BIOGRAPHY

Some artists hire a friend to write their bio. Others use the third-person and hope it sounds like someone else wrote it. I, however, have always been more intrigued by first-person narratives or artist interviews, so with that in mind I’ve decided to interview myself. Think of it like an FAQ, with schizophrenia.

How would you describe Soft Landing? Sentimentality and sarcasm in eleven short-story pop songs. It was produced, recorded, and mixed by Jeff Gruber (Shook-Russo Quartet, Marcus Johnson) at Blue House Productions and mastered by Ted Jensen (Eric Clapton, Jason Mraz) at Sterling Sound. In addition to the brilliant engineers I worked with incredible musicians like Vince Evans (Prince, Bill Withers), Mark Prince (Patti Labelle, Jennifer Holiday), and Michael Bowie (Cassandra Wilson, Abbey Lincoln).

When did you begin writing and recording? Soft Landing is my first album of original material. Before that I made three a cappella CDs with my high school and college groups, as well as a handful of demos. I grew up studying piano and guitar, but I’ve been focusing on songwriting since I was 16.

Who are your biggest influences? My hard drive consists of piano-pop, 90s alt-rock, and acoustic-guitar-playing-white-guys, but while making Soft Landing I listened to the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and country music. My biggest influences, however, are probably the earliest. As a toddler, I was addicted to a tape of Paul Simon and Ladysmith Black Mambazo performing ‘Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes’, and I watched my dad’s VHS cassettes of Phil Collins and Billy Joel music videos on repeat. I loved Bruce Springsteen, and in preschool I often accompanied myself on toy tennis racquet while singing ‘Born in the U.S.A.’ to my three-year-old classmates, who would either fall asleep or soil themselves. That’s when I realized I wanted to be a performer.

Where have you played? Mostly in Atlanta, Delaware, and the DC area, but I’ve showcased at the Mid-Atlantic and Millennium Music Conferences in Charlotte, NC and Harrisburg, PA. I’ve also done standup, but I prefer using comedy bits or song parodies as breaks in between original songs. My cover repertoire includes 80s, 90s, Classic Rock, Country, Top 40, and acoustic versions of hip-hop and R&B songs (with beat boxing), but I can play many pop songs by ear.

What are eleven random facts about you? I was born in DC but my family moved to Maryland when I was seven. I went to college in Atlanta, and I spent last summer playing at bars along the Delaware shore. At a West Virginia hotel in 1986 I fell asleep in Bill Cosby’s lap for over an hour, and he used the top of my head to sign autographs for everyone at the meet-and-greet. I was once ranked 7th in the world at Oreo stacking. I recently turned 23, I’m a Capricorn, and I have yet to win an academy award.

Did you always want to pursue songwriting? Throughout most of my life baseball came before music, but in college I didn’t have time for both. I ended up joining an a cappella group and working on my songs at night in the university’s piano rooms. I would arrive with my guitar and notebook around 11:00, start writing, and suddenly it was 3:00 in the morning. Whenever four hours feel like five minutes, you know you’ve found something you love.

I love your music. Can I meet you in person? You sound friendly. Check MySpace for tour dates and appearances, or text me with a time and a place.

Ben Sheehan
March 30, 2008