporarily as a vocalist. They recorded "Shut Up and Listen to Majosha", on which Ben did drums and vocals on various tracks, including the Majosha versions of "Emaline" and "Video". Chris "Hound" Brown left the band. The new drummer was Eddie Walker (yes, the same name as the track on Naked Baby Photos) In early 1990, Majosha broke up.
- Ben played drums in a band called Pots and Pans. The other members were Evan Olsen (bass) and Brett "Snuzz" Uzzell (guitar and vocals).
- played piano and drums on Barry Black's debut album
- played drums on some tracks on Fleming and John's album "Delusions of Grandeur". He is also in the music video to "I'm Not Afraid" by the same band, as a drummer on top of a huge cake.
- recorded something with Whiskeytown
- plays various instruments on Bus Stop CD's, because of his brother Chuck.
- appeared in a Squirrel Nut Zippers video - Suits are Picking Up The Bill - as the guy at the end in the orange suit who comes in and says something like, "Excuse me, can I still be served?".
- recorded an instrumental/spoken word album called "Fear of Pop" on the Epic/550 label, starring people such as William Shatner, and Fleming and John. Click here to visit the official Fear Of Pop website.
Other instruments -
- plays the melodica on various tracks on the Ben Folds Five CD's
- plays guitar in "Emaline"
- drums
- bass
- he plays a tack piano on many tracks on "The Unauthorized Biography Of Reinhold Messner".
Wrote -
- all the songs except the covers, and Magic, were worked on by Ben, although many are collabarations. He worked on either lyrics or music to every original song that they have recorded. People who helped him write the songs were
- Anna Goodman
- Smoke
- Alice Childress
- The Last Polka
- Kate
- Lullabye
- Darren Jessee
- Song for the Dumped
- Brick
- Kate
- Air
- kane wo kaese
- For those of ya'll that wear fannie packs
- The Ultimate Sacrifice
- Bad Idea
- Satan is my Master
- Mitchell Lane
- Where's Summer B.?
- Your Most Valuable Possession
- Robert Sledge
- the Ultimate Sacrifice
- Bad Idea
- Air
- For those of ya'll that wear fannie packs
- Satan is my Master
- Your Most Valuable Possession
- Caleb Southern
- Your Most Valuable Possession
- Dean Folds
- Your Most Valuable Possession
Musical training
- One year of piano lessons when he was 9
- Singing lessons in ?Nashville?
- some time as a music major at the University of Miami, but he quit before he got his degree.
Other stuff
- Ben produced and wrote all of the liner notes for Naked Baby Photos.
- Ben married his wife, Frally Hynes, in mid 1999. He has twin children: Louis Frances Folds, born on the 22nd of July at 11:04 p.m.; and Gracie Scott Folds, born on the 23rd of July at 1:54 a.m.
this page is by Crystal Lee Cooper
DrPyser@tmbg.org